In our second interview, we caught up with our Sports Therapist, Steven Shaw as he told us about the shape the players are in and how they are progressing for the new season.
“The players have come back in really good shape. Over the close season we didn’t really know how long they were going to be out for or if the season would restart. From the beginning, we needed to have them ticking over but once we knew the season have been declared null and voided, we gave them a little rest.”
“We knew then that pre-season would be longer and couldn’t plan long term. With the guidance that was in place, they kept to exercising for 1 hour a day. Once we had an idea of when pre-season could start, we then gave them a off season programme to follow. If they did follow it then that’s up to them but they came back to pre-season a couple of weeks ago in great shape. They’ve all come back looking sharp and with everyone having a break they seem physically and mentally ready. The first session we got the footballs out and they lads had a smile back on their faces. It’s gone really well so far.”
When asked about the level of intensity to start at, ‘Shawsy’ was keen to stress that there is a bit of science behind these things.
“Judging the intensity can be difficult yes. There is a sort of science behind these things; if you are out for 12 weeks then it will take 6 weeks to get back to where you were at. We’ve not had a proper session in 16 or 17 weeks, so we are looking at around 8 or 9 weeks for preseason regardless of guidance. We are in at 2 days a week, the volume and the intensity are low at the minute, but it will build up as we go on.”
“We would have probably started the same weekend in July regardless. Obviously, the season isn’t going to start as normal, but we will finish around the same sort of time as normal. In terms of the time we spend together even if the season starts in September or not, we would have started pre-season at the same time. We decided to plan as if we are starting in August, but we wanted to get the players back and ready.”
“We need to remember that these are non-league footballers with proper jobs, so they are not going to be overcooked. It gives us plenty of time to readjust if we need to increase the volume or offer recovery sessions for the players.
When asked about a shorter possibly seeing an increase in injuries, Shaw was quick to dispel this notion.
“We’d only expect to see an increase if the volume was sharply increased or the intensity increased too quickly. Some clubs came back in June, which for me is mental. Coming back when we’ve came back gives us a great chance. There’s no spikes in intensity or spikes in volume. It should be as it was. If there’s more games from the start and it becomes a Saturday, Tuesday routine then it should be beneficial.”
“It means that the Thursday session can then become a recovery session for the players. It’s not beyond the realms of possibility to have 2 games a week. If you do things silly and try to run people into the floor early doors, then yes you will get a lot of soft tissue injuries. Everything we are doing is game related and gives us more preparation time for technical and tactical reasons. On the pitch, it should be one of the best we’ve seen.”
