Strength and conditioning coaching

Look down any top professional sides’ coaching roster and you will soon find the “strength and conditioning” coach. Andrew Hore, ex-Wales fitness guru and Steve Black, Johnny Wilkinson’s conditioning mentor, became household names in the Northern Hemisphere. What is all the fuss about and what are you supposed to do about it?

What does a strength and conditioning coach do?

Works with players to improve their power and physique, crucial elements of top players’ repertoire of skills. Normally it will involve training with weights in the gym, though not exclusively. The best coaching will involve individual programmes, based on the player’s current base, their lifestyle and access to facilities. Handing out a generic sheet with drills for a position is poor practice and can lead to injuries, demotivation or just bad technique.

Andrew Hore, former Wales Fitness coach on how how he revolutionised the national side’s fitness before the 2003 World Cup:

"Primarily we get running first, to be able to go for 80 minutes, and we've achieved that. Now it's time to get them stronger and more powerful, so the emphasis has changed and through to the World Cup it will remain more power-based."

What makes a great athlete?

Hore went on to say this about differentiating between a great, as opposed to a good, athlete:

"A great one is prepared to do whatever the other bloke isn't. So it's the guy who is prepared to, if he gets an injury, ice it every two hours, whether it means waking up through the night or not.

"It's the guy who is prepared to be disciplined with his eating. It's the guy who will go out and do that session which no one else will do, or listens to his body and is honest enough to say "I can't do that session today, I'm going to do something else instead", and it's for legitimate reasons. So the differences are an innate honesty and drive to be the best."

Steve Black, Jonny Wilkinson's former conditioning coach, elsewhere said:

"The difference between winners and also-rans lies in the head and, as all players are individuals, you have to treat them differently and find out what makes them tick."

Power is for everyone

A more powerful player will be better in contact, assuming they maintain the same skill level, no matter what position they play. It also reduces the instance of injuries because players can absorb more of the stresses and strains of a physical game. It is not just pressures in the contact situation, but stresses from the changes of direction and speed that need a more athletic profile.

You, the conditioning coach

In a one man coaching team, you will be the conditioning coach. If you are serious about coaching rugby then you need to embrace as much as possible the need for improvement in the area of strength and conditioning.

Gym work v field work

A good player will need to be in the gym, working on core exercises to improve their profile. There is some debate over the difference between slow repetitions of heavy weights and quick repetitions of light weights.

• First, it is important that technique comes before any thought of types of repetitions.
• Second, a varied diet of different regimes will build a good base and explosive power.
• Third, the training pitch is not part of the proper strength conditioning.

Game fitness is different and should be worked on as a separate part of the player's development.

"In ten decades of attending major championships I have seen superbly conditioned athletes win medals with poor techniques, but I have never ever seen a poorly conditioned athlete with a superb technique win a medal."

Max Jones, former UK National Athletics Coach.

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