Hey there, thanks for your support of my work and for visiting my blog. I am now posting all new work on my site http://elitesportsscience.com/ Hop on over and check out some great new sports science articles. Cheers, Jodi

Inside Football - Sport Science takes its medicine

The issue between AFL Sport Scientists and Medicos came to the fore when Melbourne Football Club doctors Andrew Daff and Kal Fried resigned after disagreement with some of the Demons’ conditioning staff. This article explores the significance of the role of each specialist and how they need to work together for the good of their clubs and the game. This article was originally published on May 16, 2012 in Inside Football Magazine.

Open publication - Free publishing - More afl

Rugby League Week - How much is too much?

Most, if not all NRL players aspire to represent at State of Origin, City-Country, the All Stars match and at National level. Is it possible that players like Billy Slater, Cameron Smith and Darren Lockyer, who are among the elite few selected to represent in every capacity, are at risk of affecting the longevity of their careers by playing such a large volume of elite matches each year? Read on to find out more. This article was originally published in Rugby League Week in September 2010.

Open publication - Free publishing - More all stars

Women's Health - Save your knees

Written by Women's Health features writer Caitlin Chang, this article discusses why women are more susceptible to certain knee injuries than men.

Open publication - Free publishing - More acl

This article was originally published in the April, 2012 issue of Women's Health Magazine.

Inside Football - Feeling the heat

Exercising in the heat at the intensity AFL players do, whether it be for training or match play, can put players at risk of heat stress or heat illness if appropriate counter-measures are not put into practice. This article was originally published on February 10, 2010 in Inside Football Magazine.

Open publication - Free publishing - More afl

Inside Football - World of pain

For some players, life after playing years of AFL football can be a daily battle with pain and suffering due to injuries and surgeries during their playing career. This article shows the extremes of post football physicality including interviews with Dermott Brereton and David Schwarz.

Open publication - Free publishing - More afl

This feature originally appeared in Inside Football Magazine on 2nd May, 2012.

Inside Football - Black from the brink

If you haven't dealt with it yourself, you probably know at least one person who has struggled with their mental health. This article gives readers insight into the struggles of former AFL player Heath Black, while searching for answers about his mental health. Finally diagnosed with Adult ADHD And Bipolar II Disorder, Heath is moving forward with good health, working as a facilitator for the AFL Player's Association PlayWise program and has penned a memoir to share his difficult journey.

Open publication - Free publishing - More afl

This article was first published in Inside Football Magazine on April 12, 2012.

Inside Football - Bomb disposal

The ability to accurately kick over 60 metres gives a player more options as he has more targets to choose from, while a long accurate kick can make for a fast turnover and also allow goal scoring from greater distances. Distance kicking is a skill that, like any other, can be improved with the right approach to training. This article gives you the inside story on the biomechanics of big kicks and how you can improve your kicking distance

Open publication - Free publishing - More afl

This article was originally published in Inside Football Magazine on March 21, 2012.

Inside Football - Evolution or intelligent design?

The game of AFL has been around for over 100 years. There have been a lot of changes to the game over that time in terms of rules, strategy, game speed and interchanges. These changes have both intended and unintended consequences. The changes to date are many and varied, so what does the future of AFL football look like?

Open publication - Free publishing - More afl

This feature was originally published in Inside Football Magazine on March 7th, 2012.

Inside Football - Hi-tech heist Part Three

The last in a three part series on technology in football. Mark Thompson sheds light on how much technology is used in coaching, you will be surprised! The article also explores the role of technology in AFL betting.

Open publication - Free publishing - More afl

This feature was originally published in Inside Football Magazine on February 29, 2012.

Inside Football - Hi-tech heist Part Two

This article is the second in a three part series on technology. Tim Watson shares his experiences with technology in AFL broadcasting while other parts of the article explore the role technology plays in AFL communication and player gear.

Open publication - Free publishing - More afl

This feature was originally published in Inside Football Magazine on February 22nd, 2012.

Inside Football - Hi-tech heist Part One

Technology is now integral to AFL football. This article explores the role of technology in AFL Sports Science, Medicine and Umpiring. This is part one of a three part series.

Open publication - Free publishing - More afl

This feature was originally published in Inside Football Magazine on February 15, 2012.

Inside Football - The art and science of goalkicking

Which is a more difficult set shot at goal; directly in front at 50m out or from 30m at a 45 degree angle? The answer may surprise you. Everyone has something to say about goalkicking accuracy in the AFL and the generally held belief is that accuracy is on the decline. This article addresses these questions and features expert advice on great kicking technique, the importance of mental preparation and how sport science is playing a crucial role in the development of this skill.

Open publication - Free publishing - More afl

This article originally featured in the December 21, 2011 issue of Inside Football Magazine.

Performance Recovery at the AIS

Performance recovery at the Australian Institute of Sport is an essential part of an athlete's training regime. The Performance Recovery Centre has grown from a division of AIS Physiology to a department in its own right over the past 9 years. Headed up by Dr. Shona Halson, Performance Recovery at the AIS is focused on three key recovery strategies. Dr. Halson and her team address athlete recovery between training and competition events, as well as recovery from injury, seeing Australia as an international leader in this field.


http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/innovation/news/story_466000_performance_recovery_at_the_australian_institute_of_sport

This article was originally published on the Australian Institute of Sport Website on December 2nd, 2011.

