Pre season training - a nightmare

**Brin** · 22-07-2021, 09:14 AM

Courtesy of the BBC football page.

This is worth a read if you log into the BBC Football site.

There's a piece on pre season training and it is pretty lengthy, sorry couldn't copy it maybe someone else can?

It mentions where previous pre season training of being run into the ground is now all yesteryear and it's more sport science that has taken over. They interviewed several players and one of these was Alf, here's what he had to say.

Pre-season can be a great time for players to bond, particularly if new signings have joined the squad. Adam Le Fondre has seen groups brought together through fun activities and shared sacrifice on the training pitch.

"I've been to places where they let you play golf or have a night out," he says. "Sometimes they run you into the ground. After you've been down to the bottom, you seem to have a much better bond when you come back up."

In his 17 years as a professional, encompassing England's top four divisions, a couple of pre-seasons stand out. His first, under Chris Turner at Stockport County, was a shock to the system.

"I didn't know how to prepare myself for it. I remember coming in and I was miles off it. There was lots of high-intensity running, and high-volume running as well. That was very hard for me to cope with as an 18-year-old," says the striker.

"I did one pre-season at Rotherham where we'd do swimming for an hour before training. We'd do running in the morning, and then small-sided games in the afternoon. That was pretty much a 7am-4pm day, which was incredibly tough."

In Le Fondre's experience, there has been a clear shift in emphasis over the past decade. Players, coaches and clubs have a much better understanding of fitness and injury prevention. Pre-season has become more targeted - and less strenuous - as a result.

"Managers don't really take pre-season; they trust their sports scientists and fitness coaches, who do all the research on how to get the best out of the players," he says.

"It's catered to you as a player. Players are turning up fitter for pre-season. They're understanding the strains they're going to put on their body and they're getting themselves ready for that."