Treanáil

 

Training schedules 2007:

 

Monday:   6.30-7.45 U14 Hurling – Brian Mulkerrins

 

Tuesday:  6.30-7.30 U12 Hurling Tom Mc Dermott

                 7.30-9.00 Inter/Junior/U21 Hurling – Kenneth Fox

 

Wednesday: 6.30-7.45  U-14 Hurling

                       U-10/U12/U14 Camogie Concepta Croke

 

Thursday:U-16 Hurling Brid Conneely

 

Friday: U-8 and U-10 hurling John Connell Aodh Davoren

 

Sunday 10.30-12.30: Minor and U-16 hurling Padraic Kelly

 

 

 

Useful Training related information:

 
Team Preparation

The key to success with any team is good organisation and careful planning. The following are some ideas on how to go about planning a successful seasons. Many of the problems that can arise between players, mentors and players or even between the mentors themselves can be overcome by planning.

1. The Mentors
The selection of mentors is vital. Having mentors who all have exactly the same attributes is not always helpful. You need a good mix of personnel who all have different skills and strengths. It is a good idea however to have people who can work together and have broadly the same philosophy about how the game should be played.

Role Definition:
It is important that each mentor knows exactly what role they have in the group.

·       Who does the ringing? Who makes out the session?

·       Who looks after the gear?

·       Who does the talking before the match and at half time etc?

Decision Making:

Normally there is one person who leads the group and they must be sensitive to rights of others while at the same time making sure there is clear direction. As a rule it is a bad idea to vote over team selection. The selector who loses the vote is going away unhappy with the team. Keep talking around the issue until some resolution can be met to satisfy every-one. Usually it involves a compromise such as "we can always change it if it isn't working".

2. Panels

Decide on the panels and make it clear how to get on the panel. Often the players may be on two panels such as senior and intermediate or hurling and football and it is up to both sets of mentors to be sensitive to the needs of the other panel, and more importantly the player themselves. It is very important that the player is not caught between two camps as inevitably everyone loses.

3. Team Meetings

It is useful to have team meeting at the start of the season. This meeting should address such aspects is:

Goal Setting:

It is very important that the team agrees a goal for itself before the season commences. These goals should be clear, precise, measurable, realistic, and should be written down. Not only should the team have goals, each player should have their own personal goals. These goals should be mainly performance goals. That is, the player should set out some specific aspects of their own game that they are going to improve this season. It could be their fitness level, speed, strength, passing ability, scoring rate, commitment, concentrating levels; anything that they feel will improve their performance. Again they should write them down.

Agreed Rules of Squad:
It is much more affective if the team sits down as a group and decides on realistic rules that each player should adhere to. What is the rule on punctuality, attendance, drinking of alcohol, diet, effort during training etc. Don't decide for instance that everyone will give up drink for the year unless everyone is totally committed to it.

Individual Responsibility:
Get the group to discuss what each player is personally responsible for, examples include fitness levels, diet, equipment, their mental preparation and their discipline are things that only the player themselves have control over and thus are entirely their responsibility. The morale in the squad, the encouragement of others, having a positive attitude at all times are the responsibilities of everyone involved in the squad and not just the coach or manager.

Various demands:
The squad should identify the differing demands that are on the members of the squad. Some are married, some are students, some are on shift work, and some are on other teams such as county panels and so on. It is useful if these demands are discussed openly and appropriate level of commitment that players need to give should be decided on.

4. Training

The coach needs to sit down with his backroom team and decide a training structure for the team. The important dates and fixtures need to be identified.

Training should then geared towards meeting the goals as outlined by the group. The aspect of training to be emphasised at a particular stage in the season needs to be decided on.

5. Equipment and Training Gear

A checklist of all gear that is required for training should be drawn up.

The smooth running of training session is vital to the smooth running of the team. If players come down and see an well-organised set-up and a coach who has prepared his session they are more likely to respond in a positive fashion. It is well documented that the most successful and experienced coaches spend much more time planning their sessions then the novice coach.

6. Aspects of Training

These are all areas that need to be incorporated into a comprehensive training programme. Deciding on how much of each and at what stage in the season you do each, is the key to developing a successful training programme.

 

What is the objective of endurance training ?

The objective of endurance training is to develop the energy production system(s) to meet the demands of the event. What are the energy production systems ?

