“Thanks a lot for the course it was very interesting. Though I was thinking quite a bit of your point about fast feet (high knees)being not really useful for speed training in the wider context.
As I learned these exercises all my life as key exercises for sprint coordination, I wonder if they are not useful in terms of fast coordination of elements and for the learning of tension and relaxing, as well for right movement of arms? and at least by active foot movement for that purpose too. It would be really nice if you would help me clear that point.”
Hanni – “high knees” are often used as speed drills, but just because it is always done, doesn’t mean that it is right. As we discussed on the course, if you focus on hip elevation and foot reactivity drills, then the knee will take care of itself.
If you focus on lifting the knee up, then torso elevation, hip placement and hamstring tension may all be compromised, and then this will adversely affect running speed.
Lifting knees up high will not aid fast co-ordination, as we said, even ladder drills may be more beneficial in that context, but skipping with lower feet and ankle elevation will assist in quicker movements.
The knee may, or may not be high, but it is the activation of the free hip that is the key to better running. The problem is that the cue “high knees” is incorrect and leads to bad execution of the otherwise good skip drill.
I am often asked what equipment is needed for training speed. I am a bit of a luddite when it comes to such things, thinking that I should develop my own coaching and observation before using gadgets
A good video camera and playback machine is necessary for good athletes, but for the majority, my eye is ok.
The use of high hurdles helps with hip power and alignment. The athletes shown here were doing a static jump over the first hurdle, immediately followed by a reactive jump over the second.
The idea is to help improve hip control as well as foot reactivity from the floor.
They did this twice followed by running to reinforce this action, then more drills and then more running.
I find that one coaching point per drill, followed by rehearsing that into running is effective.
However, this meant more than just sweating in the heat. I started off with two short maths questions, followed by them drawing a mind map, then giving me the answers from quiz questions they had prepared (well, most of them) in advance.
The idea was to get their cognitive and creative abilities warmed up. You have to be able to think and be adaptable as a coach: it ain’t just about learning a load of fancy new exercises. It is how you apply the knowledge.
Using the knowledge in the room
There was a great mix of people on the course, from different sports and with different levels of playing/ coaching experience. It was good to be able to draw on that experience when talking about scenarios or real world examples.
The flip side of that knowledge\ experience meant that I was constantly challenged and asked “why?”, especially as “You’re an old coach who is out of touch“!
If I am unable to come up with a sound rationale for doing things, then I should stop doing them. My message of asking “what is the aim of the session?” then writing the plan from that is something I emphasise on every course.
But, on every course, candidates insist on including their favourite exercise (this time the Plank) and reverse engineering the whole session around that exercise so they can fit it in. How does the plank help in a “power” session? (How does the plank help……?)
Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals
Agility practice
This course is all about teaching the fundamental movement patterns, movement efficiency, posture, balance, mobility, stability and what exercises can help develop these.
The candidates then apply this in warm ups and circuit training sessions that they plan and deliver.
I made the point that no amount of fancy agility\ speed kit can compensate for incorrect movement patterns. The kit can be brought in at a later stage once correct movement is developed.
I was pleased to see lots of good coaching practice on the last afternoon, when candidates gave each other feedback and reflected on their own delivery.
They come back for a final day in September, after they have had a chance to practice, revise and reflect on what they have learnt this weekend.
Thanks to all concerned, Nick Ward for arranging and to Derby University for hosting.
This month of our internship we have been learning about speed and the most effective ways to train for it writes Matt Durber.
The speed training I have experienced up until now has typically consisted of a few drills through ladders and over hurdles to warm up followed by 50-100m sprints with walk back recovery.
(Pictured are some speed resistance drills being done in Willand, Devon by our ADC athletes).
Although these exercises are performed at maximum intensity, it is more speed endurance as there is little recovery time in between efforts. Training this way is also very limited, as at no point are you training to make the 50m run faster. As James said “build the quality, then learn to endure it”
When observing James coaching the speed drills to athletes, it immediately became clear that there is a lot more to running fast than just maximal effort. This week the focus was on reducing ground contact time when running.
