National Talent Camp - Day 2
Our first morning at the camp was an interesting one. The group leaders knocked on our bedroom doors at 05:45, so as you can imagine by 6:15 the hotel foyer was full of sleepy teenagers, hanging in a zombie like trance as we awaited the bus to take us to the tennis centre.
As we entered the courts it was clear the next hour would be a tough one. Athletes, Coaches and Officials lined the walls of the huge room with the odd group leader setting up their stations for the circuit session. After a short but critical warm up of jogging around the hall we were pulled into the nearest station and therefore a new group of people, they would be our comrades for the duration of the workout. The next 45 minutes past in a blur of Jump-squats, Burpees and Russian twists to name a few. The session must have been stressful as I recorded a maximum heart rate of 184bpm and an average of 150bpm. As a result there were many achy glutes and sore abs that day.
Back to the classroom sessions and we were discussing the philosophy and ethics of sport in general. With the views of cheating or 'tactically braking the rules' as some put it, varying from sport to sport, the morning was rife with deliberation. It was clear that the attitude toward cheating depends on the culture of the sport and therefore the attitude of all involved in making each event happen which enhances the hypothesis that if sport is to develop it is down to us, the next generation of professionals, to make a difference to our own views. This reinforced the group aura as each of us opened to our neighbours thoughts.
Following another quick lunch we created a sport environment in which we made our own changes to the game at each interval to develop it into a more fair and interesting activity. This helped us to understand how we, as coaches, can develop a training session in our individual sports to best suit the needs and goals of the athlete.
Soon it was time for dinner. I had peach glazed gammon if I remember correctly and this was enough to go to sleep on a full stomach, even following the engaging NGB session. Here we were grouped into a mixture of roles and informed of the entertaining tales of Tim Buckle's mishaps as a Junior road cyclist. As humorous as this was the activity remained to the point and soon a list was drawn up of things we would do differently in the situation Tim found himself in.
After an ordeal with the bus braking down, we eventually arrived at the hotel and exhausted from a long day following a brutal plyometric session I found it easy to sleep that night.
As we entered the courts it was clear the next hour would be a tough one. Athletes, Coaches and Officials lined the walls of the huge room with the odd group leader setting up their stations for the circuit session. After a short but critical warm up of jogging around the hall we were pulled into the nearest station and therefore a new group of people, they would be our comrades for the duration of the workout. The next 45 minutes past in a blur of Jump-squats, Burpees and Russian twists to name a few. The session must have been stressful as I recorded a maximum heart rate of 184bpm and an average of 150bpm. As a result there were many achy glutes and sore abs that day.
Back to the classroom sessions and we were discussing the philosophy and ethics of sport in general. With the views of cheating or 'tactically braking the rules' as some put it, varying from sport to sport, the morning was rife with deliberation. It was clear that the attitude toward cheating depends on the culture of the sport and therefore the attitude of all involved in making each event happen which enhances the hypothesis that if sport is to develop it is down to us, the next generation of professionals, to make a difference to our own views. This reinforced the group aura as each of us opened to our neighbours thoughts.
Following another quick lunch we created a sport environment in which we made our own changes to the game at each interval to develop it into a more fair and interesting activity. This helped us to understand how we, as coaches, can develop a training session in our individual sports to best suit the needs and goals of the athlete.
Soon it was time for dinner. I had peach glazed gammon if I remember correctly and this was enough to go to sleep on a full stomach, even following the engaging NGB session. Here we were grouped into a mixture of roles and informed of the entertaining tales of Tim Buckle's mishaps as a Junior road cyclist. As humorous as this was the activity remained to the point and soon a list was drawn up of things we would do differently in the situation Tim found himself in.
After an ordeal with the bus braking down, we eventually arrived at the hotel and exhausted from a long day following a brutal plyometric session I found it easy to sleep that night.
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