Preparing to win: athlete support day review

“If you’re getting into the ring with Mike Tyson, your warm up better be good”.

Was the message of my first section of the most recent athlete support day in Exeter. We had 21 players from 8 different sports take part.

The lack of preparation immediately before a match from young sports people constantly needs addressing.

At the last meeting, my workshop on “how to warm up effectively”  laid the foundations of thought.

This time round, I got the players to invest time into creating their own warm ups based on the 3 stages of :

1. General
2. Related
3. Specific

Some got it, others still put in “stuff”. I was trying to make the point that if your warm up is correct, you will be able to put your opponent on the back foot straight away. 

Having an individual warm up routine helps you focus on your performance and preparation, rather than getting distracted by what the other person is doing.

If you are getting into the ring with Tyson, you had better be ready straight away!

Strength training

I had the difficult job of coaching all these athletes in the gym at once. Some of whom were first timers. I did 2 generic strnegth warm ups with the group, highlighting correct form.

Then I split them into 7 groups of 3, each performing a sequence of movements based around hinge, squat, push, pull, rotate, and lunge (brace had taken place in the warm up).

They then either did a body weight exercise, dumbbell exercise or barbell exercise according to age/ stage of training.

This could have gone horribly wrong, but thanks to the experienced athletes and the help of the coaches watching, it was very effective.

Flexibility training

Moving outside to the glorious sunshine, I went over the latest flexibility routines that I have been developing.

Based on work by Eyal Lederman, I showed the athletes the benfits of moving in sequences, rather than doing static stretches. Chronic poor posture created by slumped sitting positions and desk-bound life is rarely rectified by 5 minutes of stretches a day.

A lot of flexibility work gets you better at…. flexibility work! This has its place as part of training, and especially in relaxation at the end of the day.

However, like strength training, I am only interested in how this work applies to the real world. Constant work throughout the day in our daily tasks, plus some free flowing sequences may be better.This was a chance for the athletes to move like dancers and express themselves. 

Guest appearance by double Paralympian

The last section of the day was agility training, leading into decision making and then a small sided invasion game.

It was great to have Dan James assist on this part. Dan is the goalkeeper for the GB blind football team and has competed at Beijing and London Paralympics.

Dan answered the youngsters questions about his training (and where he got his kit from!).

I have coached Dan since 2007 and he talked about how he has evolved as a player and how we have changed and adapted his training. This has come about partly as a result of his development and experience, partly as a result of my development as a coach.

Everyone who is part of the Excelsior Athletic Development Club benefits from this process. Similarly, what I learn working with junior athletes filters back up to the Senior Internationals.

Dan then gave some valuable coaching tips during the invasion game: it was great to see everyone expressing their athleticism and competitiveness at the end.

Thanks

Thanks again to Exeter University for hosting. Thanks also to Denise Austin (Beach volleyball), James Elkin (badminton) and Christine Farr (netball) for bringing their athletes along. Thanks to all the parents who were taking their children.  “Turn up, try hard, stand tall.”

The next Support Day is on Wednesday May 28th.

Any teenager who is playing more than one sport is welcome to come. Please contact James for details.