Feature Team of the Week: Men's Volleyball

Feature Team of the Week

Men's Volleyball

1. What BUCS League do you compete in?

The Men's 1s compete in BUCS Premier North, and the Men's 2s compete in BUCS Northern 2B.

2. You also have a link with a National league programme?

The club has a strong link with the Sheffield Volleyball Club, which has teams that compete at various levels, including Super 8’s and Division 1.

3. What is your training schedule?

We usually have 3-4 court sessions per week, with two team S&C sessions per week, as well as additional drop-ins for individual work and top ups when we don’t play.

4. When are games?

We compete for Hallam in BUCS on Wednesdays and for Sheffield Volleyball Club on Saturdays and Sundays, meaning we sometimes have 3 games a week.

5. What kind of training do you do in S&C? 

We aim to get into the S&C before 7am, so that we’re ready to go. We then usually have a team stretch followed by some activation and dynamic mobility to get us all going, which is quite important when we have training until late the night before! We all work off a team-based programme that usually last around 4 weeks, but we do all have individual work to complete as well to ensure that we’re all working on our individual weaknesses. At the moment our programme has a focus on max strength and power, which has the aim to maximise jump height.

6. How do you feel S&C has helped you develop as athletes?

S&C has given everyone the opportunity to develop physically, not only in the team sessions but also having the chance to drop in for one to one sessions with Aden has helped a lot of the team to develop further and a lot quicker.

Aden Flannagan, Assistant S&C Coach, leads the Men’s Volleyball Programme, here’s what he had to say about the programme:

“Programming for the Men’s Volleyball Team can be quite a task at times, compared to most sports here at Hallam they have quite a high on court training load. When you take the nature of the sport into consideration, some positions may be jumping up to 300 times per session, so potentially 1200 times per week, in training alone. To many this may not seem like a lot, but that’s huge amount of volume, then plus the 3 potential games per week, which can make programming quite difficult.

What we’ve tried to do so far this year is to reduce the amount of impact via jumping based exercises. We’ve had a big focus on landing mechanics as well as emphasising eccentric strength in exercises to ensure that every athlete can manage the training load of Volleyball, in order to minimise the chance of conditions like tendonitis to occur.

Volleyball started with us in the S&C earlier than every other team at Hallam this year, meaning it gave me the opportunity to have a real impact on the boys, by being able to physically develop all of them prior to on court training and games had even started. We usually work off a 4-week block, which we adjust the gym-based training volume based upon how fatigued they are, as well as how many games they may have that week. Very similarly to what Andy uses with Men’s Hockey, I also use 5 repeated jumps to monitor power output on a weekly/daily basis. Using this gives me the opportunity to monitor both individual and team progression, but also to monitor fatigue levels of each athlete.

Above shows the data of how we have monitored the boys throughout the BUCS season so far. As you can see before the Christmas there was a great deal of inconsistency, which is simply due to the team’s training and playing volume, thus causing regular fluctuations. Although as a team they have all got stronger throughout the year so far, because of the jumping volume that they are exposed every training session and game, it causes a neuromuscular fatigue resulting in jump scores being affected.

Over the last 4 weeks we have had a huge focus on trying to develop lower limb max strength, as well as overloading the stretch shortening cycle to maximise jump height. The team in general have a strong work ethic and are in the gym more than twice per week, with some of the boys getting in the gym to train up to 4 times per week, all of which I try to programme for to maximise their athletic performance. You can find their latest programme below to see what we’ve used to maximise jump performance over the last 4 weeks”.

 

Team Hallam S&C supports Winter Olympic Athletes

We are wishing the best of luck to three awesome athletes who are heading out to South Korea for the Winter Olympics. Katie Summerhayes, Molly Summerhayes and Pete Speight have been training with us at Team Hallam S&C for the past few years, and have been really great role models to have around.

 

“These are some of the most dedicated and committed athletes that I have ever seen” Says Andrew Langford, Lead S&C Coach for Team Hallam. “They all bring a great work ethic and help show our students what it takes to compete at the highest levels. Katie has been coming in now since she was 15 or 16 and has really worked on her strength and fitness. When she’s back in England she will come in almost every day of the week and work on different things, with a large focus on injury prevention.”

Snowsports, especially the type these guys do, slopestyle and half-pipe, are some of the most physically demanding events and certainly come with a high injury risk. Indeed, many of the athletes at the elite level have suffered serious injuries, usually due to landing from a great height after doing a series of twists in the air.

“The demands of the sport mean that these guys have to take their physical preparation seriously. These guys are great at taking ownership of their training programmes and making sure they work on the areas they need to. They will spend a lot of time working on landing mechanics and will do a great deal of hamstring work which should help them deal with the physical demands on the slopes.”

