Rugby: A Free-Flowing Game Of Speed, Power And Strategy

Select a sport/s with which you are familiar.

Choose two typical actions from the sport/s you have selected. One from the upper body and one from the lower body.

You are required to demonstrate, for each action, an appropriate and different resistance training exercise to develop the muscle / muscle groups.

Your practical assessment will include an assessment of your ability to:

1.Demonstrate/ articulate the correct technique.
2.Instruct correct technique: to include posture, position, range of movement, progression, speed, safety.
3.Show your understanding of correct poor technique or identify common errors in performance and how to correct them.

As you undertake your demonstration, instruction and correction of poor technique, you are to explain the sports science principles (prime mover, antagonist, synergist and fixator) of each exercise.
 

Field Dimensions

Rugby can be described as a free-flowing game which encompasses a combination of speed, power, and strategy to outdo the opponent by moving the ball into their territory. One of the evident features of the sport is that it is a full-contact game, but the players have no protective gear, and if any, it is very little. The game of rugby can be traced back to football (i.e. soccer), from where it evolved and is often described as the “game played in heaven”. The srcum is the most special feature of rugby and is applied when restarting the game after minor infractions in the course of the match.

Taking a look at the field, it goes for a width of 70 meters and 100 meters in length at maximum. The lines at the side are called touch-lines. The game runs for two 40-minute halves in addition to a half-time of five minutes. At the end of each half, some extra time is added as a consequence of tending injured players. Each team is composed of 15 players with 7 substitutions. The 15 players are further subdivided into two groups; 8 forwards who are stronger and larger and aim at getting and keeping ball possession; 7 backs who are faster and smaller and aim at forwarding the ball and making a score.

Three Most Relevant Training Elements

The three most essential elements in a rugby player’s program include production of the lower body vertical strength, a horizontal force output, and a sprint. The three elements are comprehensively discussed in this section.

Production of Lower Body Vertical Force

To start with the production of lower body vertical strength, it may be in the form of a deadlift, a squat, or other multiple variants. In essence, each athlete’s conditioning and strength schedule should be incorporated into a primary lower body lift. There are multiple reasons why the coaches include the primary lift in the schedule, but the need for maximal strength comes on the top of the list. A host of peripheral adaptations, that improve a player’s sporting performance, are associated with taking exercises for maximal strength. Such benefits include an enhanced structural integrity, enhanced lean body mass, a good rate of external mechanical power and development of force, an excellent running economy, speedy recovery, good proprioception and balance, a general sports skill improvement, minimal injury rates, and improved ability for potentiation (Paul, Kumar Biswas, and Singh Sandhu, 2011 p.43). The good concept behind exercising to get maximal strength is that the benefits keep streaming in unless one is really strong or has achieved the elite level in a very technical sport. The caveat associated with the production of vertical force is that for a sports athlete, each vertical force focused resistance exercise done, will be general in regards to preparation for the sport. Notably, training for maximal strength comes with multiple benefits associated with sporting performance, provided priority is given to the plan of training. Putting this in other terms, the adaptations of training are particular to the demand imposed. If a rugby player, for instance, spends 50% of his/her weekly preparation on a barbell as opposed to grabbing a rugby ball, his/her priorities are misplaced. 

Essential Elements for Rugby Players

Horizontal Force Output

In a scenario where exercising for maximal strength through deadlifts or squats has failed to produce the desired outcomes in regards to enhancing the sporting performance, the sport will not materialize solely in a sagittal plane, unless the individual is a weightlifter. As stated in the previous section, this means that a great deal of barbell training falls squarely on the general preparation. It is needless for an individual to produce significant force if he/she has no ability to orientate it in the required direction for the given sport; for instance, horizontally. In reference to a certain study conducted by Wilson et al., strength training for the squat spanning for a period of 8 weeks ended in a 21% gain in 1RM. The noted transformation also saw an enhancement in CMJ performance of 21% and a 40m sprint performance of 2.3%( Meeusen, Duclos, Foster, Fry, Gleeson, Nieman, Raglin,  Rietjens, Steinacker, and Urhausen, 2013 p.190) The observations imply that exercising for production of vertical force is associated with tremendous shifts in vertical movements or jumping, but comparatively less to sprint or horizontal performance.

At this point, transfer of specificity and training takes effect. For the essence of laboring the point, the adaptations have to be specific. In essence, the transfer can be seen when resistance training acts as a strengthening force to the patterns of optimum muscle-activation needed in the sports skill execution. In case an athlete is being trained to become quicker, some training elements including movement velocity, pattern, and intramuscular and inter-muscular coordination essential for enhanced performance must be incorporated. Besides this, George Petrakos divided the improvement mechanism in the ability to sprint into two elements which are the physical output and physical output efficiency.

