Practice/ridiculously hot and humid weather
After making fun of Dennis McCarthy for years for continually getting heat exhaustion when the weather got really hot and humid, I finally got an idea of what he felt during practice on Sunday (actually, I didn't really, but it seemed like a good opportunity to get some digs on Dennis, who NEVER modified his behavior based on the weather, ie., drinking more fluids when it was hot out, as a small example). More below.
This weekend had two of the hottest/most humid days of the summer, and naturally we had practice both days. While some would consider that this can give you great preparation for Sarasota, which has been known to have hot humid weather in the past, I don't think is really the case. At nationals, you have significantly more breaks than you do when you are trying to practice. We ended up with roughly 1-2 subs per team. While these practices had more drilling than I normally like (my distaste for drills is a subject for another post), we still had a number of small scrimmages each day. And when you are effectively playing every point, whether offense or defense, you get used up might quickly.
Sunday was slightly cooler, but I think we all agreed that the weather FELT worse than the previous day. I don't know if it was more humid, or whether we were just so worn out from the previous day so that this affected us more. The late day BBQ followed by another BBQ in downtown Boston with some associated drinking probably didn't help the hydration, but those are the risks.
Saturday's practice included a scrimmage to 7 with double-score that took well over an hour and only resulted in a 7-4 score. It was comical at times, with points where each team had at LEAST 7 turnovers apiece (sometimes on the double score), including consecutive 1st pass turnovers for 3 straight passes in the middle of the field. Naturally, we were forced to do some mid-game sprints due to the ugly nature of the game. While I'm sure Ted did not intent this scrimmage to the end of practice, it ended up being so, except for the 11-minute Indian run that I bailed on and almost puked after 9+ minutes (so close) because of the duration of the game.
On Sunday, long breaks, short scrimmages, and somewhat intense drills marked another long day in the sun/heat. Towards the end of practice, it was clear that everyone had had it. After turnovers, the defense was not quite as intense, waiting for the other team to make the turnover instead of trying to force it. Of course, this got us a chewing out by Ted, but by then, we were too peaked to even notice. I wanted to bail 2/3 the way through the last scrimmage, but there were effectively no subs, so I had to gut out the game, and then staggered to the sideline, removed my cleats, and then rode the scooter home without doing the sprints (and missed the beer because I didn't deserve any).
So, the question is, what do other teams do in these cases? How do they modify their practices when it is that ridiculously hot and humid? Should it be shorted, or same duration with longer breaks? I don't know, just that this was a really tough weekend.
This weekend had two of the hottest/most humid days of the summer, and naturally we had practice both days. While some would consider that this can give you great preparation for Sarasota, which has been known to have hot humid weather in the past, I don't think is really the case. At nationals, you have significantly more breaks than you do when you are trying to practice. We ended up with roughly 1-2 subs per team. While these practices had more drilling than I normally like (my distaste for drills is a subject for another post), we still had a number of small scrimmages each day. And when you are effectively playing every point, whether offense or defense, you get used up might quickly.
Sunday was slightly cooler, but I think we all agreed that the weather FELT worse than the previous day. I don't know if it was more humid, or whether we were just so worn out from the previous day so that this affected us more. The late day BBQ followed by another BBQ in downtown Boston with some associated drinking probably didn't help the hydration, but those are the risks.
Saturday's practice included a scrimmage to 7 with double-score that took well over an hour and only resulted in a 7-4 score. It was comical at times, with points where each team had at LEAST 7 turnovers apiece (sometimes on the double score), including consecutive 1st pass turnovers for 3 straight passes in the middle of the field. Naturally, we were forced to do some mid-game sprints due to the ugly nature of the game. While I'm sure Ted did not intent this scrimmage to the end of practice, it ended up being so, except for the 11-minute Indian run that I bailed on and almost puked after 9+ minutes (so close) because of the duration of the game.