In the human body, food energy is used to manufacture adenosine triphosphate (ATP) the chemical compound that supplies energy for muscular contraction. Since ATP is in very low concentrations in the muscle, and since it decreases only to a minor extent, even in the most intense voluntary contraction, tightly controlled energy pathways exist for the continual regeneration of ATP as muscular contraction continues. For continuous exercise, ATP must be re-synthesised at the same rate as it is utilised. What types of endurance are there ?
The types of endurance are Aerobic endurance, Anaerobic endurance, Speed endurance and Strength endurance. A sound basis of aerobic endurance is fundamental for all events.

Aerobic Endurance

Aerobic means 'with oxygen'. During aerobic work the body is working at a level that the demands for oxygen and fuel can be meet by the body's intake. The only waste products formed are carbon dioxide and water. These are removed as sweat and by breathing out.

Aerobic endurance can sub-divided as follows:

Aerobic endurance is developed through the use of

Interval training to improve the heart as a muscular pump.

 

Anaerobic endurance

Anaerobic means 'without oxygen'. During anaerobic work, involving maximum effort, the body is working so hard that the demands for oxygen and fuel exceed the rate of supply and the muscles have to rely on the stored reserves of fuel. In this case waste products accumulate, the chief one being lactic acid. The muscles, being starved of oxygen, take the body into a state known as oxygen debt. The body's stored fuel soon runs out and activity ceases - painfully. Activity will not be resumed until the lactic acid is removed and the oxygen debt repaid. Fortunately the body can resume limited activity after even only a small proportion of the oxygen debt has been repaid. Since lactic acid is produced the correct term for this pathway is lactic anaerobic energy pathway. The alactic anaerobic pathway is the one in which the body is working anaerobically but without the production of lactic acid. This pathway can exist only so long as the fuel actually stored in the muscle lasts, approximately 4 seconds at maximum effort.

Anaerobic endurance can sub-divided as follows:

·  Short anaerobic - less than 25 seconds (mainly alactic)

·  Medium anaerobic - 25 seconds to 60 seconds (mainly lactic)

·  Long anaerobic - 60 seconds to 120 seconds (lactic +aerobic)

Anaerobic endurance can be developed by using repetition methods of relatively high intensity work with limited recovery.

Speed endurance

Speed endurance is used to develop the co-ordination of muscle contraction in the climate of endurance. Repetition methods are used with a high number of sets, low number of repetitions per set and an intensity greater than 85% with distances covered from 60% to 120% of racing distance. Competition and time trials can be used in the development of speed endurance.

 

Strength endurance

Strength endurance is used to develop the athlete's capacity to maintain the quality of their muscles' contractile force in a climate of endurance. All athletes need to develop a basic level of strength endurance.

 

 

Injury Prevention

Like most athletes, you undoubtedly want to lower your chances of incurring an injury while participating in your favorite sport. Injuries decrease the amount of time you can spend in leisure activities, lower your fitness, downgrade competitive performance, and can lead to long term health problems such as arthritis. There are some general rules for injury avoidance which apply to all sports. Sports scientists suggest that injury rates could be reduced by 25% if athletes took appropriate preventative action.

Common Misconceptions

Coaches and athletes believe that males have higher injury rates than females. Male and female athletes have about the same injury rate per hour of training. Among runners it is considered that training speed is the cause of injuries (Speed Kills) but research indicates that there is no link between speed and injury risk.

Do not overdo it

The amount of training you carry out plays a key role in determining your real injury risk Studies have shown that your best direct injury predictor may be the amount of training you completed last month. Fatigued muscles do a poor job of protecting their associated connective tissues, increasing the risk of damage to bone, cartilage, tendons and ligaments. If you are a runner, the link between training quantity and injury means that the total mileage is an excellent indicator of your injury risk. The more miles you accrue per week, the higher the chances of injury. One recent investigation found a marked upswing in injury risk above 40 miles of running per week.

The two best predictors of injury

If you have been injured before you are much more likely to get hurt than an athlete who has been injury free. Regular exercises has a way of uncovering the weak areas of the body. If you have knees that are put under heavy stress, because of your unique biomechanics during exercises, your knees are likely to hurt when you engage in your sport for a prolonged time. After recovery you re-establish your desired training load without modification to your biomechanics then your knees are likely to be injured again.

The second predictor of injury is probably the number of consecutive days of training you carry out each week. Scientific studies strongly suggest that reducing the number of consecutive days of training can lower the risk of injury Recovery time reduces injury rates by giving muscles and connective tissues an opportunity to restore and repair themselves between work-outs.

