A Linwood Practice

This is for my fellow players or anyone who is interested in how we are training in conditioning. Other practices include lots of different methods, and these drills comprise about 15% of the drills we do but are good ones.

Tre is visiting on Friday and we will do cool things.

(Warmup)

1. 1/4mile jog including high knees, butt-kicks, skipping, shoulder rolling, sidestepping, etc...
2. In pairs, forward and sideways leg swings.
3. Explosive Starts, 5m sprint-start into 20m jog. (x2)
4. Partner Chase, follow partner at jog pace until somewhere past 5m point. Tag partner, partner turns and chases back past starting point. (x2)
   
5. Partner Chase, pushup position behind partner in same, partner up and sprints at time of choosing, react and chase him down. (x2)
6. Group Orientation, large group runs around at random in a 15mx15m square, vary between running sprinting, sidestepping, backwards jogging, etc... upon announcement of a number between 1 and 5, players immediately attempt to pair in groups of that number and freeze. Groups in numbers higher or lower than the called number do 5-10 pushups/burpees/squats. (5 minutes)
   
7. Anaerobic Game, two teams, inside 20mx20m square, one team passes ball between players in any direction and the other tries to disrupt the ball and tag throwers with rucking pads. Attempt to pass amongst own team without being tagged. Switch after two minutes. (x5)

(Speed and Agility Work)

1. U-Turns, in pairs, cones set up in two adjacent squares, 10mx10m each. On verbal command, partners sprint forward together to first cones, flair out in opposite directions to the next corner, and cut around that cone to finish the last 10m and rejoin the line. Switch sides and repeat in opposite direction. (x3) Repeat from backwards face. (x1) Repeat from backpedal to the first cone, sprint out. (x1) Repeat from pushup position. (x1) Repeat from sidestep to the first cone, sprint out. (x1) Repeat from small jump. (x1) [Each (x1) assumes repetition done from both sides, left and right.]
   
2. 25m Chase-down, in pairs, two cones 25m apart, two other cones 5m parallel but the far one 10m shorter. Players line up in pairs. On verbal comman, both players sprint forward. Upon reaching the 15m cone, far player attempts to close the 5m gap and catch the near player before reaching the 25m cone. Switch sides and repeat for one repetition. (x4)

(Interval Running) Begin with strict one minute water break.

• Interval Running, as a group. Use a large rectangle of four cones as a lap area. Alternate between periods of hard running where an honest full effort is given (try for 75% of full sprint speed, which should be extremely difficult as you are fatigued) and periods of very light jogging as recovery wherein group reforms. H=hard, J=jog, and the complete interval is as follows: [30s-J/60s-H/30s-J/30s-H] (x5) ...This equals 7.5 minutes of max effort running broken up by 5 minutes of light jogging which is your rest. This is a hard 12.5 minutes where you are either at your limit or recovering in motion. If players appear to not be running at their limit, seconds or extra intervals are added. If players run inside the cones or cheat, the group starts again.
  

(Run of Play) Begin with strict two-minute water break.

• Touch Rugby, two teams. Field is 40m deep and wide enough so that every player should have 5m between them and 10m on each outside wing. Touch rugby is played with an emphasis on keeping possession of the ball and passing through hands to involve the whole team. Upon each touch, the ball carrier must go down and present, (ball is recycled) and the two closest defenders to him must sprint back to their tryline before returning to defend. While they retreat, defense must close back in to fill the gap. Offense should target the gap left by retreating defenders or spread ball wide to the overload created by defenders shifting in to cover gaps. Ball turns over on a handling error. (Play 10-15 minutes)

(Optional Extra Skill Work) Tackling lines, set pieces, etc...

(Cooldown) Begin with strict 1 minute water break.

1. Core exercise, V-ups, 15-20 straight up, 15-20 right hand to left foot, 15-20 left hand to right foot, 15-20 straight up.
2. Static stretching.
3. Circle of high fives/meeting fellow players.