High performance

[Freagle]

Earlier this week, I attended a seminar as part of a soccer coaches course I am doing. I'm coaching my son's team, and he's just made it into the rep academy, hence the need to learn a few new skills. The seminar was hosted by the regional representative soccer association, and the speaker was allegedly Australia's top sports scientist and best-known high performance manager. As well as consulting to the soccer academy, he ALSO happens to work with the mighty manly Sea Eagles.

I must confess, i had little idea what a high performance manager actually did. I figure many are in the same boat as me...so put very basically, he looks at all parts of a player's routine, and makes sure they are fully optimised to literally perform at their best. This might involve organising the flights to a game in, say, Auckland, and in so doing he is making sure players will factor in enough sleep and won't be rushing around to get to flights; making sure there is ice to cool players down during hot games and training; making sure of the availability of decent food where they happen to be staying; mapping a player's performance during training with those little GPS and heart rate trackers; liaising with other coaches for things like strength, diet etc to make sure they all work together, etc. He said he was basically an 'integrator', who got all the key parts working together properly.

A few things of note:
HE said that NRL players are "unbelievably tough athletes".

Apparently, all other clubs (in soccer at least) aspire to have players "as fit as the beachies". What does that mean? Well apparently, kids brought up on the beaches (Manly, Cronulla districts etc) are inherently fitter and more physically developed than kids who grow up in, say Blacktown or the Hills district. It took him nearly two years to get the academy kids where he currently consults, up to the same physical standard as kids from the Manly club, for example.

Anyway - back to work for me. Just wanted to pass on that I NOW KNOW WHAT A HIGH PERFORMANCE MANAGER ACTUALLY DOES!

 

[HappilyManly]

It's the negative ions from the moving water and running on the sand

 

[Woodsie]

Earlier this week, I attended a seminar as part of a soccer coaches course I am doing. I'm coaching my son's team, and he's just made it into the rep academy, hence the need to learn a few new skills. The seminar was hosted by the regional representative soccer association, and the speaker was allegedly Australia's top sports scientist and best-known high performance manager. As well as consulting to the soccer academy, he ALSO happens to work with the mighty manly Sea Eagles.

I must confess, i had little idea what a high performance manager actually did. I figure many are in the same boat as me...so put very basically, he looks at all parts of a player's routine, and makes sure they are fully optimised to literally perform at their best. This might involve organising the flights to a game in, say, Auckland, and in so doing he is making sure players will factor in enough sleep and won't be rushing around to get to flights; making sure there is ice to cool players down during hot games and training; making sure of the availability of decent food where they happen to be staying; mapping a player's performance during training with those little GPS and heart rate trackers; liaising with other coaches for things like strength, diet etc to make sure they all work together, etc. He said he was basically an 'integrator', who got all the key parts working together properly.

A few things of note:
HE said that NRL players are "unbelievably tough athletes".

Apparently, all other clubs (in soccer at least) aspire to have players "as fit as the beachies". What does that mean? Well apparently, kids brought up on the beaches (Manly, Cronulla districts etc) are inherently fitter and more physically developed than kids who grow up in, say Blacktown or the Hills district. It took him nearly two years to get the academy kids where he currently consults, up to the same physical standard as kids from the Manly club, for example.

Anyway - back to work for me. Just wanted to pass on that I NOW KNOW WHAT A HIGH PERFORMANCE MANAGER ACTUALLY DOES!

Thanks for that Freagle .... did you tell him that according to Silvertail wisdom .... Coaching staff and resources such as he in the modern era ... are not needed ... and are just Barrett being silly ....

 

[Woodsie]

It's the negative ions from the moving water and running on the sand

..... or chasing girls in bikinis .....

 

[wombatgc]

Earlier this week, I attended a seminar as part of a soccer coaches course I am doing. I'm coaching my son's team, and he's just made it into the rep academy, hence the need to learn a few new skills. The seminar was hosted by the regional representative soccer association, and the speaker was allegedly Australia's top sports scientist and best-known high performance manager. As well as consulting to the soccer academy, he ALSO happens to work with the mighty manly Sea Eagles.