James introduced a number of drills and the complexity of them soon became clear with athletes interpreting instructions in their own way and performing completely different techniques (some not too dissimilar to the moon walk).
The take home message for me is to go away and practice the drills until I have learned them well enough to think about, demonstrate and explain all at the same time…easier said than done!
How to plan your speed training
As well as knowing the training tools to increase speed, it is important to deliver the coaching in a way that will benefit the athlete the most. James’ recommendation was to include a small amount of speed training regularly within a training plan.
Fatigue will hinder the ability to run at full speed so it is better to perform a small amount at the start of a fitness or team training session when fresh. This should be done regularly throughout the week to reinforce the mechanics.
I have also learned that in addition to planning the drills to use each session, it is important to allow time for the athletes to practice the skills when running. This can be done by interspersing drills with 2 or 3 sprints focussing on the technique.
These running techniques and coaching tools are new to me so I look forward to learning more and watching the athletes develop over the next few weeks.
I always share some book ideas with coaches on the courses I deliver. This time the 3 I brought were:
6th Edition of Frank Dick’s “Sports Training Principles“.
Phil Jackson’s “Eleven Rings“.
Randall J. Strossen’s “Winning Ways: How to Succeed In the Gym and Out”.
I said that Winning Ways and its predecessor “Stronger Minds, Stronger Bodies” were the best practical sport psychology books I had read.
I liked “Chimp Paradox” by Steve Peters for overall life and underlyng understanding of the person.
However, Andy Ellis said that the Chimp Paradox had become a bit of a crutch for some athletes and he preferred “Mindset” by Carol Dweck.
Dweck talks about growth vs fixed mindsets and rewarding effort over achievement. It is a good read. However, this also has now become a mantra for some people to justify misinformation or disagreement with policy i.e “You have a fixed mindset“.
Because it is a good read, it is easy to forget to be critical this excellent critique of Mindsetis worth reading as a counterpoint. The danger of coaches just reading pop psychology is that they lose their critical questioning skills.
This happened a few years ago with people quoting Bounce and Outliers as “facts” when these books are riddled with errors.
It was great to have this discussion on Saturday. We also talked about the use of External vs Internal Coaching Cues. This was a big part of the Level 3 course, with an excellent presentation by John Brierley on skill acquisition.
I mentioned this book:“Motor Learning in practice, a constraints led approach”: Renshaw, Davids & Savelsbergh (eds). A very useful book on coaching using task and environmental constraints. The introduction and boxing chapters are duffs: pretentious academic twaddle. The other chapters (particularly Renshaw) offer really useful insights and practical examples.
Andy Ellis then brought up that theories change over time, and that he would take evidence from an experienced coach, if what they did worked. This is the key point in coaching. We must challenge each other’s thinking and practices, as well as challenge those who come down from their Academic Ivory Towers and preach.
It is all too easy to get stuck within our own comfort zones, and safe environments and spend time in mutual grooming. I always appreciate the comments, ideas and challenges from Andy and all the other coaches who take part in our courses: it makes me think and question my practice. This then transfers to my athletes, which is most important.
Every coach who comes onto one of our courses is invited into our community of practice. If you want to develop your coaching skills as astrength and conditioning coachthen it would be great to see you.
If you think that basketball conditioning should resemble a scene from Coach Carter with repeated running in straight lines, you might be mistaken.
I am lucky enough to train some good young basketball players. Most of them arrive with some sort of work ethic and overall athleticism.
More than a lot of sports, they understand the need for work capacity, speed and the ability to jump. They come
from (or gravitate towards) training environments that encourage repeated
efforts and work capacity.
But is there too much of a good thing?
Once the basics have
been achieved, will just doing more “stuff” help the player, or potentially hinder them? I am trying to work with the players and their coaches on looking at more efficient ways of developing fitness that more resembles the demands and needs of the game and their positions.
What are the positions?
A recap on positions for those unfamiliar with the game.
