equipment you laid out is still there when the team arrives. n Pre-season trips abroad - travel the day before if you can. This is a must as it will allow you to see the hotel, training venue and to brief the staff on how to look after the team. n From the weeks you have you should be able to fit in all your strength/power injury prevention and recovery sessions for this phase. n The team should have some time off during this phase. How much depends on many factors ie. number of games, travelling time and training intensities. n Know your squad numbers before you start and make sure players have the right footwear for the correct activity. n Understand the needs of every player. Remember players are recovering at different stages, some may be coming back from injury and you may have some “senior” players whose work load needs to be sympathetically controlled. n You may have players coming back at different times ie. international commitment. Players who come back and join the group late should have a different training programme until they can catch up. This is when you must know the type of player you are dealing with. Has he done his closed season programme? n Meet with the coaches, physios and masseurs to get some feedback daily. You should want to know how the training is affecting your squad. If you don’t ask they may not tell you, so get everyone on board. n Make sure the players know the schedule for that week, but be careful not to give them too much information. Sometimes too much information can be dangerous and can cause you a problem. There is no need for them to know every detail of the session. You don’t want to get into a debate on why you had to alter the programme. Players will hold you to everything you say. n Be aware of travelling time and changes in time zones, and how it affects the team. Hydration tests should be done regularly at this time.

Fitness testing (see box 2) Without doubt you must test your football team to build a picture of the athletic condition of the players. Do not get caught up in a paper exercise with dozens of tests, you will leave yourself with no time to develop the football team. Do not get carried away with test results either good or bad. There are many components to being a great football player. I have come across great players who don’t do particularly well under test conditions but who will give you their all on the pitch and contradict everything you think you know about him. On the other hand many players who are outstanding in these tests cannot transfer these skills onto the field. Football can be very complex so be careful what you say about players, stick to the facts and remember you are employed as a fitness coach not a football coach. Leave your opinion on how good or bad a player is to the football coaches and stick to the player’s athletic performances and nothing else.

Main elements of the training programme The majority of the fitness training should be football related and football specific. Control the football especially high intensity football sessions. When players get tired they get sloppy and this is where the football coach is very important for controlling this session, not allowing silly tackles or going to ground. If you don’t control this you will get injuries.

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Football fitness n Can improve by short INTENSIVE small-sided games and longer EXTENSIVE small-sided games. n INTENSIVE (short duration) small-sided games are designed to increase high-intensity endurance and aerobic power (VO2

max).

n EXTENSIVE (long duration) small-sided games are designed to increase a player’s capacity to endure 90 minutes of match play. n Number of repetitions of INTENSIVE small-sided games increases during the pre-season period. n Duration of EXTENSIVE small-sided games increases during the pre-season period.

Agility and acceleration training n To be performed directly after warm-up. n Addition of continuous 4x4 minute runs at 90-95% of maximum heart-rate to increase aerobic power (VO2

max).

n EXTENSIVE high intensity interval training stop/start movements increasing eccentric strength with and without the ball 85-95% of max. n TECHNICAL sessions to be intertwined with the fitness sessions. n Resistance training/weight vests/sledges/circuit training and injury prevention sessions can easily be intertwined. n Neuromuscular (heavy lower body) specific strength training to be only done with players who have good technique and are comfortable with this type of training.

BOX 2: TESTS FOR FOOTBALL Assessment of players VO2

max (estimate field test and lab test)

The field test is a standard 20 metre bleep test – this will give an estimate of aerobic fitness and maximum heart rate. The lab test is done on a treadmill measuring oxygen uptake. The player runs until failure on both tests. Assessment speed from 0-40 metres (sprint gates) The player’s speed is measured over 0-40 metres in ten metre sections (it is important to know who has the top speed over different distances). Assessment agility tests 505 agility Markers are set up 5 and 15 metres from a line. The player runs from the 15 metre marker towards the line and through the 5 metre marker turns on the line and runs back through the 5 metre marker. (Time is taken to cover 5 metre up and back distance 10 metres total. Each leg should be tested). Assessment of body fat % at 8 sights minimum (With someone who is fully qualified to do it. That person should be the only person doing the test for accuracy. Issac protocol will give a very accurate measurement of body fat using callipers measuring skin folds. Strength-4 rep max squat (Player performs a 2 leg squat for four reps. He should only be able to squat for the 4 and no more. Same criteria for Bench Press. 6 rep max bench press). Player does a full body weight close grip pull up max. Same criteria with full body weight tricep dip. Power-jump squat/football jump (Kistler force plate) Player is assessed for jumping height using two tests. One with hands on hips, and the other using arms to get as high off the ground as you can. Do not pull up legs when doing this test. The players who have the ability to jump high are usually your fastest players. A high body fat % can influence a player’s ability in these tests. Isokinetic assessment quad/hamstring pre-injury Using an Isokinetic machine quadriceps and hamstrings are measured for strength BEFORE INJURY. This measurement can be used for comparisons against injured muscle groups to identify muscular weakness and imbalances.

sportEX dynamics 2008:16(Apr):7-10