| Re: question on timing sprints [message #1074046] |
Tue, 11 July 2006 13:49 |
|
For those that might be interested, here are some suggestions and
updates-
Ron wrote:
> Robert Grumbine wrote:
> > In article <1151334228.730527.123240 [at] y41g2000cwy.googlegroups.com>,
> > Ron <rgraham11 [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> > >Morning,
> > >
> > >I have a question regarding timing of short distances:
> > >
> > >I coach a Boys soccer team. And during our preseason conditioning
> > >period I would like to put the running portion of the training in
> > >control of the players as much as possible. My experience has been
> > >that the more they focus on their own times, the harder they push
> > >during the practice sessions. And the less they worry about comparing
> > >their performance to that of their peers. I will make their PR's
> > >(personal record) the goal each day and not the idea of beating all of
> > >their teammates. In addition to a variety of soccer related skills, we
> > >will be running a timed mile, a timed 40 yard dash, and a timed 40 yard
> > >dribble each day of training.
> >
> > You don't mention how old the players are.
>
> They are 14 years old mostly
>
>
> >
> > Timed mile every day is probably too often. Timed weekly is probably a
> > better frequency, with daily untimed miles.
>
> I only have about 2 weeks before the season actually begins. Once we
> start playing our games we will only be able to run once or twice a
> week at most and the little training time we have needs to go to
> tactics and small group/team skills.
>
>
> >
> > You can't expect PRs every day. For that reason as well, you might
> > want to go with weekly (but on different days than the mile). Again,
> > untimed daily as a skill and technique exercise with the weekly
> > timed ones for guidance.
> >
>
I am not expecting PRs from them every day. However, I want them to be
comparing their efforts to their own PRs instead of comparing
themselves to the 3 or 4 "fast" kids on the team.
My experience has been: The slower kids quickly stop trying and then
their efforts become unproductive. Is this consistent with what you
have seen?
(?I believe generally accepted coaching philosophy is consistent with
this?)
>
>
> > But PRs are definitely the way to go.
> >
> > >I would like to come up with a way for the individual players to time
> > >themselves in the two 40 yard "sprint" activities. I have tried timing
> > >it manually with volunteers or other players from the team, but it just
> > >didn't work out well. It needs to be easy, accurate to a tenth of a
> > >second, and convenient for it to work.
> > >
> > >Do you know of a way to handle the timing of these "sprints"?
> > >
> > >I have a considerable amount of experience with electronics and/or
> > >computers. As well, I have convenient access to a variety of
> > >computers. However, anything I build or buy has to come out of my own
> > >pocket, not the school's budget. So money is a key consideration.
> >
> > There are inexpensive watches with stopwatch function. Probably
> > several players have one already.
> >
>
> The mile is easy to handle for me. They run as a group and the timing
> I can do myself.
One thing that I am considering is to stagger the start times based on
their PRs. That way each kid will have a reasonable chance of winning
the race that day.
Any thoughts on this? I haven't done this before and would love to
hear from some of you that might have done this as a coach or a
competitive athlete.
The Sprints are a different issue, however. I am trying to come up
with a way for the individual player to be able to take more control
of
his own training session. To be able to work on the specific soccer
weaknesses/strengths he has. The way I structure the training
sessions
is to have a number of 'stations'. Each station works on a particular
soccer skill. I usually have about 6 or 7 stations going at the same
time. The 40 yard dash. The 40 yard dribbling sprint are just two of
the stations. Most of the other stations are more soccer related.
Since there is only one of me and 20+ kids training, finding ways to
keep them focused on their own progress is very important so that we
use our time effectively.
>
> At this age level, I find that speed, endurance, and self-confidence
> are almost as important as the soccer skills. And MANY of them are
> just not in condition. This is one way to get them in condition with
> the short amount of time I have to work with them. (1 1/2 hr weekdays,
> with a 6 week season)
>
>
> > If you want 0.1 second accuracy, though, self timing is out.
>
> .1 sec would only be necessary on the sprints.
>
It is this sprinting station that I REALLY want to work on. I just
need a better method (with the resources I have available). This is
by far the most important issue to me now.
Here is my best suggestion/idea to deal with the issue of the players
taking more control of their own training. I will have a "system" set
up for the sprints. There will be a laptop that connected to a set of
photo-cells to start and stop the stopwatch. Each player's time will
be displayed in a large font on the screen for about 30 seconds. Then
it will be saved in a log automatically. (For those that are
interested in the technology. This link will give you an idea of how I
will do it. Credit for the design goes to Gregory Braun. He has done
this kind of thing with slot car racing.
http://www.hoslotcarracing.com/ )
>
> > (If you're hard core about it, any form of manual timing is out.)
> > Other player timing ought to have worked ok. What was the problem?
> >
> > I ran through my baseball team with me being the only timer pretty
> > easily. Line them all up, prepped that I'd be saying 'go' almost
> > immediately after the person ahead finished (and any delay in their
> > start was their problem/counted on their time), and went at it.
> > Times saved on my 100 lap watch, and made them write down their names
> > after they finished. For the players, I told them their time when
> > they finished, and for me, I had the times and matched that to the
> > name list. Not as important for baseball, so I didn't do it often.
> > But they were quite enthusiastic about it.
>
> I have had a similar experience in prior years with this too. The kids
> love it! But the trouble is that it takes so much time that I can't
> get the other soccer skills in that day, unfortunately.
>
>
>
>
> >
> > --
> > Robert Grumbine
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