ROBERT NICHOLSON PORT MELBOURNE (VFL) HEAD S&C COACH: IN-SEASON TRAINING

Following on from the Darren Burgess interview from last week we'll take a look at how the VFL handle their in-season training.

In our first interview with Robert he mentioned that VFL players aren't fully professional and in Port Melbourne's case, all players are exclusive VFL listed players, there are no AFL listed players on their list.

Although VFL is only 1 level down from AFL, as far as preparation it's probably the closest you'll get to an amateur/local footy player, depending on how far you like to take your preparation. It's great to know what AFL teams do but it;s not really replicable in the real world with jobs, family etc.

Here's what Rob had to day on all things in-season training:

What differences are made to training compared to the off and pre-season training periods?

Pre-season Pre-Christmas): focus on selection of squad, individualised programming for selected players (fitness and/or weights), skill development, development of preparation strategies (e.g. sit and reach test, adductor strength test, Body mass measurement). . Development of player fitness/strength. Introducing players to requirements of VFL football.

Pre-Season (Post-Chrismas): Fitness and fitness testing, skill development, team game plan awareness. Monitoring of individual training load

The major difference between components of the season is primarily the variation in the importance given to the various components of the team program. Whilst team development is the key focus at all times - individual needs remain a high priority at all times.

In-season: Primary focus is on weekly recovery, preparedness for game, maintenance of fitness/strength and the monitoring of individual training loads.

Further Reading: At local/amateur level, that 2nd last paragraph is close to non-existent but it could be the best thing that you could do, especially if you're a coach of a club. After the team warm up set aside a 10 - 15min block for individual training whether it be skills, goal kicking, speed, agility, endurance or rehab. It pretty much all comes down to being able to streamline your training and finding ways to make it as efficient as possible. 

What does a full week look like? What does game day look like? What recovery interventions do you put in place immediately post game as well as in the days following? Do you do these as a team or leave blokes to do them themselves?

Saturday - game, post game stretching/nutrition/hydration, ice baths

Sunday - recovery session (beach/pool) in designated groups based on geographical location of players where they also send a photo with data and time to register attendance.

Monday - light skills, upper body weights (selected group), match review, players weight to see if weight lost from game has been regained, fitness work for injured players or those who didn't play on the weekend, rehab program for specific players.

Tuesday - fitness and weights sessions.

Wednesday - train in team groups, each player to complete adductor strength and sit and reach test to determine training readiness and potential capacity, emphasis on team skills/team plan/fitness/skills, rehab program for selected players, players on rotation to reduce training load, non-selected players train with home club.

Thursday - optional weights, non-selected players train with home clubs

Friday - train in team groups, emphasis on team skills/team plan/skills with the session being short and light, players weight in before training, rehab program for specific players

Saturday - developmental/senior team meeting, pre-game stretching/muscle activation/hydration, pre game warm up is 3mins in rooms + 20mins on oval + coach address + 6mins on oval + 3 - 4mins on oval prior to 3rd quarter

Further Reading: I especially like the Sunday recovery suggestion here where you group players together by location. My club personally has blokes from everywhere which makes team recovery, and expecting everyone to get there, impossible. Smaller groups by locale makes perfect sense.

Do you have any specific requirements for players to abide by from Thursday to game day? 

Sleep, hydration, nutrition are the focus of the message to the players. The leadership group may have other instructions for the players but I am not aware of them

Further Reading - coaches don't know everything, and they especially know bugger all about the strength and conditioning side of things which is fine, it's not their fault. Their job is to more focused on tactical/recruitment to win games of footy in the hope that players prepare themselves accordingly. Each coach should put together, or have someone put together, a little something for the players to hold onto in regards to recovery and preparation when they are away from the club. It might seem a but full on but having 5 - 8 blokes follow it is better then none of them isn't it?

What types of personal/wellness/readiness testing do you do during the season?

Selected players use heart rate monitors during training and game and by using the software algorithm recovery time can by attained. However, as this is only a guide to physiological recovery – players are continually being asked about ‘how they are feeling’. In conjunction with the protocols associated with the sit/reach test, adductor strength test and body mass measurement, the collected information is used to determine the individual training load for a given session.

Do players do their own training on top of team training in their own time and if so, how do you monitor it so that it doesn’t interfere with team training and games?

For a non-AFL aligned club this is a major issue. Trying to educate the players about the limitations of the club’s training schedule given that they are ‘part-time’ athletes and the need to do extra work is a nightmare. Many players know AFL players and try to imitate their workloads. Others read articles online or in other media and attempt to replicate those sessions regardless of the effectiveness of that information for the players. Another problem is players working with fitness people who have no idea of the club’s program. Finally, those players who are (have completed) Sport Science degrees are often the worst offenders. At the moment I am working with the leadership group to try a obtain a guide to what is being done and when it is being done outside of the club program.

Further Reading: You've got 2 types at your local/amateur footy clubs. You've got the blokes who do the 2 nights of team training a week and nothing else and the blokes doing 2 nights of tram training a week and another pre-season on the other 3 nights! So 1 bloke is probably under-trained compared to the pre-season essentially losing fitness/strength qualities during the season and the other is never really fully recovered and thus can never really be at their best. Of course it doesn't really help if you;re coach doesn't have much of a plan outside of tactical stuff for training and then every now then have you do 10 x 100m sprints or a road run with no pre or post planning  in regards to what that type of training will do at that exact time. This leaves you trying to cover everything else outside of training and can run you into the ground.

I'd like to thank Rob once again for his assistance on this - it's always greatly appreciated!