NFL is killing its players, and the league doesn't care

If there were an occupation that was found to reduce your life expectancy by almost three years for every year you worked - yet it brought fulfillment, fame, glory, comradery, money, adoration and you loved nothing more than to do it - would you still choose to? This article by CBSSports.com National Columnist Gregg Doyel explains how a report published in the St. Petersburg Times in 2006 claimed this to be the case for NFL players.


http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/14477196/nfl-is-killing-its-players-and-league-doesnt-care

Reflections of Professor Allan Hahn on the role of technology in high-performance sport

Professor Allan Hahn is known as the Grandfather of Australian Sports Science and a true visionary. This article details the processes Professor Hahn views as intrinsic to the development of high performance athletes and his thoughts on the role and the future of technology in high-performance sport.

http://www.ausport.gov.au/ais/innovation/news/story_460160_reflections_of_professor_allan_hahn_on_the_role_of_technology_in_high-performance_sport

This article was originally published on the Australian Institute of Sport Website on 28/10/2011.

The Monster in the Cage

If you're looking for insight into a side of football not often discussed, then look no further. This article details the wonderful work of the AFLPA in preparing rookie AFL players for the stresses of life as an AFL player and beyond. The Playwell program helps players to develop resiliance and healthy coping strategies to see them through. Former Hawthorn President Jeff Kennett shares his thoughts on the number one stress facing players and Heath Black talks candidly about his experiences as an AFL player suffering mental illness and how he is overcoming the challenges of Bipolar II Disorder and Adult ADHD.

Open publication - Free publishing - More adhd

This article was originally printed in the October 2011 issue of Inside Football Magazine.

Rugby League Week - Conscious Decisions

Concussion remains the most topical medical issue in contact sports such as Rugby League, AFL and NFL. Though Rugby League rules around concussion have changed, there is still a way to go before the culture catches up.

Open publication - Free publishing - More concussion

This article was originally printed in the September 21, 2011 issue of Rugby League Week.

Grand final makes players harder, better, faster, stronger...but how?

Rob Aughey, Victoria University

Anyone with a passing interest in Australian football will know the AFL Grand Final is unlike any other game of the season.

There’s more hype, more expectation, more emotional investment from players and fans when it comes to the big day.

But the game itself is also quite different, as are each of the games in the finals series.

But why?

I’d argue it’s more than just an intangible sense of occasion. I have collected data that show AFL players run faster, harder and further during finals matches than at any other time during the season.

Tracking performance

Australian football is a highly intermittent sport, requiring athletes to accelerate hundreds of times with repeated bouts of high-intensity running.

It’s also a contact sport. Its players need a blend of physiological capacities – the chief one being endurance, but also strength power, speed and agility.

Players need to maintain or develop these capacities over the course of a long competitive season with a view to peaking for finals games.

AAP/Joe Castro

In my study – the first to examine the running demands of finals games – player movement was recorded using GPS trackers and expressed per period of the match (rotation), for total distance, high-intensity running and maximal accelerations (the fastest speed at which a player can take off).

Eight Australian footballers participated in this study – each a registered player with an elite Australian club. I can’t tell you who they were, but they would be very well known to fans.

Information was included for the same eight players in three regular season games against the same opponents during finals in the 2008 AFL season. Each player played the same strategic role during each of these games.

Distance runners

During finals games, players covered on average 11% more total distance, and the greatest increases in total occurred during rotations in the second half of matches.

Not only did players spend a greater amount of time running at moderate to high speeds – but they also had to accelerate hard at these speeds. That is, players accelerated more often from a higher velocity, with less time between accelerations.

In finals games, the extra distance covered during maximal accelerations was approximately 450 metres. The elite AFL players in this study required an additional 410 kilojules of energy during finals as a result of these increases in acceleration alone.

The players undertook approximately 9% more high-intensity running during finals games, for an average game total of approximately 3,500 metres per person.

So how did the players feel about all this extra strain?

I measured their reaction to the increased workload by asking them to rate their effort. This measure, known as “rating of perceived exertion”, quantifies how athletes perceive their workout.

They reported feeling the same amount of exertion after a finals match as they did after a season match, which indicates training had led to increased aerobic capacity.

Conditioning

Players can be effectively conditioned to cope with increased demands, even during a long competitive season.

Elite Australian footballers undertake a lengthy and rigorous pre-season training regime.

AAP Image/Martin Philbey

Typically, the training year is divided into the general preparatory phase (November and December), the specific preparatory phase (January to early February), the pre-competition (February and March) and competition phases (March through September).

Most physical development of players is therefore complete by the commencement of the competitive season.

Various training regimes for enhancing the aerobic conditioning for team sport athletes have been attempted, ranging from traditional aerobic interval training and classical team sport conditioning. Such regimes were defined in a recent review as the integration of strength, power, speed and aerobic conditioning.

A question of tempo

It’s also possible that the different running demands observed in finals were due to a different game tempo. This could be related to tactical and strategic differences on the part of the coaches during these games.

In my applied experience, the opposing team affects the tempo of the game more than the type of game played.

It’s also possible athletes played to a higher percentage of their individual physical capacity during finals games. But this is by its nature difficult to quantify, and there is no strong evidence for it.

The total load was not seen as different between regular season and finals games, indicating an equal perception of effort for players across both of these game types.

Players had a similar decline in running performance from the start to the end of the game whether in season or finals games, indicating similar levels of fatigue, and seemingly not related to any difference in effort.

There can only be speculation regarding the reason for players' enhanced physical capacities in finals games, as no physiological testing has been undertaken to determine the specific mechanisms involved.

And so how will my study help AFL players and coaches?

Fitness and coaching staff can successfully manipulate training to condition athletes for increases in both the total distances run, and the number of high-intensity activities players will need to undertake during finals games in the weeks preceding those games.

Such knowledge, at this level of the sport, could make all the difference.

This article was originally published at The Conversation.
Read the original article.

Inside Football - Grounded! The science on AFL injuries.

Over the years there has been a lot of speculation by fans, media and even clubs over the conditions of different football grounds and possible contribution to player injury. What does the research say? This feature was originally published in Inside Football Magazine on June 30, 2010.

Open publication - Free publishing - More afl