I must confess, i had little idea what a high performance manager actually did. I figure many are in the same boat as me...so put very basically, he looks at all parts of a player's routine, and makes sure they are fully optimised to literally perform at their best. This might involve organising the flights to a game in, say, Auckland, and in so doing he is making sure players will factor in enough sleep and won't be rushing around to get to flights; making sure there is ice to cool players down during hot games and training; making sure of the availability of decent food where they happen to be staying; mapping a player's performance during training with those little GPS and heart rate trackers; liaising with other coaches for things like strength, diet etc to make sure they all work together, etc. He said he was basically an 'integrator', who got all the key parts working together properly.

A few things of note:
HE said that NRL players are "unbelievably tough athletes".

Apparently, all other clubs (in soccer at least) aspire to have players "as fit as the beachies". What does that mean? Well apparently, kids brought up on the beaches (Manly, Cronulla districts etc) are inherently fitter and more physically developed than kids who grow up in, say Blacktown or the Hills district. It took him nearly two years to get the academy kids where he currently consults, up to the same physical standard as kids from the Manly club, for example.

Anyway - back to work for me. Just wanted to pass on that I NOW KNOW WHAT A HIGH PERFORMANCE MANAGER ACTUALLY DOES!

Well done to your son for making it to the rep side @Freagle
When I was coaching the u/10s league side twelve years ago, besides having a cpl ex NRL players sons in the side,
we had a HPM’s kid in there as well. I knew who he was as he’d won several silver medals over many years in the Olympics for Kayaking. But for a busted knee when he was 18, there was no doubt he would’ve been massive in rugby league......anyway (I’m getting to my point.....slowly), he was consulting to various league and AFL clubs in HP. As the season went on, I took every opportunity to pick his brain. He was happy to share his knowledge when he could. Many a time I’d be in the car park talking science long after training had finished (the kids thought it was great too, as they were able to run amok after dark with no adult supervision!). It was fascinating. He was very much on the cutting edge of technology. Sometimes he was too advanced, as old school trainers were reluctant to take his advice. Stuff like the tracking and collection and breakdown of a players performance stats at game level and at training level he was trying to introduce back then. Interestingly, he said the two coaches who really embraced the science was Ricky Stuart and Des (no shock there). Yes he did some consultancy work with Manly back then. (Great for me, as he hated Manly as a fan, so all the Manly clothing they’d give him to wear, he’d give it to me at training .....I was filthy when he stopped, and went full time with the Brisbane Lions! ).
I love the science in our game. I can’t imagine where it’s going to be in ten years time.

 

[Loobs]

It's from training at high altitude levels of 1-2 feet above sea level...

 

[Freagle]

It's the negative ions from the moving water and running on the sand

Funny - he's actually not a big believer in doing eclectic fitness stuff such as running up sand dunes. He said it was all very well and good if the aim was a bit of team bonding, and doing something in a different environment, but would much rather see the team training at their actual sport for achieving fitness.

 

[Nike]

High performance is me ****posting on Silvertails after a couple of bongs.

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

..... or chasing girls in bikinis .....

No, it’s the high performance after that really!!

Funny, I never got told I was “ high Performance “....sigh.

 

[Freagle]

Well done to your son for making it to the rep side @Freagle
When I was coaching the u/10s league side twelve years ago, besides having a cpl ex NRL players sons in the side,
we had a HPM’s kid in there as well. I knew who he was as he’d won several silver medals over many years in the Olympics for Kayaking. But for a busted knee when he was 18, there was no doubt he would’ve been massive in rugby league......anyway (I’m getting to my point.....slowly), he was consulting to various league and AFL clubs in HP. As the season went on, I took every opportunity to pick his brain. He was happy to share his knowledge when he could. Many a time I’d be in the car park talking science long after training had finished (the kids thought it was great too, as they were able to run amok after dark with no adult supervision!). It was fascinating. He was very much on the cutting edge of technology. Sometimes he was too advanced, as old school trainers were reluctant to take his advice. Stuff like the tracking and collection and breakdown of a players performance stats at game level and at training level he was trying to introduce back then. Interestingly, he said the two coaches who really embraced the science was Ricky Stuart and Des (no shock there). Yes he did some consultancy work with Manly back then. (Great for me, as he hated Manly as a fan, so all the Manly clothing they’d give him to wear, he’d give it to me at training .....I was filthy when he stopped, and went full time with the Brisbane Lions! ).
I love the science in our game. I can’t imagine where it’s going to be in ten years time.

