Filed under: Dan Cottrell, Rugby Coaching, Rugby Team Management | Tags: Better Rugby Coaching, fitness, injury prevention, recovery, team management
August 26
Day of rest
You know you have a long season ahead. But your players will forget that as they throw themselves around in an attempt to be ready for the season.
Can you afford to have a day of rest? Well, unless you are a professional team, you are likely not to see the players every day of the week. But, you can still help them manage their levels of workload so they can be fit and ready for the season.
1. Honesty diary: have them write out their previous week’s activity. They should include any training outside club training, plus any other sporting activity. They should say if they have been out or had late nights. Frankly, some will lie (if not most!). But the focus helps them see the week in the context of playing a game.
2. From the honesty diary you can give them a fair idea of whether should up their training levels, and where they should be resting. The diary also gives you a better idea of their lifestyles.
3. A day of rest is a day when no training takes place and the players keep off their feet as much as their working/school lives allow them.
4. Publish a diary or schedule of events up to the first game of the season. This gives them a better idea of how to plan their week to make sure they have not done too much at the wrong end of the week.
AND
Make sure you have a day of rest. If you are like me, then you will be so excited before the start of the season that you do not rest your mind from rugby. It is a long season ahead, and you need to keep your own rugby energy levels up.