Point guard: the general / organiser
Shooting guard: they shoot a lot
Small forward: good shooters, especially at free throws as they draw a lot of attention
Power forward: very assertive player, dominant in close quarters.
Centre: good at jumping, high skill level
Whilst everyone has to be able to do everything, the positions do have differing demands. When looking at the physical characteristics of the positions, the game might develop people into those athletes, or certain types of athlete gravitate to those positions.
Physical characteristics
Centres and power forwards are the heaviest and tallest. They need the greatest mass due to the contact at box outs, picks and rebounds. They need great lower body strength due to prolonged periods of play in the low post/ middle post position.
Point guards have to be the fittest endurance wise due to their versatility in play. Guards and forwards are only in static positions for 27%/ 28% of the time in a match. Conversely, Centres have been shown to only move linearly for 33% of the match, the rest is more lateral shuffling movements, checking, contact and such like.
So we can see a difference between the needs of the positions already. As the playing ability goes up, so do the demands of the game as decision making and tactics affects movement demands.
At International level, players do a lot more high intensity work (above 90% of max Heart Rate) but also a lot more low level work such as shuffling, to recover. The high intensity work is not just running; more body contact requires more static / isometric strength work and moving from this to running is fatiguing as inertia has to be repeatedly overcome.
The nature of the International matches has been shown to be much more intermittent in nature than National Level matches where the players did not work at such high intensities. National level players spent much more time in a “middle zone” of intensity.
How Can I get fit for basketball?
This is the bottom line question that I am often asked. As you can see, there is more to basketball than just shuttle runs.
If your training consists of repeated bleep tests and suicides, you are getting ready to play mid-level basketball as a guard or forward.
If you want to play at a higher level, you need to adapt your training accordingly.
I always follow this simple hierarchy of training:
1 the person
2 The athlete
3 The position.
Trying to train position specific before addressing the individual needs of the person, then their athleticism is a short cut that will come back to haunt you.
So the priorities are:
1 An overall sound movement pattern with no asymmetries.
This includes the ability to run, jump, skip, land and move sideways. Then the ability to reproduce this repeatedly must be developed.
2 Look to load these movements and progress to acceleration drills, deceleration drills and single leg work.
3 Look at position work: with centres needing strength training
that includes volume to allow an increase in mass. This strength work should be combined with movement patterns that encourage a low centre of gravity and multiple changes of direction in a small area. Guards and forwards can do more repeated jump work combined with high intensity shuttle runs.
Whilst every young player asks “How can I improve my vertical?” and proceeds to show me an Internet “Jump programme”, I emphasise the need for points 1 and 2 first. As they all practice lay ups and dunks at every opportunity, the priority is for teaching landing techniques and developing strength. The application of this will come through training initially, then specifics later.
A sure way to detrain the athleticism of your basketball team is to do long slow runs, back to back bleep tests and upper body weights only.
The players pictured are Sean Clifford (SWT and Excelsior client) who has been made Captain of the Leeds University team and Harry Turner (Millfield school) who played for England -Under 18s this summer.
The Yo-Yo may have been around for nearly 1000 years, but today a new form of Yo-Yo is a regular fixture in Sport’s coaches’ fitness testing toolbox.
The Yo-Yo Fitness Tests were designed as a specific means of testing fitness for sports which are intermittent in nature such as football.
Here Matt Durber summarises how to use them.
Yo-Yo Endurance Test
A continuous running test similar to the beep test, designed to estimate an individual’s maximum oxygen uptake (VO2 max). Players run continuously between two cones 20m apart at increasingly faster speeds.
Due to the continuous nature of the test, it is best suited to endurance athletes such as long distance runners.
There are two versions of this test: The Level 1 test is effectively the same as the standard beep test with speeds ranging from 8kph-18.5kph.
The Level 2 test starts at a higher running speed (11.5kph) and has different increments in speed and is therefore more suited to elite levels athletes.
The athlete’s score is the total distance covered before they were unable to keep up with the recording. The Yo-Yo endurance test usually takes between 6-20 minutes for level 1 and between 2-10 minutes for level 2.
