Skills and fitness are easy to get. We all have potential and we can reach it by training enough in the right ways. Easy. Done. Why say more? Because training in the right ways is difficult, and in a team sport we need everyone around us to put in as much effort as we do. Skills and fitness are easy to get, effort is not.
Training is really important, not because of the beers you have afterward, but because you play the way you train. If you don't lay out in training, how will you lay out in a game? if you taper off as your opponent scores in front of you because it's only training, how wil lyou stick with them in a game? Your muscles remember what to do, and recall it quicker than your brain does. To be the best player you can be, you need to give your muscles the right memories, and those are ones of maximal effort when it counts.
Training as a team in a team sport allows for cohesion to form, and training with effort helps that. Not only does a layout pump you up, it pumps up everyone on your team. If that happens in training, it transfers to games. So next time you go out to train, remember to put in maximal effort. Your team deserves nothing less from you.
BOOOOOOOO! I took up Ultimate so I didn't have to train, but then it helps that I'm as good as I can possibly be anyways.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't scull a pint after training, how will you do it after a game?
ReplyDeleteYou have to remember there are really 2 types of players those that like to train hard and play hard and those that just enjoy playing the sport.
ReplyDeleteI have seen many a talented player come through the social league. They are approached for mens/womens nationals training and then burnt out in 6 months as they don't have the desire or inspiration.
This is fine as far as where we are in ultimate in brisbane now. We have the friendly social players to draw people into the sport. Then having clubs like Betty and Firestorm who offer the opportunity to train and elevate their game. It all comes down to personal desire.
I would like to see Heroes training as a more relaxed environment to learn the skills and tactics of the game. People can do their own fitness out side of the sport
I think there would be a lot of people who disagree with skills and fitness being easy. Otherwise why wouldn't everyone be skillful and fit? Athletes train full time to maintain skills and fitness to play the top level of most sports, and if they miss a couple weeks of training then they have to work hard to gain back what they lose.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was training 3 times a week for firestorm and throwing a lot more than normal, I still needed to improve my skills to get close to a level that was acceptable. It took lots of motivation and commitment and I still didn't get to the skill level I wanted.
I think the comments by Huddy and Jangles can be compatible. We can have Sunday Heroes training be fun and social like league, and those who want to go to mixed nats can train on Tuesdays with more intensity. Even for "serious" players there's value in less intense practices as you can try things out you wouldn't do in real competition. How else will you perfect the field-length break side forehand?
ReplyDeleteSkills and fitness aren't easy but I think they should be mainly a personal commitment, we should not waste time together as a team doing sprints and pushups that you can do on your own. We have so little time together, I find it such a shame when teams waste their precious group practice time doing that. Not Heroes that I've seen, but I'm just mentioning it because I hope it doesn't start...
The sprints, pushups, stairs, hills in the rain that I did with FS were awesome.
ReplyDeleteI would never have done those things on my own.
But most of the fitness stuff was done in groups of 3-5 in your own time.
This leads me to some of my thoughts about cross-training. When I ride up Mt Cootha as fast as I can on a Tuesday or Wednesday, I usually play better on Thursday. It's not just the muscles and cardio improvements, it's psychological. I feel stronger and more confident.
At other times, I need to do very little excercise in a week so that I don't push my body and mind too far and am fatigued in the game. Matt B has taught me that some times, no training is the best option!
-Dan S