The Great Southern Storm Football Talent Unearthing Day was a project that had several objectives. Attracting as many participants as possible, unearthing talent we’ve not yet seen, imparting means, methods and motivation for self-regulated training, identifying ‘good movers’ and then to funnel kids into our Talent Development Program. With registrations numbering 95 and with 30-40 senior Storm football players, we certainly achieved the first objective.
For the second objective, we sent advertising direct to minority groups within the community in order to attract those that would not normally enter the football pathway. The outcome of this was hard to gauge and difficult to assess but we certainly achieved a large and diverse range of kids. Whoever attended, the main objective was to stimulate motivation and ignite their inner fire, the theme of the day and philosophy behind our coaching.
Igniting their Inner Fire, aims to enhance motivation to train, practice and improve, on their own via seeing the pathway to elite competition (AFL) as achievable and a creating a greater hope for success (Achievement Motive). Then developing a culture and forming habits such as self-regulation, self-efficacy of both deliberate practice (training for physical qualities) and deliberate play (skills practice/games) to accumulate the work necessary to achieve this. To do this, we use and teach principles, instead of just training. We believe that, if we do this right, kids will practice on their own at a rate and ferocity that will outdo, a mere 2 or 3 training session per week. From a more objective standpoint, accumulation of greater amounts of work, equals greater gene expression, neural pathway enhancement, motor control and skill acquisition.
Back to the talent identification day. With participant numbers so high, and a time slot of approximately 35 minutes, organization was obviously important, but more importantly, efficiency was key. In talent identification, observation is critical, and with this may participants, having eyes on the athletes and not in/on technology was what was needed. I wanted a lot of trials so I could observe human movement, I did not want, a lot of kids standing around waiting for singular, short duration movements in order to obtain a single isolated measurement. Therefore, a battery of assessments, that gave me the best chance to achieve this goal and practical for the context was organized.
As I put this battery and project together, I realized that it is in contrast to existing protocols such as combines and draft camps etc. Here is the rationale:
Assessments, in my mind, should be there to bring awareness to the athlete to not only what they need to work on but provide feedback on how we need to improve it. Assessments should impact the athlete, to make them realize, that they really need to work on something but give them an understanding of how and why. Assessments should motivate the athlete to do so, not de-motivate them.
AFL still suffers high rates of injuries such as Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and hamstring strains, a problem that we have NOT yet solved in the industry. I believe injury prevention for such issues begins in development, are not fixed by a singular exercise, like Nordics or Single Leg Squats that are expected to have an effect in one short pre-season prior to a season. If we want to change what happens in at our elite level, begin changing it at the bottom level (grass roots).
Assessments should provide data that are usable not just in selection or deselection but to profile athlete (what type of athlete we have) and then provide metrics for training of suited to their phenotypes (principle of Training Individualization). Gareth Sanford's Anaerobic Speed Reserve model does this well. Because when we pressure and push an athlete too hard, in order to train their deficiencies, we can overly stress and injure them. The message is, don't de-select based off one test.
The following is considered phase 1 of our Talent Identification program. Phase 2 is the more objective performance-based testing battery.
Starting with a Broad Jump instead of a Vertical Jump, gets kids thinking about not only their lower body explosiveness and power but also their landing mechanics (joint/limb alignment, positions, postures) and force absorption abilities (stiffness or lack of). These are critical for injury prevention and highlights the importance of strength training for them. Plus, if the world's most dominant Olympic Weightlifting country over multiple Olympic cycles (China), can use this test to screen and identify their talent, well, that's good enough for me. Turn this assessment into a Triple Broad Jump, as per Tony Holler and you will see true athleticism shine through, coordination, reactiveness, stiffness etc. Vertical Jump variations do not have this effect, they are predominantly, output oriented (how high can I jump), and they get kids asking and wanting to do high level plyometrics straight away without consideration of preparatory training means.
Moving to a 30m run in which 3 hurdles have to be navigated, (adopted from the FUS test) shows us many qualities; acceleration and max velocity speeds (for 11-13 year olds within 30m is achievable), but coordination and rhythm. I like to perform several reps, each time giving a coaching and technical cue, then watch their adaptive capacity (ability to change/modify/problem solve movement problems). The human eye, trained or not, can easily detect smooth, fluent coordinated movement, so it stands out when kids cannot run properly yet. Additionally, in a less busy setting, I would use a Radar Gun to record maximum running speed in order to generate profiles.
The alternative to this test and current practice in some talent ID protocols is to perform a 20m acceleration. This test gives us a time and maybe a ranking or recommendation that we need to improve this quality, but I’d prefer identifying good coordinated high-speed running over a 20m time. 11-13 year olds are not yet developed, but demonstrating good coordination, can lead to faster development. It’s that simple, change the test to change the focus. Developing maximum speed running mechanics and faster maximum speeds will lead to greater performance, greater room for physiological thresholds to grow, greater injury prevention and resilience.
The Illinois Agility test was performed to assess many capacities simultaneously; off the ground speed (mobility, upper body strength and trunk stability), acceleration, change of direction, curvilinear running (swerving/slalom), deceleration and re-acceleration. When on-field coaching, you can provide feedback and coach each of these components over several reps. Other agility tests don't afford the opportunity to subjectively and observationally assess and provide feedback on so many components. The good thing about this test is also, it is of long enough duration to be used as a training drill.
So, in 35 minutes, lower body explosiveness force absorbing abilities and biomechanics, running rhythm and coordination, upper body and trunk strength explosiveness, acceleration, change of direction, curvilinear running, deceleration and reacceleration were all observed, subjectively assessed, notated and discussed. Combined with similar, subjective observations from the fundamental football drills and football coaches, we have, unearthed and identified talent... that we are now going to develop. Simple, efficient and effective.
The next most important and practical thing is the time gap between the talent ID session and the next intervention. It may be several weeks even months before you commence them into the talent development program, and this time gap, is crucial. We need to capitalize on the motivation, what was achieved and realized in the talent ID session. Therefore, the testing battery, at least needed to provide enough knowledge on how to reproduce it on their own (All tests are easy to Google!). I’m happy if kids are i) performing several sets of Broad Jumps or Triple Broad Jumps and thinking about their landing positions (this is the introduction to Plyometrics), ii) performing high-speed running or maximal sprint speed work and thinking about their mechanics, coordination and rhythm, and iii) performing several reps of the Illinois Agility Test where they practice the multiple components of the test. The pearl in all of this, these can be performed with i) minimal equipment and ii) be performed anywhere, at any time, home and before/after football training!
When I conduct another one of these sessions, I will schedule more time to incorporate a few other tests that I see as extremely important in the above-mentioned talent ID process. But the message remains the same, we have to facilitate motivation, teach principles and impart tools to encourage self-organization and regulation in order to see greater numbers of youths rising to higher standards. Test selection starts this process and the impact that is has on an aspiring youth mind, and where it directs their attention, is of the utmost importance.
Watch the session here - https://youtu.be/Ff-qT0vLp34
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