The Importance of Physical Strength
Credit:
Before I start my column this week, I want to firstly apologise and give reason for not having my column up the past two weeks. Unfortunately, I was extremely busy with my end of year college exams over the last few weeks but I am pleased and relieved to say they are all finished. As I have already mentioned before, combining the requirements of full-time football with college, especially around exam time can be very strenuous and challenging.
Secondly, I want to take this opportunity to welcome on board Sean Connor. I, for one, will be an interested reader of his views and unique insight into the management side of things within the Airtricity League of Ireland. We actually played against and defeated Galway United on Saturday afternoon and I managed to get on the score sheet as well. Sorry Sean!
I also want to reiterate what he said in this week’s article by saying that, as a player, we have had a lot of games in a relatively short period of time since the start of the season so I think I speak for every player when I say that I cannot wait for the mid-season break.
Getting back to the title of my piece this week, the importance of physical strength, nutrition and conditioning. As we know, the Irish U23 side lost out 2-1, to a rather physical English side last week. Five players from my team were in the Irish squad with Ronan Finn and Kenny Browne in the starting eleven.
Both players came back with the same synopsis. England were a very decent side who were technically good, played some good football but the main difference was that they were physically superior and the Irish side struggled to deal with that part of the game.
On Monday night, I was watching MNS and Paul Doolin, manager of the side, said the same thing. He felt that his young Irish side failed to cope with the physical strength and speed of the English. He also stated that if players here in Ireland are to get to the top level, they need to be physically strong and have weight programs, diets, etc.
Having worked under Paul at Drogheda, I am well aware of his attitude towards the physical part of the game and the benefits to be gained through doing weights on a regular basis. I have to agree with him on this one.
At Drogheda, we were all given strict weight programs in which we had to abide to. Our weight programs included leg weights as well as upper body weights. We were giving diet sheets and got tested on our body fat percentage regularly. We also had people come in to talk us through the various aspects of physical strength training and the benefits along with talks on nutrition.
It was all very professional and it got results. Looking back, I felt that we were the strongest team physically in the league during my time at Drogheda and we bullied teams at times, especially during our title winning season in 2007.
We were also physically able to compete in Europe which is a vitally important when playing against top European teams. A lot of teams that compete in the qualifying rounds of Europe’s elite competitions are made up of full-time professionals that have been training full-time for years. They are, therefore, physically conditioned to compete at the top level.
In Ireland, we are made up of mostly part time teams with a handful of full time teams. The argument put forward on MNS by a couple of the pundits was that because of our mostly part time status, it was hard to put in place regular weight programmes. And I agree.
However, I also agree with Paul Doolin in saying that if Irish players and League of Ireland teams for that matter are to compete at the top level, well then a strong emphasis on physical strength is needed to be put in place.
I am not saying that the most important aspect of football is the physical side but believe me, it is a fundamental and crucial part. Next week I am going to continue this discussion on the importance of strength, nutrition and conditioning and give you my experiences on the topic with Sporting Fingal and former clubs I have been involved with.
Secondly, I want to take this opportunity to welcome on board Sean Connor. I, for one, will be an interested reader of his views and unique insight into the management side of things within the Airtricity League of Ireland. We actually played against and defeated Galway United on Saturday afternoon and I managed to get on the score sheet as well. Sorry Sean!
I also want to reiterate what he said in this week’s article by saying that, as a player, we have had a lot of games in a relatively short period of time since the start of the season so I think I speak for every player when I say that I cannot wait for the mid-season break.
Getting back to the title of my piece this week, the importance of physical strength, nutrition and conditioning. As we know, the Irish U23 side lost out 2-1, to a rather physical English side last week. Five players from my team were in the Irish squad with Ronan Finn and Kenny Browne in the starting eleven.
Both players came back with the same synopsis. England were a very decent side who were technically good, played some good football but the main difference was that they were physically superior and the Irish side struggled to deal with that part of the game.
On Monday night, I was watching MNS and Paul Doolin, manager of the side, said the same thing. He felt that his young Irish side failed to cope with the physical strength and speed of the English. He also stated that if players here in Ireland are to get to the top level, they need to be physically strong and have weight programs, diets, etc.
Having worked under Paul at Drogheda, I am well aware of his attitude towards the physical part of the game and the benefits to be gained through doing weights on a regular basis. I have to agree with him on this one.
At Drogheda, we were all given strict weight programs in which we had to abide to. Our weight programs included leg weights as well as upper body weights. We were giving diet sheets and got tested on our body fat percentage regularly. We also had people come in to talk us through the various aspects of physical strength training and the benefits along with talks on nutrition.
It was all very professional and it got results. Looking back, I felt that we were the strongest team physically in the league during my time at Drogheda and we bullied teams at times, especially during our title winning season in 2007.
We were also physically able to compete in Europe which is a vitally important when playing against top European teams. A lot of teams that compete in the qualifying rounds of Europe’s elite competitions are made up of full-time professionals that have been training full-time for years. They are, therefore, physically conditioned to compete at the top level.
In Ireland, we are made up of mostly part time teams with a handful of full time teams. The argument put forward on MNS by a couple of the pundits was that because of our mostly part time status, it was hard to put in place regular weight programmes. And I agree.
However, I also agree with Paul Doolin in saying that if Irish players and League of Ireland teams for that matter are to compete at the top level, well then a strong emphasis on physical strength is needed to be put in place.
I am not saying that the most important aspect of football is the physical side but believe me, it is a fundamental and crucial part. Next week I am going to continue this discussion on the importance of strength, nutrition and conditioning and give you my experiences on the topic with Sporting Fingal and former clubs I have been involved with.
