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

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!!!

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!

London Scottish Training Video April 2012

Snap Shot

Here’s a look in at what one of my Athletes is looking like at the moment as my squad prepare for a very important part of the season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lH0-lnVB6o&feature=youtu.be

Locker 27 Short Clip

 

 

 

 

Whats an Easier Job….Preseason or In Season ??

The Preseason is the Strength and Conditioning Coaches busiest time-his bread and butter so to speak – So much planning, testing, retesting and so much to deliver. The Director of Rugby will hand 90% of the sessions to the S&C Coach (at least he should) in order to prepare the players for the tough season ahead and this will last anything from 6-12 weeks-it’s bloody hard work but of course very enjoyable (for the coach!!).

This is a challenge of course but in my opinion the In Season training is an even bigger strain on the S & C Coach. How do you keep getting Fitter, Stronger, Faster????

Honestly….you DON’T because you cant! In our league, The Championship, we have a game every week. Sometimes the games are on a Friday/Saturday-sometimes on a Sunday, so the week make up can mean an 8,7,6 or even 5 day turn around.

So to try and get my athletes any fitter, stronger or faster is pretty much impossible so the key to it is getting the players to recover and maintain what they have achieved in the busy Preseason period.

Its all about getting your players FRESH for the weekly battle.

I’ll Blog about what methods I use to help with recovery and maintain the performance levels of my Athletes as well as how I am preparing London Scottish for the Play Offs in March.

Elko

Don’t Make Mistakes In The Championship

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Haven’t blogged for a while so I thought I’d do something a little different…..currently sitting on the coach on the way up to play Nottingham…… on a Sunday!!!
The Championship is in its 2nd year and it is already proving to be a fantastically challenging league for all the teams.

The Pirates drew for the 3rd time yesterday and we are not even half way through the season. Bedford, who’s home Goldington Road in previous years has been a fortress, went down to Leeds Carnigie yesterday and Rotherham who sneaked into the Top 8 last season comprehensibly beat league leaders Brisol to go 2nd.

What is clear to me is that if teams dont turn up and play well and consistently for 80+ minutes they will lose. With London Scottish, we have been there or there abouts in all are league games so far, bar the Bristol game. The difference between the teams that we have played and ourselves is that they have taken their chances ruthlessly. Its something we as a group are learning to deal with…dont make mistakes and when the opposition make a mistake punish them and SCORE!

We know this afternoon will be difficult, Nottingham are a very professional outfit led from the top by Glen Delanney, however we fear no one and have had some exciting additions to our squad over the last 2 weeks , be in no doubt at we are on our way to Nottingham to play.

New Signings: Alfredo Lalanne (Argentina) Augustin Gosio (Argentina)

New Dual Registered Players: Elliot Daly (London Wasps) David Sisi & Guy Armitage (both London Irish)

The Big I….

If you are going to coach your athletes anything coach them the importance of Intensity.  Intensity by definition is; Strength/Amplitude/Level/Magnitude. The gym should be the epicentre for your sporting organisation. In elite sport if you don’t have The ”Big  I”, forget it.

He def had the Big I

For the last 4 weeks I have been in my new role as Head of Strength and Conditioning at London Scottish Rugby Club and when I arrived the biggest thing I noticed was a lack of intensity. Without it nothing really happiness, guys ‘turn up’ for training, they ‘get through’ the sessions but the results are minimal and the culture of the place can be cancerous.

If you compare the first session my guys did  to what they are doing right now it is night and day. I can’t tell you how happy I am with their effort and change in attitude. Guys rush to training, get there early ready to go, they don’t ‘get through’ the session they smash whatever is put in front of them and push every one around them to do the same.

An organisation with intensity is a winning organisation and luckily intensity can be established anywhere by educating your athletes. By explaining what they can achieve, why rest time is as important as what they are lifting and how many times.  By getting them into organizing and planing their workout stations so they have smooth transition and efficiency. And most importantly when they do buy into it and the atmosphere in the gym changes, congratulate and praise them!

Establish intensity and watch your athletes achieve PB after PB.

Elko Signs For London Scottish

This week saw the official announcement by London Scottish of the signing of Strength and Conditioning Coach Simon Elkinson. Simon arrives the short distance from London rivals Esher Rugby Club where he spent 4 successful years as Head of Strength and Conditioning.

Its a great move for me…..although it’s sideways in terms of league position in reality its a major step up into a club with massive heritage, a professional outlook and huge ambition.

London Scottish indeed have great history-they were in the top flight before being absorbed along with neighbors Richmond into London Irish due to a financial situation and some strange decisions at the RFU. The fact that they have battled back up the leagues since being disbanded is a testament to the people behind the club and the supporters.

Elko joins a Coaching staff that is young and ambitious. Simon Amor is Head Coach and knows Elko very well having studied together at St Marys College and played together at London Irish.

Simon and I have been good friends for nearly 15 years. He is possibly the most driven guy I know and he runs a tight ship. With regular 121’s and a clear development plan for me. the players and the club every body knows what they are responsible for and are accountable.

Also on the coaching staff is Alex Codling who joins form Barking. Alex is a great forwards coach, his attention to detail matches his incredible passion for the game. He will have the Scottish forwards operating at a very aggressive and accurate level.

Alex is a great guy, he wears his heart on his sleeve and has one of the best rugby brains i have ever worked with.

One of the first things Elko has done is to offer Keir Wenham-Flatt the Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coaching position.

Keir is a young and up and coming practitioner, he works with London Wasps too and is already well respected. I believe the 2 of us will get the best out of each other and push the players to the levels they need. It was massively important to get someone in to compliment an already excellent coaching set up.

What are Elko’s goals for the upcoming season…

Firstly to improve the conditioning of the players, their capacity is not where I want it right now, but if they keep working as hard as they have done for the first 3 weeks then there will be no problems.

Secondly to catch up on some important self development. My time at Esher was very enjoyable, the players were outstanding to work with. But I lost sight of me and my personal goals as I was absorbed in trying to do too much at a club with a smaller set up and narrow chain of command. London Scottish have a clear goal in looking to develop their staff into industry leaders and that is something I am very interested in.

And thirdly…. Top 8 finish!

Simon will look to blog on Scottish matters at least once a month, with an inside look at Strength and Conditioning at a Championship Club.