Heavy training and tapering - is it a flawed philosophy for football?

[Gavin Excell]

I have read/heard on radio over past few days that both Dogs and Geelong have undertaken heavy training loads as a lead up to the finals.
The thinking, as i understand it, is that by increasing the training load at this time, a team then benefits from tapering - reducing the load - and is at optimal peak performance at a later time (ie September).

Both teams looked very flat and tired in their games.

With Dogs precariously placed in the top 4 and needing to win games to ensure a double chance and with Geelong having its preparation interrupted with injuries, unsure if undertaking a heavy training programme at this point in time is wise.

I remember talk of Neil Craig employing this approach in 2006 when Crows were flying and good things to win the flag. They fell apart in the last part of the season.

Seems to me its all well and good when preparing athletes for one event (eg a marathon) when nothing else really matters in the build up, but in footy, when you have to win games in that heavy workload period, question whether the perceived results outweigh the negatives.

 

[bresker]

If we win the flag - good

If we don't - we'll never know.

We can add it to the list of excuses.

I think we got this idea from Mr Fantasia via the Adelaide Crows.

 

[rose jam]

Don't think it suits the style of AFL because of the injury accumulation. In athletics it's reasonable because your taper period is full recovery. But each game breaks down your body so it's about recovery and maintenance. Think those clubs doing heavy work loads are just being stupid and just run a high risk of injury.

 

[Mr Lizard]

I remember talk of Neil Craig employing this approach in 2006 when Crows were flying and good things to win the flag. They fell apart in the last part of the season.

Do you remember Neil Craig employing this approach in 1997?

 

[Gavin Excell]

Do you remember Neil Craig employing this approach in 1997?

He did? Was he involved with them then?

 

[Lynch takes a mark]

Rocket totally denied they were doing it in his press conference - he couldn't have made it any more clear that they weren't doing it.

 

[jgb99]

Agree with that Gav ...

I don't think you can ever fully recover during the season to maximise those fitness benefits attained from training unless you start resting players from late season H&A games ... which isn't ideal as players can lose form, team loses games etc. Also without such opportunity to recover from the heavy training loads you are also increasing injury potential ... it is absolutely critical you have key players fit for finals.

 

[highflyer91]

during the preseason teams usually 'overload' (increase training intensity, duration etc) to build up a sound base of fitness... why the bulldogs think they would need to increase their fitness levels during the season is odd, all the necessary work should have been done prior the season! its just putting their bodies under added duress coming into the most important part of the season...

 

[Total_Juddshanks]

Agree with op.

Maybe it all comes down to dumb luck, but I remember being extremely worried about coping with the Crows in 2006, and then watched them tail off from world beaters to fairly average by the time of the finals series.

Football is very much a confidence game, both for you and for the opposition. Even if you are multiple games clear at the top of the ladder, you do not want the opposition, and your players starting to see vulnerabilities during the closing stages of the AFL season. Also, you do not want your good players copping overuse injuries at the time when their form and fitness needs to be as high as possible.

If you gave me a choice between taking a team to the finals who were down on form and confidence, but whose physical fitness and match hardness were 110%, and a team who were up, playing good footy, and with their good players rested, niggle free and firing, I'd go for the latter every time.

On a related matter, I've always thought there is a very strong case to be made for a 1 week break between rd 22 and finals just to level out a lot of the injury concerns, and make sure we get to see the best sides in good nick when the finals start.

 

[celtic_pride]

Meh, these exercises would be nothing compared to what T-Shirt Tommy Hafey put his great Tiger sides through in the 70s, and it didn't stop them from being massively successful in that era.

 

[jerry springer]

If your not fit by this time of the season.......

 

[Spluff]

Ultimately the crucial point with tapering is whether your body will survive the heavy training period - if you train heavily and exhaust your body you become more susceptible to injuries whilst out playing. Yes, it will probably screw with their form also, but at this point Geelong at least is a lock in the finals, and I think they've proven to us all that they can easily pick up their form after long breaks or injuries or just after not playing well.