General strength training can help one improve the physical outputs. However, for increased sprinting efficiency, there is need to practice orientating the physical output horizontally. Resisted sled sprints offer an essential tool of training for the purposes of increasing the mechanics of sprinting, force application, and horizontal force output. According to a recent research, heavy (70%M+) sled sprints are highly efficient as they enhance the ability to sprint (Phillips, Davids, Renshaw, and Portus, 2010 p.67).

Sprint

According to research, free sprinting is the most effective modality if one needs to enhance his/her sprint performance; resisted sled sprints follow closely. For people taking contact sports, for instance, rugby, sprinting is associated with multiple benefits (Markovic and Mikulic, 2010 p.860). On the other hand, there exists another variable referred to as sprinting momentum. Often are the times when this variable is overlooked. This is quite unfortunate as the essence of sprinting momentum in rugby determines whether a certain team will score or not score. In this case, where I will be using my two athletes, the value of printing momentum will not be overlooked. Looking at a study conducted by the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, the essence of exhibiting momentum was contrasted to that of speed.

Production of Lower Body Vertical Strength

Perhaps, it is worth mentioning that sprint momentum is a derived value. In other words, sprint momentum is a product of multiple values, maybe two or more. Bodyweight and speed are the two variables in this case. Combining an object’s velocity with its mass, what one gets is a number representing the force needed to halt that moving object. In sports, and in this case rugby, a high momentum has clear-cut applications. It is not surprising to note that positions which need a great deal of contact have relatively larger players. It is also worth mentioning that there exists a notable interplay between weight and speed which is responsible for momentum maximization. They antagonize each other to some certain extent. At other times, becoming heavier implies that there will be a diminishing of top speed. However, an increment in momentum may still be noted as long as a weight gain surpasses the loss of speed. As both the elements of momentum and speed are essential in rugby, then it becomes tempting to research on which one of the two should get maximum attention (Guidetti, Franciosi, Gallotta, Emerenziani, and Baldari,  2010 p.1070). In the study, researchers gathered players from both the senior and junior levels.

Afterward, they took upon themselves to investigate the interplay between levels and positions and later studied certain athletes for the next two years to determine the extent to which momentum and speed changed and impacted the performance levels. In the first series of the outcomes, the difference between movement and speed in multiple players particularly focused on the rugby, although an extrapolation can be done to include other sports. Between the senior and junior level, speed was approximately the same. In contrast, a significant change of momentum was observed between the two levels. Furthermore, forwards were less fast than backs, but forwards exhibited a great deal of momentum, showing the demand for contact was high. In this sense, momentum and speed can be applied to examine age level or skill and position, for rugby at least. The second segment entailed change determination for a given period of time. Looking at the juniors, who moved from the junior level to the senior level in a span of two years, great physical changes were seen, and this was not a surprise at all. At the time when this transition was taking place, a peak in speed was notable. This development was noted at the age of twenty. However, an improvement in momentum was also evident. In other terms, as the athletes moved to the level of the seniors, they became heavier but did not get slower or faster. This was certainly the essential contrast between the two levels, and also the main reason why the senior was more superior, especially in the forward's category. In rugby and other contact sports, momentum is the key performance determinant that weight and speed. This fact becomes convincingly true when a lot of contact is involved. Fortunately, an average coach can test for this and can be instrumental in decision making as players move from one level to the next.

Horizontal Force Output

Importance of Training Elements

Fitness is the condition of being physically sound and healthy as a result of regular exercises. It is vital to perform different types of training in order to achieve fitness which entails elements such us aerobics, strength, flexibility, coordination, and balance. These elements require regular training and use of the right techniques, especially for athletes. Successful training results in the physical and mental fitness of an athlete’s body as discussed below.

Strength Training

Strength training criteria involve the use of forces to oppose muscular contraction and expansion. In athletes training, it is arguably referred to as resistance training as it ideologies are to use gravitational, elasticity and hydraulic forces to workout muscles. The training mainly involves lifting of weights (Myer, Faigenbaum, Chu, Falkel, Ford, Best, and Hewett, 2011 p.80). However, in the advanced fitness centers, other methods such as the use of pneumatics and elastics to increase strength and size of muscles are used. Muscles have delicate tissues; hence it is done carefully to avoid injury. The importance of strength training elaborately ranges from benefits of health to athletics. 

The training majorly focus increasing potency of groups of muscles such as chest, legs, hips, lower abdomen and back muscles. A criterion is developed to ensure that each group of muscle is not worked out twice in a period of fewer than two days. Another important factor is the use of the right technique and sets which elicit fatigue after eight to twelve repetitions. Theorists and researchers have suggested that the basic principle in training is loading the muscles and ensuring repetitions that overload in sets.

