ATHLETIC DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP - NOTES

The Kilmacud Crokes "Athletic Development for Young Players" workshop, on March 10th in Colaiste Eoin proved a resounding success.  Over 90 coaches representing all sections of Crokes attended. Thank you one and all. Thanks also to Ian Madigan and Ian McKinley for their assistance and finally thanks to Daniel Tobin for a very well presented and insightful presentation. If anybody has any questions on implementing some of the ideas dont hesitate to contact Niall Corcoran or myself.

Yours in Sport, Paraic Mc Donald 086-2244265

Click here to access the workshop notes (pasted below also)

Increase knowledge of some fundamentalmovement patterns and acceleration technique in order to develop athleticability in young Gaelic footballers

Workshop format

Coaching fundamental movements:

Squat

-         Feet hip-shoulder width apart

-         Toes pointing straight ahead(or slightly out)

-         Begin descent by sitting intothe squat

-         Keep chest up and back flat (orin slight extension)

-         Flex equally from hip and kneeuntil a below parallel position is achieved (hip level below knee level)

         Position at the bottom of thesquat should have a slightly-extended back position with no rounding of the lower back, with torso and shin angleparallel

         The feet should notmove from the starting position with the heel remaining in contact with theground

-         Start with feet hip width apart

-         Keeping that width step outinto a lunge position

-         On the descent of the lunge,hip-knee-ankle of the front leg should remain in-line

-         Both hips should also remainsquare (i.e. on the same level)

-         Keep torso and chest upright

-         Back remains flat or in aposition of slight extension

-         Ensure the player gets througha full ROM in the lunge

-         On the ascent the leg pushesthrough the floor to initiate the movement (i.e. the upper body does notinitiate the ascent)

-         The principles of alignment inthe lunge are the same for any single-leg movement, particularly regarding thestable positioning of the hip and knee joint

Push-up

-         Start with hands shoulder width  apart

-         Shoulder blades are kept downand back (no shrugging of the shoulders)

-         Tighten the glutes and make sure there’s a straight-line from shoulder-hip-ankle

-         Descend slowly for a 3-4 second count

-         The core and glutes shouldremain activated with a straight-line through shoulder-hip-ankle

-         Shoulders remain down and back

-         At the end of the descent atthe full range of motion begin the ascent in the same manner

-         To test the player in a push-upposition- ask them to hold for 3-4 seconds at any point during the motion

-         A player may be able tocomplete a large number of push-ups but still have poor scapula (shoulderblade) control which is very important for performance and injury prevention

Example of a functional movement “warm-up”

Single-leg hoppinggame- hand pass only

Pause 1:               Eyes closed on same side and hold20-30 secs

Continue game

Pause 2:               Eyes closed on opposite side andhold 20-30 secs

Continue game

Pause 3:               Partner push on same leg- goal isto push opposite player off balance

Continue game

Pause 4:               Single-leg hop to hold x 5 es

Technique and Variations:

-         Squat(including isometric, partner assisted, med ball squat, squat to ball)

-         Lunge(include multidirectional and rotational movements)

-         Single-legsquat movements (include partner, isometric)

-         Rear chainexercises: Single-leg RDL and eccentric hamstring drops

-         Tripleextension exercises- jump squats, med ball throws

Upper Limb Strength:

-         Push-up(include varied tempo, isometric holds, incline partner push-up)

-         I-Y-T-W-U

-         Wheelbarrowwalks with scapula stability

-         Partnerpull-ups

-         Chins offthe cross-bar

Acceleration Technique:

10m acceleration-observe first run

10m acceleration- focuson head down, eyes on the shoes

10m acceleration- focuson punching the knee to the chest

10m acceleration- focuson pushing the leg hard through the floor

10m acceleration- focuson driving the arms hard and fast from a 90 deg position (arm drill performedprior)

Introduce wall drill asan all encompassing drill for acceleration

Guidelines forbodyweight strength prior to adding external loads