Psychological Factors

Some studies have shown that athletes who are aggressive, tense, and compulsive have a higher risk of injury than their relaxed peers. Tension may make muscles and tendons taughter, increasing the risk that they will be harmed during work-outs.

Weak Muscles

Many injuries are caused by weak muscles which simply are not ready to handle the specific demands of your sport. This is why people who start a running programme for the first time often do well for a few weeks but then, as they add the mileage on, suddenly develop foot or ankle problems, hamstring soreness or perhaps lower back pain. Their bodies simply are not strong enough to cope with the demands of the increased training load. For this reason, it is always wise to couple resistance training with regular training.

Muscle imbalance

Screening for muscle imbalances is the current cutting edge of injury prevention. The rationale behind this is that there are detectable and correctable abnormalities of muscle strength and length that are fundamental to the development of almost all musculoskeletal pain and dysfunction. Detection of these abnormalities and correction before injury has occurred should be part of any injury prevention strategy. Assessment of muscle strength and balance and regular sports massage can be beneficial in this strategy.

Make it specific

Resistance training can fortify muscles and make them less susceptible to damage, especially if the strength building exercises involve movements that are similar to those associated with the sport. Time should be devoted to developing the muscle groups, strength training, appropriate to the demands of your sport. If you are a thrower then lots of time should be spent developing muscles at the front of the shoulder which increases the force with which you can throw, but you must also work systematically on the muscles at the back of the shoulder which control and stabilise the shoulder joint.

Injury Prevention Tips

Coaches

The key is rapid action when the injury first appears and a lot of psychological support to back up the remedial treatment. It is when things are not going well that the athlete really needs their coach

 

Treatment of Acute Sporting Injuries

Immediate treatment for almost all acute athletic injuries is Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation (RICE).

Rest is instituted immediatley to minimize hemorrhage, injury and swelling. Ice causes dermal vasoconstriction and helps limit inflammation and reduce pain. Compression and elevation help limit edema. The injured part should be elevated. A bag that is chemically cooled or filled with chipped or crushed ice (which will conform bette than ice cubes to body contours) should be placed on a towel over the injured part. An elastic bandage should be wrapped over the ice bag and around the injured part, loosely enough to permit blood flow. After 10 min, the wrapping and the ice bag should be removed, but the injured part should be kept elevated. After a further 10 min, the ice bag and the wrapping should be replaced. Ten minutes with and without ice should be alternated for 60 to 90 mi. This procedure can be repeated several times during the first 24h.

Pathology of ice application

Cold limits swelling by vasoconstruction and reduction in capillary permeability. It helps to limit pain by reducing impulse transmission from pain receptors. It limits muscle spasm by reducing impulse tranmission from tendon receptors to muscles. It limits tissue destruction by decreasing cellular metabolism. Prolonged application of ice, however, can cause vasodilation, increased swelling, pain, and tissue destruction.

Supports and splints

In most injuries, pain is greatly reduced if the injured part is immobolized correctly. Supportive bandaging or splinting reduces stress, prevents painful movements, and helps control the swelling which is produced when tissues of any kind are damaged. Inflatable splints are a very convenient method of providing a comfortable, removable, adjustable support to a led or an arm. A simple splinting method is to tie one injured part to a neighbouring uninjured part, with crepe bandages, cotton bandages, or scarves and towels. Splints and bandages should never be tight, as they can constrict the blood flow and cause further damage. To check the circulation, you should press on the thum-nail or toe-nail on the bandaged limb, to see whether the blood returns to the nail immediately after the pressure has turned it white. If the blood return is sluggish, the bandage must be loosened or removed immediately. It is best not to use non-stretch strapping as a first-aid binding.

Applying heat

Whereas cold therapy can be applied immediately to an injury, and continued through the rehabilitation phases for as long as there is swelling, bruising and pain, heat should only be applied, if at all, in the recovery phases of rehabilitation. Applying heat draws blood to the skin under the heat source. This tends to increase internal bleeding or fluid exudate (swelling) in an immediate injury. Therefore heat is not appropriate in first-aid. Heat is used later on to relieve muscle tension, promoting relaxation.

Creams

Massage, like heat, aggravates the situation when an injury has just happened. Any cream applied must be laid gently on the skin and allowed to soak in. If you rub it in, not only do you risk increasing internal bleeding, but you could stimulate blood clotting and bone formation in torn muscle fibres.

Useful links

How to test fitness: www.topendsports.com

A-Z of injuries: www.medisport.co.uk

Other club sites: http://www.clubgaa.ie/