There are many benefits of training to athletes, which include loss of fat and preservation of muscle in their life. It improves an athletes skeletal strength essentially by stressing bones thus increasing their density (McGuigan, Wright, and Fleck, 2012 p.2). Weight management is also realized by athletes by regular strength training. Also equally important is the improvement of the quality of athletes life by the ease in carrying out daily chores and the reduced tendencies of fall (Macnamara, Hambrick, and Oswald, 2014 p.34). In accordance with research on the psychological effects on the athletes, it has been seen to improve thinking abilities and mental skills. In general strength training ensures recovery of lost muscle mass as age progresses. Its benefits in reducing the risk of fracturing cannot be overlooked as it ensures increased density of individual bones. With an increment in the mass of muscles, more fat calories get burnt easing the control of an athlete’s body (Lloyd, Faigenbaum, Stone, Oliver, Jeffreys, Moody, Brewer, Pierce, McCambridge, Howard, and Herrington, 2014 p.500). Also interconnected with strengthening is the balance training which depends on flexibility achieved by weightlifting and muscular loading. Training can be achieved in the gym or at home by vigorous exercises such as abdominal sit-ups and simple squats.

Sprinting for Rugby Players

Flexibility Training

Flexibility training entails performing activities that facilitate free mobility of athletes’ joints and muscles that allow joints to move more freely in any selected direction. Flexible joints increase the range of athletes motion and also prevent them from the risk of being injured once involved in a vigorous activity.

Most important is that it improves athletic capacity since less energy is required to move flexible joints (Laursen, 2010 p.10). Muscular flexibility is affected by factors such as elasticity, length, and the broader nervous system. However, the joint structure is a factor in its specialty since it is hereditary, though the other factors can be positively altered by training. It is achieved by incorporating stretching in training schedule especially after strength training to ward of stiffness after workouts (Kellmann, 2010 p.98). It is, however, important to note that warming up is vital before stretching to achieve flexibility as it could lead to injury when muscles are cold stretch should only extend up to a mild point where no pain is felt when breathing freely and should pull back to normalcy when muscle itches. Various physical activities such as movement by legs, bending of athletes body and ability to lift objects depends on the flexibility, that has been proven to decrease with advancing age (Jay, Jakobsen, Sundstrup,  Skotte, Jørgensen, Andersen, Pedersen, and Andersen, 2013 p.1233). Yoga movements are a great advancement in mobility of joints and skeletal muscles. There are two types of flexibility of joints and muscles. Dynamic flexibility being most important in sporting as it enables an athlete to run and perform daily activities (Ivashchenko and Yermakova, 2015 p.21). On the other hand, static flexibility on muscles and joints provides for overall fitness. Athletes are guided to take caution when training to be statically fit, especially when it involves major joints such as the rigid pelvic joint to avoid ligament injuries in training.

Posture maintenance of a human body throughout the day majorly depends on how flexible he is; it ensures balance in skeletal muscle system (Issurin, 2010 p.389). It is beneficial to the fact that it helps in tissue alignment in the body thus easing the supply of blood and nutritional contents to the cells of the muscles. This ensures a reduced muscle soreness and also reduces the possibility of lower back pains in advance.

Coordination Training

This is especially the most important training an athlete has to go through in order to succeed as it involves a synchronization of different body systems. This is due to the fact that a human being is a union of physical and mental systems that cannot be separated. The physical expression is usually a manifestation of mental processes and their order of happening is as a result of effective conditioning. Thus, training is a flow of activities (Hinchcliff, Kaneps, and Geor, 2013 p.43).An athlete needs to make swift decisions in the field hence coordination of activities has to work at a faster rate. It goes a long way to connect different types of training such as flexibility, strength and power training. This results in that it is mandated to ensure production of energy to move muscles that require coordination to move joints thus causing motion (Hoffman, 2014 p.78). It is more of psychological training that requires a total understanding of the way other athletes are intending to do. Poor or slow coordination is awful in athletics career as success doesn’t beg for faster coordination (Ghasemzadeh and Jafari, 2011 p.310).The ability of an athlete to coordinate properly and at a high speed is enhanced by mental soundness. All activities that ameliorate supply of oxygen and nutrients to the nervous system such as aerobics are part and parcel of coordination training. 