Great stuff - I got the distinct impression that this guy was very keen to talk sport science all day long as well. He did show us a lot of collected data on the players, and how they broke it down, average distances run, top speeds, tapering for match days etc. Interesting stuff!

And yes, my boy is thrilled to be there. He's not a natural athlete (like his old man was, cough cough) but lives for sport, and has tried to get into rep sides (soccer, cricket etc) for years. It now starts to become evident that hard work and perseverance does eventually pay off!

 

[HappilyManly]

..... or chasing girls in bikinis .....

Hmm, ogling surfers

 

[HappilyManly]

Funny - he's actually not a big believer in doing eclectic fitness stuff such as running up sand dunes. He said it was all very well and good if the aim was a bit of team bonding, and doing something in a different environment, but would much rather see the team training at their actual sport for achieving fitness.

I meant its what we did as kids.

Lots of fresh salty air to boost our lungs and mineral rich water we are constantly in

 

[Mark from Brisbane]

Hmm, ogling surfers

It’s a boy thing!!

 

[Freagle]

I meant its what we did as kids.

Lots of fresh salty air to boost our lungs and mineral rich water we are constantly in

You’re absolutely right...more and more I compare my upbringing in Manly, to what my kids do nowadays. And it ain’t a healthy comparison, not by a very long stretch. We were either surfing, playing footy in the park, kicking field goals for hours, tennis across the street, riding skateboards down Osborne rd, cricket on Little Manly beach, riding our bikes at the Gasworks...the options were just endless.

 

[Woodsie]

You’re absolutely right...more and more I compare my upbringing in Manly, to what my kids do nowadays. And it ain’t a healthy comparison, not by a very long stretch. We were either surfing, playing footy in the park, kicking field goals for hours, tennis across the street, riding skateboards down Osborne rd, cricket on Little Manly beach, riding our bikes at the Gasworks...the options were just endless.

I remember cheering when Terry Hill made a stand against going on the preseason road runs at Manly .... Apart from the stress he said it put on his old knees .... His agrument was he was a speed and explosive athlete not a stamina athlete and needed to train accordingly .... sprint and recovery work ... of course at the time he was lampooned ..... he was ahead of his time ....

Pss ... I was remiss in not congratulating your son .... well done ....

 

[Freagle]

I remember cheering when Terry Hill made a stand against going on the preseason road runs at Manly .... Apart from the stress he said it put on his old knees .... His agrument was he was a speed and explosive athlete not a stamina athlete and needed to train accordingly .... sprint and recovery work ... of course at the time he was lampooned ..... he was ahead of his time ....

Pss ... I was remiss in not congratulating your son .... well done ....

Probably not far off the mark really. But then, overall aerobic fitness is definitely enhanced by a solid road run every now and then. I think Tezza was the sort of player who (like Cliffy) could probably turn up after a massive bender and carton of cigarettes and still carve up the opposition.

 

[HoldenV8]

High performance is me ****posting on Silvertails after a couple of bongs.

 

[Woodsie]

Probably not far off the mark really. But then, overall aerobic fitness is definitely enhanced by a solid road run every now and then. I think Tezza was the sort of player who (like Cliffy) could probably turn up after a massive bender and carton of cigarettes and still carve up the opposition.

Not well known but local folklore has Ray Brannigan enjoying a gasper out the back of the sheds at half time during his first game at Brookie .... when chipped about it he alledgedly replied he was good enough to sign having a smoke at half time so should be good enough to keep doing it ...... Don't know about the sainted Ray Ritchie's playing days but he chained smoked like a trooper during his coaching days ....