Yo-Yo Intermittent Tests
The Yo-Yo Intermittent Test is designed to replicate the demands of sports such as football where game play is not continuous.
There are two variations of the intermittent test: The Intermittent Endurance Test and the Intermittent Recovery Test each with two levels of varying intensity.
The Intermittent Endurance Test consists of similar running speeds to the endurance test but includes an additional 5 seconds (5m) active recovery period in between each 20m shuttle.
Recently, a group of Excelsior Athletes completed the Intermittent Endurance test and all reached the benchmark level set by the England and Wales Cricket Board.
The young cricketers had done no running fitness, only foundation strength and agility work, focussing on braking and turning mechanics.
The Intermittent Recovery Test is more intense with running speeds beginning at 10kph (level 1) and 13kph (level 2).
In contrast, there is a longer active recovery of 10 seconds (10m) between shuttles to allow more recovery. The nature of this test would suit itself to sports with many high intensity efforts and short breaks such as Rugby Union or Tennis.
Summary
Start of a yo yo test.
These Tests are good indicators of fitness for team sports, as they replicate the demands of many sports.
The inclusion of shuttle runs within the tests assesses the ability to change direction in addition to running ability.
They have become more popular in recent years, as the continuous bleep test has fallen out of favour. However, it is important to know what you are testing and why before you start any fitness testing programme.
Improving strength, stamina and flexibility in young golfers
I have been working with England Golf for the last 15 months, coaching the South West under 16s boys and girls squads.
I have been responsible for their golf fitness, and we have made significant progress since adopting a new approach since September 2014.
I have developed a simple online tool to help develop the habits of the young golfers systematically. This has enabled the golfers to get fit in a structured manner, even though I only see them intermittently. I have been very lucky in having the support of the golf coaches: John Jacobs and Martyn Thompson, who understand the need for strength and conditioning in golf.
Train Well, Eat Well, Recover Well
These are the 3 aspects of fitness that we have been told to develop with our golfers. Unfortunately, these ideas are alien to most of the young golfers when they arrive at the squad. Despite the fact that most of them are doing either GCSE p.e. or a BTEC in sport and exercise, the lack of knowledge and sound practice is frightening.
Eating a bacon and egg sandwich 15 minutes before training is about to start is one example. A few of the golfers have personal trainers, but are unable to do 5 good press ups, nor do a single leg squat (unloaded) nor run 400m without walking when they arrive. The sleep habits and bed time routines are typical of teenage kids, rather than aspirational athletes.
Parents, especially of the girls, have very strong opinions on what is necessary to succeed in golf: some telling their daughters not to run! Most are well meaning, but need help on what the best foods are to eat and when, as well as the requirements of golf.
So, imposing a “you must do this” approach together with the “World’s best golf fitness program” would be destined to fail.
Starting fitness for golf
We started the good habits necessary when we held a joining boys and girls assessment weekend in September. I wanted the candidates to be clear from the start what the program would involve: like running! That way there would be no misunderstandings later.
I did a presentation with the parents on Long Term Athlete Development(LTAD) with special emphasis on the dangers of early sports specialisation.I told the parents that their children would be required to input 3 numbers a week online. They all agreed publicly that this was a reasonable goal.
Over the course of the weekend, I worked with every candidate and gave them a series of simple exercises that we developed many years ago called 5 by 5 by 5: 5 minutes of 5 exercises, 5 times a week.
I wanted every candidate to have this opportunity, because they and their parents had all invested a weekend of their time. That way they could go home and practice and try again next year if unsuccessful.
I then showed the candidates what their online reporting tool would look like, using google drive. All they had to do was create a gmail account and then report on what they had done the previous week, using a 1-5 scale for each category.
The first stage was:
Train Well: do their 5 by5 exercises
Eat Well: Eat 5 portions of fruit/veg a day
Recover well: Measure the overall sleep quality that week.
Their form would look like this:
Now, you may think that is too simplistic. My job is not to impress anybody with what I know, it is to affect change of behaviourwithin the golfers (and their parents).