On Sunday, long breaks, short scrimmages, and somewhat intense drills marked another long day in the sun/heat. Towards the end of practice, it was clear that everyone had had it. After turnovers, the defense was not quite as intense, waiting for the other team to make the turnover instead of trying to force it. Of course, this got us a chewing out by Ted, but by then, we were too peaked to even notice. I wanted to bail 2/3 the way through the last scrimmage, but there were effectively no subs, so I had to gut out the game, and then staggered to the sideline, removed my cleats, and then rode the scooter home without doing the sprints (and missed the beer because I didn't deserve any).
So, the question is, what do other teams do in these cases? How do they modify their practices when it is that ridiculously hot and humid? Should it be shorted, or same duration with longer breaks? I don't know, just that this was a really tough weekend.
posted by Alex de Frondeville at 7:37 PM
10 Comments:
Maybe you just need to get your hands on one of these...
Now THAT is cool! Why do I feel like it is out of the reach of your average ultimate team, much less an individual player... Unless I was a member of the military I guess.
We tend to play shorter games...such as games to 3 and 5 w/out the double score. Take our time getting back to the line. Then discuss strategy for 5-10 minutes, and maybe run a drill.
By keeping the games to 3 or 5, it seems you are able to maintain higher intensity. Games to 7 or more tend to drag out the game and if people get down by a few goals, they tend to mail in the rest of the game.
Conditioning for conditioning sake...not during practice if you want to maintain intensity. I think it is one of the biggest waste's of practice time. The best way to do conditioning is by making it a drill which works on our skills, which is what we try to do.
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In Atlanta, where heat and humidity persist through the spring and summer months spent training for the club series, most of the teams I played with made sure to include regular breaks for rest and hydration, and even for snacks. We also aim to start early in the day, when it is usually cooler.
And echoing Ca$h's statement, we did most of our conditioning work on evenings or mornings during the week.
--He
Echoing what others have said: Shorter, intense periods of play followed by adequate recovery time. We liken it to playing hard for a D point or an O point in a game, and then subbing out to recover.
Increasingly, I feel like shorter periods of play are a better way to make practice like playing in a game anyway, regardless of the heat. It's virtually impossible in a practice to simulate what it's like to play at the end of Day 2 of a tournament anyway, but at the very least playing every point of a scrimmage isn't similar to playing a tourney with a Nationals-sized roster. That said, it's even more important in brutal conditions to keep everyone rested and avoid letting people really overheat. On such a day, I don't think I'd want any conditioning as part of practice beyond the drills and play (not that I'm a fan of conditioning at practice to begin with).
This weekend, we had even fewer numbers because of a teammates wedding, and then on Sunday, had some of the same weather. While efforts were made to preserve ourselves, including short drills and games to 3 (with a final scrimmage to 7 which was overkill as people were almost jogging at times), it was an incredibly exhausting weekend, but it didn't feel constructively exhausting, like a practice with 24 and intervals of sprinting would have felt. I don't feel that this weekend really advanced the cause conditioning-wise, but maybe a little tactics-wise.
"I don't feel that this weekend really advanced the cause conditioning-wise, but maybe a little tactics-wise."
I think that statement hits the nail on the head. We expect ourselves to be in condition to play, otherwise you wont play. Practice is for tactics...not conditioning.
"Practice is for tactics...not conditioning."
I agree, but there is something to be said for having some team sprints every once in awhile as a way to check that everyone team-wide is getting in the type of shape you expect them to be in. Competition between your teammates like that can be an incredible motivator.
Of course, this obviously wouldn't apply to a practice with low numbers and/or extreme weather.
There are also limits to how much conditioning you can/should be during the week. And just scrimmage and doing some drills on weekends might not provide the proper conditioning. To build a given sprint, you typically want start with longer sprints, but in practice, you won't have that opportunity unless you do some field lengths for instant. As you said however, this is all dependent on numbers. Fortuunately, we didn't do any additional conditioning this weeked. And as it was, my calves are still sore (the flight to Tampa Monday morning didn't help).
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