Katie will be competing on Saturday 17^th February from 4:00am in the Women’s Slopestyle

Molly will be competing on Tuesday 20^th February from 1:30am in the Women’s Halfpipe

 

Pete will be competing Thursday 22^nd February from 2:30am in the Men’s Halfpipe

 

Feature Athlete of the Week: Sam Tierney

Feature Athlete of the Week:

Sam Tierney 

How long have you been playing football for and how did you start?

I’ve been playing since I was 6 years old. I joined a boys team at first and when I was 8 I joined Sheffield United Academy.

What team do you currently play for? 

I play for Doncaster Rovers Belles in the FAWSL 2 as well as playing for Hallam.

What is your current training schedule?

I train with Belles on Tuesday and Thursday evenings as well as a technical session on Friday’s. I have S&C on Tuesday and Friday mornings and every Monday I do an individual recovery session. Games for Belles are on Sunday’s and I play for Hallam on Wednesday’s.

What is your best footballing achievement?

Representing England and scoring in a game against Holland at a camp in La Manga. 

How do you feel S&C has helped you develop as an athlete?

My programme has a huge power focus and I can feel the benefits of this when playing as I feel much faster. I have gained overall strength meaning I am stronger on the ball. 

Andrew Langford, Head of S&C says:

“This is one of Sam’s latest sessions. We’ve been looking at further developing strength qualities along with power output. Sam is fairly new to S&C but is progressing really quickly and is able to tolerate quite high workloads, even during the season. At the moment all of our aims are based around overall athletic development, which should lay a foundation for specific sporting qualities in the years to come. We’ve also used some force-velocity profiling with Sam, which is really useful to monitor progressions and to analyse how she produces force. In future we might also use this to prescribe loads depending on readiness. 

Sam is a really great athlete to work with and has a fantastic drive and work ethic that we love to see in our scholarship athletes. She is a great role model and ambassador for Team Hallam and I am sure will progress to the highest levels of achievement”  

Feature Team of the Week: Men's Hockey

Feature Team of the Week

Men's Hockey

1. What BUCS League do you compete in?
    We compete in BUCS Premier North.

2. You also have a link with a National league programme?
    The club has a link with SHC (Sheffield Hockey Club) to which they play in the Men's Hockey League Conference North.

3. What is your training schedule?
    We have 2-3 pitch sessions and 2 S&C sessions a week with the additional optional stretching session.

4. When are games?
     We compete for Hallam on Wednesday's and SHC on Saturday/Sunday's, so it is a physically demanding schedule.

5. What kind of training do you do in S&C? 
    We come in and go through about 15 minutes of Prehab and dynamic stretching as a team. We then work off our programmes, which usually last for 4 weeks in each training block. We started off with quite high volume training and now there is a huge focus on strength and power within the programmes.

6. How do you feel S&C has helped you develop as athletes?
    S&C has helped everyone to develop physically, but the group sessions have provided the opportunity for the team to stick to a routine and remain disciplined with training. 

Andrew Langford, the Lead S&C Coach for Men's Hockey says:


"With the Hockey programme we use a ‘5 repeated jump test’ to monitor power output. We use an unloaded 20kg bar and perform 5 continuous, maximal jumps straight after the warm up on a Monday. This allows us to track progressions in power expression throughout the year and gives us an indication of daily fatigue. This opens up further discussion with the athlete and give us a live update on their physiological abilities.

The graph shown here is for the whole of last season. You can clearly see the changes in power output throughout the year, with sharp fluctuations when the emphasis of training is adjusted. There is a large spike towards the end of the year when we focussed on power/speed aspects of training in preparation for major competitions.”

"Below is the training programme we have used since the players have returned from Christmas break. We used an exaggerated linear periodisation method to establish a week of high volume work, aiming back towards maximal strength in week 4. The next block will be focused on power expression."

Interview with Lisa Cockburn, Graduate Intern S&C Coach

Team Hallam S&C Blog Interview

 

Lisa Cockburn

Job Title: Graduate Intern Strength and Conditioning Coach

 

What sports do you currently work with?

I am currently the lead S&C coach for Rowing, Badminton, Tennis, Squash, Climbing, Canoe and Equestrian. In addition to these teams, I coach a couple of PASP athletes from Pole Vault and Fencing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How did you get into S&C?

My first experience of S&C was as a student-athlete at Leeds Metropolitan University where I studied BSc Sports & Exercise Therapy and played Rugby. It was here that my love for training and lifting begun. I noticed what a difference the work off the pitch made to my performance on the pitch. I decided to go back to university to study MSc Strength & Conditioning at Northumbria where I interned with Team Northumbria for two years, leading S&C for Men’s Rugby Union and Women’s Football. During my time in Newcastle I also interned with the Newcastle Falcons Junior Academy and Sunderland FC Regional Talent Club.

 

 

What is your coaching philosophy?