We set this as the target for the next 4-5 weeks until I saw them in their respective squads. Their individual sheets linked into a global sheet that I then reviewed every Monday morning:
The grey areas are where the gaps are, the green amber and red indicate how successful the golfer has been overall. I can then look at the individual scores for each golfer week by week.
I shared this with the golf coaches and the squad managers, everyone can then see what the golfers have been doing: they are accountable.
Building up the golfers’ fitness
My main aim at the start was to get the golfers thinking about these areas every week. There were accountable for filling in 3 numbers.
I realise that they can falsify the numbers (more later on that) but at least once a week they had to think about the plan when they had to enter the numbers!
By giving them some relatively easy goals, I was hoping to create some small successes,build confidence and trust and go from there.
However, setting up a gmail account and inputting 3 numbers a week, let alone remembering where their one document was on Google Drive has proven too much for some of them!
So, at the next squad meetings, I went over it again. This time we changed the goals for the next 5-6 weeks, but kept it to 3 numbers.
Train Well: Run up to 5 miles in a week.
Eat Well: Eat breakfast with 1 portion of fruit and some protein.
Recover well: A stretch routine post training/ golf.
Whilst it may appear we got off to an inauspicious start, over half of the squad were really having a go and making themselves fit.
The simple goals, identifiable tasks and weekly contact made for a good conversation starter. Some were so keen, they took their exercises on holiday and we now have a collection of “me training on holiday” pics”.
Our third stage of golf fitness training was:
Train Well: Do 3 circuits +2 runs/week
Eat Well: Drink 2 litres of water/day
Recover well: Have a post training snack within 15 minutes of exercise/ golf.
This was where the intensity of training increased for the golfers. I gave them 3 different circuits to choose from before Christmas. I allowed for the proposed bad weather (it never arrived) thinking indoor circuits would be manageable over Christmas holidays, and a run twice a week when fine.
The girls especially nailed the recovery snacks, but most of them were making a real effort to change their behaviour.
This included stocking up with good food on the way home!
There is no hiding from The Hill.
I mentioned earlier that it is easy to fill out a form online, but much harder to do the underlying work.
That is why at every squad session we do a group run or circuit: it keeps everyone honest. I keep my mouth shut, and the rankings speak for themselves. On January 2nd we did a run on Frank Clarke’s Hill in Willand, which is pretty steep. This was the toughest thing some of them had ever done. Others were unable to run more than 50m up the hill without walking…
We are now in the situation where 80% of the squad members are really trying to get better.
There is a work ethic within the squad, and I get asked good questions about how they can improve their golf fitness.
We have a few more sessions left, but already this year we have made further progress than last year. There has been an increase in club head speed and a corresponding drop in their Golf Handicap.
It may seem a bit slower, but it has been more consistent, and the habits are ingrained. There is still room for improvement, and John Jacobs and I are always talking about how to practice for golf.
If you want me to help you get fit for golf, then I am happy to help, please contact me using the email or number at the top of the site.
Thanks to Ollie Whitehead and Randy Ballard for help on the monitoring sheets.
(By Fran Low) So I’ve spent the last 4 to 5 months telling you about the challenges that face training female athletes, however I have not once related it to my own experiences.
When I used to go to the gym I would perform:
20 mins on the cross trainer
20 mins on the bike
a few sit ups (maybe a plank or two)
some fixed weights
10min treadmill run
Sound familiar??
Excelsior weightlifter enjoying training
When I looked around the gym (whilst cruising on the cross trainer listening to ‘Take That’), the free weights section was dominated by men with little notebooks recording what they were lifting. Never once did I see a woman with a little notebook! It was an intimidating area of the gym that I knew little about and therefore would avoid it.
Having started this internship and going through the level 2 strength and conditioning course I am now comfortable using free weights, yet I still seem to be one of the only girls in the gym using them! James has taught me, as well as the other girls we train, enough knowledge to feel comfortable in what is normally a male dominated environment.