Will be interesting to see how it pans out.

 

[bresker]

Rocket totally denied they were doing it in his press conference - he couldn't have made it any more clear that they weren't doing it.

Rocket is a big fat liar. He never tells the truth at pressers.

 

[Smyth94]

Meh, these exercises would be nothing compared to what T-Shirt Tommy Hafey put his great Tiger sides through in the 70s, and it didn't stop them from being massively successful in that era.

??

A player from the 70's wouldn't last one training session in this day and age.

 

[Gavin Excell]

Rocket totally denied they were doing it in his press conference - he couldn't have made it any more clear that they weren't doing it.

Yet Boyd when interviewed on SEN Saturday morning spoke at length about the increased training regime................

 

[Adz]

Yet Boyd when interviewed on SEN Saturday morning spoke at length about the increased training regime................

It's a handy 'get of of jail card' for the players isn't it

 

[flamethrower]

The performance of the pretenders at Whitten Oval yesterday had more to do with what happens above the shoulders than below the shoulders.

 

[Footy Matt]

I play soccer at a pretty high level and I can tell you right now, I play a lot better on the Saturday when I have done minimal training during the week. Then again, my fitness never seems to change no matter how much or little fitness training I do. Pre season is the time to build up fitness levels. From there, the match days should be enough to keep it. IMO anyway.

 

[Kahuna]

I thought all teams would of learnt of the crows but they haven't.

 

[Monkey King]

??

A player from the 70's wouldn't last one training session in this day and age.

And you could equally claim the same in reverse. A modern day player would wonder what the hell he'd got himself into being flogged on the training track mid-week.

In fact I think the 70's player would have the easier time of it between the two considering the emphasis on player management. Pre-season is when guys from earlier era's would be doubled over yelling Europe at the grass.

 

[NTRabbit]

He did? Was he involved with them then?

Craig was the fitness coach under Blight during 97/98

 

[I_Am_The_Lid]

With the way St.Kilda is playing football at the moment does fitness really matter? They allow opposition players to take about two steps into their run before three of them tackle the player to the ground, cause a turn over and kick a goal. Yesterdays match was more like rugby union than Aussie rules.
Don't worry about how fast you can run, practice pin point passing, dodging, weaving, and praying to everyone and everything just to hedge your bets.

 

[afl genius]

Hard to tell if it works at this stage of the season, and we know very little being on the outside of football clubs(in regards to how much harder the workload has become), but you would think with the Dogs efforts yesterday, and the Cats players dropping like fly's and playing players that clearly arnt fit such as Ablett,SJ etc you would think its probably not a great move, might be one of those things that works sometimes but doesn't work other times. We'll see down the track i guess

 

[mcgarnacle]

I thought all teams would of learnt of the crows but they haven't.

they learnt that you can have ordinary regular seasons, even get flogged in your 1st final, but then win the premiership on the back of 1 outstanding month of football - 2 years in a row.

seriously, how do people here know more than the guys who make this sort of thing their profession? there's a gradual increase in volume, and games are taken into account in the overall workload. Players are hooked up to GPS, heartrate monitors, etc where results are analysed and programs tailored to the data, and the player.

 

[StringyDog]

Rocket totally denied they were doing it in his press conference - he couldn't have made it any more clear that they weren't doing it.

And you actually believed that despite the fact that several players; Aker, Higgins, Boyd etc all commented on it last week....Eade telling porky pies as to not look like they were taking Freo and Weagles games lightly to conincide with training, which they were and it backfired.

seriously, how do people here know more than the guys who make this sort of thing their profession? there's a gradual increase in volume, and games are taken into account in the overall workload. Players are hooked up to GPS, heartrate monitors, etc where results are analysed and programs tailored to the data, and the player.

Exactly, these fitness/sports science guys know there job or they won't have a job. It however is not an exact science and the minute something doesn't quite go to play everyone jumps on it as a total failure (although I don't think losing to Weagles was part of the plan for bulldogs)