As an S&C coach at the beginning of my career, I am still developing my coaching philosophy. At the moment with the population and environment I work in it is as follows;

1). Simple things done well

2). Earn the right to progress

3). Develop independent and competent student-athletes

My job is to deliver training to reduce the risk of injury and to improve athletic performance to university athletes. I believe that building a solid foundation of fundamental movement competencies in which to develop strength and power upon, progressing where appropriate and building strong coach – athlete relationships work towards this aim.

Who are some of the main practitioners you recommend reading?

Anatomy and Human Movement by Palastanga and Soames

Strength and Conditioning Biological Principles and Practical and Practical Applications by Cadinale, Newton and Kosaka

High-Performance Training for Sports by Joyce and Lewindon

Periodization - Theory and methodology of training by Bompa & Haff

Supertraining by Verkhoshansky and Siff

Athletic Development by Vern Gambetta

Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning by Beachle and Earle

Pacey Performance and Rugby Strength Coach Podcasts

Conscious Coaching by Brett Bartholomew

Legacy by James Kerr

What are your main areas of interest in S&C?

From my Sports Therapy background and from being injured myself I have a keen interest in injury prevention and rehabilitation, specifically integrating the work of the physio with the S&C coach during the rehabilitation or ‘reconditioning’ program, in order to prepare and return the athlete back to pre-injury performance levels. Preparation for competition post-injury requires the restoration of strength, power, speed, and agility and endurance levels exhibited in sport, not just having recovered in medical terms such as improvements in range of motion, pain, neuromuscular control and inflammation.  Both the physio and S&C coach play an integral part in returning an athlete to sport in the best interest of that athlete’s welfare.

In addition, a training method that has caught my attention is triphasic training, developed by Cal Dietz (check out his book ‘Triphasic Training’). All dynamic muscle action is triphasic, there is an eccentric, isometric and concentric phase. As explained in this book, ‘a chain is only as strong as its weakest link,’ therefore a training program should consist of methods to develop all three phases of dynamic movement within a periodised model. This is something I am reading further into and trying myself to see whether I can adapt this method to make it applicable to the university setting to improve strength and power.   

What is your sporting background?

I’ve played Rugby Union for 10 years, currently playing in the Tyrells Premier 15s for Darlington Mowden Park Sharks. At college I played field hockey and at school I’d play anything and everything. My main sports when I was younger were Taekwondo and Western Horse Riding. 

 

What advice would you give up and coming practitioners who would like to be in your position?

Coach, coach and coach some more. The only way you are going to develop confidence and learn how to que and deliver a session is by actually doing it. Whether it’s coaching S&C or a sport, you’re learning how to communicate and build relationships with athletes.

Regularly step outside of your comfort zone. When you begin to think you know everything, you don’t. S&C is continually evolving and so should you. Every so often, reflect on your coaching and knowledge and challenge yourself to learn or try something new, whether that’s reading research, listening to a podcast, trying a new training method yourself or coaching in a different environment.

Make the most of every opportunity. Experience is invaluable and will ultimately help you get a job. My Grandpa would always tell me to do the best in everything you do, even the most mundane of tasks, as you never know who is watching. This could be your future reference or contact for another internship or job.  

Prioritise and try not to spin too many plates at once. Speaking from experience, sometimes less is more. Prioritise the internship that provides you with the most experience and learning, be organised and plan your time. You don’t want to spread yourself too thin and not give your all to what’s most important.  

What is your favourite aspect of working for Team Hallam?

I really enjoy working with a multitude of sports and abilities which the university has to offer. I think it’s great that we offer S&C support to so many teams, not just the performance sports. It’s important to support as many teams as possible as those at have a very young training age are the most susceptible to injury and it educates more students a lifelong skill of training. Working at Hallam has provided me with the opportunity to see how another institution runs its S&C support service. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where would you like to be in 5 years?

My 5 year plan changes with the more experience I get. Currently I would like to head up an S&C department at a University as I enjoy working in the university environment and working with a variety of sports. For many students, their first experience of S&C will be at university and for many it will be their only experience. I hope to create positive training experiences and educate student-athletes how to train so that they will continue long after they have left university. I also enjoy working with younger athletes, starting them on the journey of their long term athletic development.

Interview with Jordan Webster

Team Hallam S&C Interview with Jordan Webster

Name: Jordan Webster

Job Title: Graduate Intern Strength and Conditioning Coach

 

What sports do you currently work with?

I am currently working with Men’s Rugby Union, Netball, Women’s Football, Cycling, Women’s Lacrosse and Women’s American Football. I also work with scholarship athletes ranging from Wheelchair Basketball players to Decathletes. Outside of Team Hallam, I work with GB Wheelchair Basketball and ISKA kickboxing athletes.

 

 

 

How did you get into S&C?