First came focus…
Now I’m not a world class athlete (not even close) but I do play hockey regularly for a weekend side, cycle a bit (You are too modest Fran, she cycled length of Britain JM)and go to the gym.
This schedule probably sounds similar to most ‘weekend athletes’. Before I started this internship I thought I had a good grasp of exercises or activities to do to help my hockey but there was no focus to my training.
I would just stick to this routine without ever questioning “why I was doing what I was doing”. So I changed my programme and thought about what I wanted to improve and how I was going to go about doing it.
Then came progression…
Lifting weights to help running and jumping
So once I changed my program, applied focus to it so that it was actually benefiting me, I then needed to begin to progress it. Making it more challenging as I improved.
This is exactly what James has been doing with all his athletes. Without progression there is no point in training, you will just plateau and never improve.
Now each week I increase the load as well as change the exercises to keep the sessions interesting.
And finally evaluation!
This I am still working on. Being able to look back at your training and evaluate its effectiveness helps you keep focus and monitor progression. Just performing planned sessions won’t always work. You need to keep asking yourself,
Was that too hard?
Was that too easy?
Was that too much/too little?
Being able to monitor your progress is also an important evaluation tool. Things as simple as comparing maximal press ups effort, weight lifted, timed run pre and post training to examine improvement is imperative.
So this is where I am at with my training. I have learnt a lot in a short time and am trying to apply it to myself as well as other athletes.
So does this relate to your training program? Please feel free to comment.
Fran Low
Here is a short interview with Jo Calvino, English weightlifting record holder about her tips for Women:
Free ebook on Strength training for female athletes here
“When one has reached maturity in the art, one will have a formless form. It is like ice dissolving in water. When one has no form, one can be all forms; when one has no style, he can fit in with any style.” Bruce Lee
Do you use a certain layout for planning training?
Do you have a favourite spreadsheet?
Do you always portray data in spider diagrams or pie charts because they “look cool”?
Having a structure is handy because it allows you to have consistency. It can also steer you into certain patterns that may be unsuitable for a changing situation.
I took time out this week to redesign my session planners so that they reflect the 4 cornerstones approach I now take to training athletes.
I had been training one group with an old proforma, and I felt suddenly realised that my sessions were reflecting the form, rather than my philosophy (overview below).
I now have enough flexibility to plan what I want, but have the guideline to keep me on track.
As to pie charts, this course on data visualisation has helped me become a better strength and conditioning coach due to clarity of presentation.
Why the “High Knees Drill” can make you run slower.
I am often asked what equipment is needed for 
The use of high hurdles helps with hip power and alignment. The athletes shown here were doing a static jump over the first hurdle, immediately followed by a reactive jump over the second.
They did this twice followed by running to reinforce this action, then more drills and then more running.
This month of our internship we have been learning about speed and the most 
I said that Winning Ways and its predecessor “Stronger Minds, Stronger Bodies” were the best practical sport psychology books I had read.
I am lucky enough to train some good young basketball players. Most of them arrive with some sort of work ethic and overall athleticism.
This is the bottom line question that I am often asked. As you can see, there is more to basketball than just shuttle runs.
The Yo-Yo may have been around for nearly 1000 years, but today a new form of Yo-Yo is a regular fixture in Sport’s coaches’ fitness testing toolbox.
I have been working with England Golf for the last 15 months, coaching the South West under 16s boys and girls squads.
We started the good habits necessary when we held a joining boys and girls assessment weekend in September. I wanted the candidates to be clear from the start what the program would involve: like running! That way there would be no misunderstandings later.
The grey areas are where the gaps are, the green amber and red indicate how successful the golfer has been overall. I can then look at the individual scores for each golfer week by week.
My main aim at the start was to get the golfers thinking about these areas every week. There were accountable for filling in 3 numbers.
Whilst it may appear we got off to an inauspicious start, over half of the squad were really having a go and making themselves fit.
The girls especially nailed the recovery snacks, but most of them were making a real effort to change their behaviour.
We are now in the situation where 80% of the squad members are really trying to get better.
Being a woman in the gym!
