Here We Go Again

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Preseason started again and if I’m honest it is the most excited I have ever been in my career. Much is to do with witnessing the hard work done of the pitch my Director of Rugby Simon Amor-mostly in the way of new signings

When I arrived last season at London Scottish it was very late and there was a lot of work to be done with the players. There was an element of fire fighting and learning about the players and the environment as I went a long. There just wasn’t time to strip the program back and start from fresh I just had to get the players strong and powerful. To be fair to the players they worked very hard but I wasn’t particularly happy with what I was able to give them.

This time around it is very different-I have spent a season with these athletes and over that time I have seen their strengths and weaknesses-whilst observing them work I have been  analyzing and taking in how they move and function in the gym and on the field. At the season  it was time to review and evaluate last seasons work and produce the next stage of London Scottish’s  Strength and Conditioning program. If I’m honest I’d give myself a 6 out of 10 solid job but much to improve on.

SEASON END

The season was long and hard-it was clear the players had given it their all and needed a break-4 week block of complete rest

OFF SEASON

I looked at an NFL type model making sessions available daily but they were voluntary set Corrective Exercise Programs for the players looking at an injury prevention and structural balance strategy.

PRESEASON

The Strength and Conditioning emphasis has been determined by the needs and objectives of the Coaching staff. The clear message was that the squad needed to be fitter for how we are going  to play. So with that clear instruction I have looked at a much more aerobic orientated first phase of training. This has been difficult and taken me out of my comfort zone as traditionally i have used a more power based approach-but having read Bakers paper on the use of Maximum Aerobic Speed to help with developing and improving the VO2 levels of athletes, I am much more comfortable with it – Recent trends in high intensity aerobic training for field sports Dan Baker .Another instruction from the coaching staff was to have a system where they could visually see where each player was at any time without me being there. We came up with a very simple traffic light system using 5 parameters:

• Lactic Tolerance (150M Shuttle Test)
• Aerobic Ability (O’Neill Test-Rower)
• Body Fat (7 Site Skinfolds)
• Strength (100kg Bench Press)
• Power (Counter Movement Jump-CMJ)

Along with these tests we are monitoring weekly load, fatigue (using CMJ) and ratios between front:back squat and external rotation if the shoulder:bench press.

Much thanks to Rob Walsh (Harrow/Middlesex Uni) and Jonathan Griffin (St Mary’s Uni) for sharing ideas over coffee 😉

Keep an eye on the blog – I’ll try to keep you all up to date on the progress of the players and how the new approach and systems are shaping up. Please post any questions/comments you may have.

ELKO

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Survival Of The Fittest….

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I am not going to lie…Saturday was the sweetest feeling I have felt in my career so far….

I laid it out in my last Blog post how big Saturdays game was going to be and those of you that were there will confirm what a big match it was. In short we had to secure a bonus point to be safe and we secured 2 !!

Both teams gave it every thing to try and SURVIVE in The Championship-Esher at last playing to there Strengths- running from everywhere without fear without the shackles of a game plan.

And my boys-London Scottish-I cannot connvey how proud I am of how we played,how we reacted to the 5 Esher tries, how the pressure never got to us. Every time Esher scored the Scottish boys huddled and set out what the next job was. At no point did we panic even at half time trailing 12-21. In fact it was the calmest half time meet I can remember this season-the players sat took on fluids-the coaches talked then the players talked-nothing was to change stick to the GAME PLAN!

The game plan was to play structured and disciplined Rugby, drive the lineouts as much as possible, to keep the work rate higher than our opponents, to pressurise the Esher set piece and to keep pressing in defense-to quote  our defense coach, Alex Codling before and at half time;

keep coming forward in D we will score off an interception

How right he was as we sealed our Championship status with an intercept try from Charlie Hayter.

This coolness under pressure didn’t just happen by accident I put it down to 2 main ingredients-

1 Amor and Codling prepared the London Scottish team to play Esher throughly and left no stone un turned-the work done enababled our players to see weakness in their game and recognise our key strengths.

2. The players gave it their all and left nothing on the pitch-every single player emptied the tank. However the key was that despite giving everything and playing with great intensity the players kept their minds in the fridge and made precise professional decisions that got us the outcome we deserved. No stupid off loads or penalties just disciplined yard by yard inch by inch play.

Please enjoy the following video that features our tries v Esher on Saturday to keep us in The Championship and also David Howells try that got us promoted last season. And please feel fee to comment….

Please note how hard the LS squad celebrated each score which was a key objective before the game!!!

No Doubts…. Just Play

 

 

There comes a time as a Strength & Conditioning Coach when you are out of control and there is nothing more you can do. You have planned and delivered your programs and your athletes have applied themselves and worked their butts off.

I am in that situation right now while I write this-Its a strange feeling but its a great feeling because I know we are ready- I know we have dotted the ”i’s” and crossed the ”t’s” -the athletes are primed and rested up. The hard work was done months ago, the fitness testing, the conditioning, the lifting, the early mornings, the late finishes, the ice baths and a hell of a lot more.

There are no doubts just massive excitement to see my players get out there and perform and trust in the enormous effort they have put in since July.

 

121 & Group Sessions With Elko

Simon Elkinson is an experienced Fitness Trainer and Rugby Coach. He has worked at the highest levels in the game, including professionally on a personal level at premiership level; Coupled with this he has a Sports Science Degree and is a top Strength and Conditioning Coach for male and female elite athletes.

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SPRING 2012 COURSE – The course will begin at on Tuesday 10^th April 2012 & will run on consecutive Tuesdays until the 29^th of May. £70 for 8 weeks .  Circuit training, boxing and running with an emphasis on keeping it fun!

 

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SUMMER COURSE – (as above) dates to be confirmed, but please contact me now to reserve your space.

 

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So It’s Come Down To This….

This Saturday the final game of the season will mean huge celebrations and relief to one team and devastation to the other. My team London Scottish are at home to my old team Esher in the final relegation playoff game of The Championship season.

The game promises to be a cracker with a full house expected at the Richmond Athletic Ground (3pm)-there is a lot of history between the teams and there will be no love loss. The teams have already met 5 times this season with Scottish edging it 3-2 with most of the games being close and tense affairs.

2 seasons ago the 2 teams were battling in National 1 for promotion and Esher won both of those games in firey encounters. The team that goes down will see their RFU funding slashed from a large 6 figure sum to £7k so the implications for both clubs futures are massive.

As all of us that work in sport know what has gone before means nothing on the day.

The gap between the 2 teams as it stands is 5 points, thanks to Dan Mugfords last minute pressure kick away at Moseley last week, ensuring a losing bonus point for us, and Esher’s impressive thumping of Plymouth at home. London Scottish sit on 16 points with Esher on 11 with a much better points difference.

So the facts are:

• we WIN we are safe
• we sore 4 tries we are safe
• we stop Esher scoring 4 trys we are safe
• we lose by less than 7 points we are safe

It is incredible that after a whole season of games it has come down to the final 80 minutes but for those that know me well it was always going to come down to this-”I had a feeling as soon as the fixtures came out!”

What is crystal clear in our camp is that you get nothing without earning it-we are all, to a man, ready for this match, its time to empty the tank and earn the right to be a Championship team next season.

If you are in the Richmond area on Saturday please come down and watch what is going to be an amazing fixture! Go Scottish!

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London Scottish Training Video April 2012