Transfer of Specificity and Training

The scope of coordination is wide thereby training focus on two main areas. First is a coordinated movement which is simple as it involves aligning simple movements into one move (Garrido, Marinho, Reis, van den Tillaar, Costa, Silva and Marques, 2010 p.300). This helps an athlete to dribble balls, facilitated by eye and muscles coordination. Secondly is the synergy or binding muscular coordination which involves olympic lifting which requires complex muscle coordinated (Garber, Blissmer, Deschenes, Franklin, Lamonte, Lee, Nieman, and Swain, 2011 p.1333). In examples such as doing a snatch, the muscles have to be employed into a complete and efficient movement. Coordination training requires serious attention to finer details in training since the application of techniques needs total muscular movement. It is mainly achieved through physical training and can be tested by the degree of body balance in balance training. Its benefits include preventing of cognitive impairments in older persons by improving the cognitive function ability of the aging persons. Coordination is also improved by speed training with most sports including running races stressing on the ability to move at a lightning speed (Fransen, Pion, Vandendriessche, Vandorpe, Vaeyens, Lenoir, and Philippaerts, 2012 p.480). In efforts to achieve maximum coordination, the training incorporates agility together with speed and strength sessions hence becoming the ultimate link between major training elements.

Psychological Skills

The skills I have chosen for this section are leadership and goal-setting. Additionally, the two psychological skills have been comprehensively discussed.

Leadership

To start with leadership, it can be described as one of the crucial skills that should be evident in every serious coach. Any coach and player can attest that good leadership is essential to rugby success, and in addition to that, it can make a team excel or decline. In addition to this, being a good example is key to the leadership of any coach (Harries, Lubans, and Callister, 2012, p.532).  This encourages and motivates the athletes to move to the highest attainable level. Notably, this is highly essential during the preparation of a match. A remarkable coach will ensure that his/her team is prepared both physically and mentally. Besides this, the coach ensures that he/she portrays maximum effort so that the same is translated to the team (Fong, Tsang, and Ng, 2012 p.67). In essence, all coaches should possess personal leadership skills. The role of a coach requires a significant amount of responsibility and guidance.

Training for Increased Sprinting Efficiency

Athletes will focus on both the positive qualities of the coach as well as the downfalls. This being said, a coach should develop the desired leadership skills so that the athletes will exhibit improvements in both their personal and sports endeavors. It should be noted that athletes not only need effective leadership but also possess a strong desire for it. Essentially, young adults needs need a consistent order structure, parameters, discipline, direction, and organization. They need it at all costs. It assures them of a sense of security, and in turn, enables them to exhibit more confidence. Another crucial aspect that a good rugby leader should have is communication. The coach should communicate in a clear manner so that his wishes and strategies can be employed effectively (Faigenbaum and Myer, 2010 p.63). Additionally, a good leader should be decisive. This ensures that during the game, the team can make clear-headed and smart decisions and this is certainly not easy.

Goal setting

Essentially, the setting of goals is an excellent method to get a team working to achieve a common objective. In this regard, it is essential to be SMART in the process of setting the desired goals. First, the goals should be specific. In other words, this means that the goals should be clear and should as well show what they relate to. If multiple aspects exist, then it will be wise to create a variety of goals. Secondly, the goals should be measurable. This means that the set goals should have a way measuring them so that the coach and his/her team can know their progress towards achieving the set goals (Ericsson, 2014 p.45). In a scenario where a method of measuring the goals is absent, then there is no way that the progress can be determined. For instance, in cases where the coach decides to use a subjective scale of measurement for assessing mental skills, the progress can be accurately measured as long as the scale is used at all times. Third, the goals should be adjustable. 

Perhaps, it is important to note that the process of setting goals can be dynamic and thus, an alternation of goals is inevitable at times. In a scenario where a coach notices that it is taking too long to achieve the set goals, then the necessary changes should be made so as to have the proper reflection. Likewise, if the process of achieving the set goals is moving at a faster rate than expected, proper changes have to be made too (Cormie, McGuigan, and Newton, 2010 P.435). Fourth, the set goals have to be realistic. The setting of challenging goals is important. However, it must be noted that the goals should not be challenging to an extent that it becomes impossible to achieve them (Birrer and Morgan, 2010 P.75). As a coach, the goals I will set for my athletes will sufficiently surpass their present capability. However, the goals will not be too challenging to become unrealistic and unachievable. In this regard, I will apply my wise judgment as a coach to take in what is realistic and rule out what is unrealistic. Finally, the set goals should be time-based. This means that the goals should be regulated by the time factor (Barfoot, Matthew, and Callaway, 2012 p. 445). In absence of a target time, it will become nearly impossible to get the team motivated and hence achieving the goals might take more time. Certainly, this should not be the case. Notably, three periods exist for goal setting. The three periods are short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term. 

Importance of Sprinting Momentum

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