In college, I got my Level 3 Personal Training qualification which kick-started my interest in all things gym related. Once I got to university, I started training in Team Hallam’s S&C suite. I can remember seeing all the athletes in a team session, with a great atmosphere and enjoying the session. I started interning at Hallam shortly after, mostly shadowing and then gradually took a few warm ups. From there it moved pretty fast; leading my own teams and being able to design my own programs. This lead to me having the opportunity to complete a 6-week internship at a Division 1 University in Malibu California; Pepperdine. Experiences like this just make it certain that S&C is the career I will continue to pursue and better myself in.

What is your philosophy for S&C training?

I have numerous aspects of my philosophy which I deem to be an important part of the way I coach. One of the key aspects of my coaching philosophy is that athletes must enjoy training (or at least not hate it). I believe enjoyment is the key in order to get the most from athletes (particularly at the university level). This will keep athletes turning up on time, attending every session and aiming to progress; because they enjoy it and take pride in it. Another aspect of my philosophy at this point is creating strong robust athletes that move well. This involves ensuring athletes can perform fundamental movement patterns and get strong doing them. This will hopefully keep them healthy and allow them to spend as much time on the pitch, court or track perfecting their sport.

 

Who are some of the main practitioners you recommend reading?

Like many S&C coaches progressing in the field at the moment, I am attracted to the gurus in the main stream. The likes of Michael Boyle, Eric Cressey, Brett Bartholomew, Charles Poliquin and Dan John are common google searches for myself. Although not always scientifically backed, I do occasional enjoy reading articles on Elite FTS and Juggernaut for some training/programming tips.

I am also largely interested in leadership books from leaders in different backgrounds. Recently I’ve read ‘How Navy SEALS Lead and Win’, although not directly related to S&C, the points discussed carry over extremely well.

 

 

What is your sporting background?

In school, I never really played much sport, just the odd PE lesson where we played a mixture of rounders, football or basketball. My first competitive sport was Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) which I started at 15 and continued to train until 19. In this time, I trained a mixture of BJJ, kickboxing and wrestling competing at a semi-professional level. Once my interest sparked in the gym, my motivation switched to strength sports. I have recently competed in a few local Strongman competitions and won Sheffield's U90kgs. I intend to make my way through Powerlifting and Olympic Weightlifting too, just to say I’ve done it! I still occasionally train Jiu Jitsu, and occasionally get the bug to compete again... but unfortunately there isn’t much room for an inflexible S&C coach that gets out of breath easy in the sport anymore!

 

 

What is your academic background?

In college, I completed my Level 3 PT and Level 3 Sport/Swedish Massage Qualifications. This was my first sport related qualification and since then have just completed my degree in Sport and Exercise Science. I am currently studying on an Applied Sport and Exercise Science Masters in which I will complete in 18 months. I intend to gain my UKSCA Accreditation in the next 12 months also.

  

 

What advice would you give up and coming practitioners who would like to be in your position?

My biggest advice is to try to experience as much as possible, which comes from saying yes to as many different opportunities as possible. This will mean sometimes just being a water boy, sometimes taking warm ups and even sometimes may mean covering a full session for the coach who is caught in traffic. If you never say yes to these opportunities, your CV will be lacking compared to the guy who is getting his teeth stuck into different situations. This will occasionally mean long, unpaid, anti-social hours. I would also advise getting out of your comfort zone; apply for numerous internships. My goals have always been to be S&C coach in either USA Collegiate Sport, UK University Sport or GB Olympic Sport. I have now experienced all of these at an intern level, which provides me with greater insight as to where I want to invest my time and energy.

  

 

What is your favourite aspect of working in Team Hallam?

Like many of the Graduate S&C coaches before me, I have progressed through the internship. Beginning at Junior Intern learning the ropes from a more experienced Lead S&C Coach. And gradually got given more and more responsibility until the position I am currently in. This position is a huge stepping stone for a young coach. Although money isn’t my main motivation, it is a big deal to be able to get paid to do something you love. It provides us to be able to adapt to the different teams we are involved with, which overall makes me a better coach.

 

I have to change the way I interact with every team, as they have different dynamics, cultures and physical needs. I obviously need to communicate with Men’s Rugby Union different to how I communicate with Netball. I also have to make sure my programming is individual to every team and athlete to ensure they get the most out of their Team Hallam S&C experience.

 

So, to sum up my favourite part of working at Team Hallam: Coaching A LOT! In an industry that is heavily reliant on research and science, quite often this attracts coaches that actually lack how to coach and focus 100% of their energy on Peer Review Journals. I believe this is the perfect role to learn how to coach, due to the number of diverse athletes we cater to.

 

 

Where would you like to be in 5 years?

In 5 years’ time, I would like to have completed my MSc, UKSCA and be progressing in the organisation I am in. I intend to experience lots of different facilities in my career so hopefully I will be in an environment I enjoy that offers me room to grow and not become stagnant and comfortable.