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Coach Connections
September 2010
Co-editors: James Cunningham, Lisa Patterson and Stephane Barrette |
Welcome to the second 'Coach Connections' Newsletter,
In CCC's on-going effort to provide timely and relevant information to the clubs and coaches in Canada we have started this newsletter as a way to pass on coaching and HP development information. We hope that you will find this to be a valuable resource and will assist you in developing your athletes to the best of their potential.
You are receiving this newsletter as a subscriber to the 'Cross Connections' newsletter. If for any reason you would like to opt out of the 'Coach Connections' newsletter you can do so by updating your profile (link is at the bottom of this email) to indicate which newsletters you are interested in receiving. If you know of other people that would be interested in the newsletter, please forward this email to them and they can join with the link in the left column.
If you have any comments, feedback or suggestions for future topics or articles please pass those on to us.
Thank you and happy reading!
Western HP Coordinator
Bienvenue à la deuxième édition du Bulletin des entraîneurs,
Dans le cadre des efforts constants de SFC pour fournir une information pertinente et d'actualité aux clubs et entraîneurs canadiens, nous débutons la publication d'un bulletin spécifiquement destiné aux entraîneurs comme moyen de transmettre du contenu informatif en matière d'entraînement et de développement HP. Nous espérons que vous apprécierez cette nouvelle ressource et qu'elle vous sera utile pour vous aider à développer vos athlètes au meilleur de leurs capacités.
Vous recevez ce bulletin en tant qu'abonné au Bulletin Liaisons de SFC. Si pour quelques raisons que ce soit vous ne voulez pas recevoir le Bulletin des entraîneurs, vous pouvez l'indiquer dans votre profil d'utilisateur (lien au bas de ce message). Si vous connaissez d'autres personnes qui aimeraient recevoir ce bulletin, nous vous prions de leur transmettre ce message et ils pourront s'abonner à l'aide du lien dans la colonne de gauche.
Si vous désirez faire des commentaires ou des suggestions pour de futurs sujets ou articles, svp nous les communiquer.
Merci et bonne lecture !
Stéphane Barrette (sbarrette@cccski.com)
Directeur adjoint haute performance-développement
Ski de fond Canada |
| Basic field tests for XC Skiers
CCC has been promoting the use of standard strength and running tests for a number of years now, in an effort to encourage clubs around the country to adopt a common, national, athlete physiological assessment method. In addition, there are multiple ski specific tests that clubs can run throughout the year (and more specifically in the summer and fall), such as roller ski time trials, uphill running or ski striding or roller skiing, double poling or legs only trials, etc. These field tests are easy to run as they do not require a sophisticated lab set up or specialized equipment and yet provide specific information that is essential for designing and adapting efficient training programs throughout the year.
In this article we will review the protocols for a few different tests and discuss more specifically the purposes and benchmarks for the standardized field tests (strength and running). The benchmarks determined and promoted by CCC for these tests are not indicators of World class performances at given ages but rather represent standards that should normally be achieved by athletes at different ages (based on average age per stage of development) if their progression is adequate and on pace to reach international excellence by the time they become T2W athletes (national WC team level).
Check out the rest of the article |
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Évaluations de terrain pour skieurs de fond
SFC fait la promotion de tests de musculation et de course à pied standardisés depuis plusieurs années dans le but d'encourager les clubs à adopter des méthodes d'évaluation physiologique des athlètes qui soient communes et standardisées à l'échelle nationale. Il existe également plusieurs autres tests spécifiques pour le ski de fond que les clubs devraient utiliser tout au long de l'année (et plus spécifiquement en été et à l'automne), tels que des simulations de courses en ski à roulettes, course à pied ou « ski-striding » ou ski à roulettes en montée, double-poussée ou jambes seulement, etc. Ces évaluations de terrain sont simples à exécuter puisqu'elles ne requièrent pas d'organisation sophistiquée en laboratoire ou de l'équipement spécialisé et permettent d'obtenir malgré tout des informations essentielles pour le design et l'adaptation des programmes d'entraînement tout au long de l'année.
Dans le cadre de cet article nous présenterons divers protocoles de tests de terrain et discuterons plus spécifiquement des objectifs et des standards de performances de ces tests (pour la musculation et la courses à pied). Les standards de performance par âge déterminés et publicisés par SFC pour ces tests ne sont pas des références de niveau international mais représentent plutôt les niveaux qui devraient normalement être réalisés par les athlètes de différents âges au fil de leur développement (en fonction de l'âge moyen par stade de développement) si leur progression est adéquate et sur la voie pour atteindre l'excellence internationale lorsqu'ils atteindront le stade S'entraîner pour Gagner (niveau de l'Équipe de Coupe du Monde).
Cliquez ici pour lire l'article en entier. |
| Field tests - Para-Nordic athletes
CCC has previously posted a modified version of the testing information for para-nordic athletes. Prepared by Jeff Whiting.
Para-Nordic testing document |
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Determining exertion levels in young athletes
When working with young athletes such as Learn to Train athletes (L2T) and even Train to Train athletes (T2T), it isn't always easy to ensure that they are working within the correct training zones or training intensities. Most won't have heart rate monitors and if they did, the information gained from a heart rate monitor may be misinterpreted due to their rapidly changing bodies, through growth and hormone development. It is important that athletes develop a feeling and understanding of what intensity they are working at and don't always rely on external tools like heart rate monitors or lactate meters. For this reason, the rating of perceived exertion and breathing checks are an effective tool for young athletes to begin developing that understanding, and they come with no cost and no equipment required. The addition of basic heart rate monitoring can help raise the awareness of what intensity athletes are working at and build a foundation for future testing and monitoring.
Check out the rest of the article |
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Yearly Training Plans: What makes up the annual training volume for a Junior athlete?
By: Lisa Patterson, Eastern HP Coordinator
In our first Coach Connection Newsletter, a Junior athlete's yearly training volume was discussed. In this article we will elaborate on the total volume by explaining how to break up those hours within a Yearly Training Plan (YTP). A general overview will be discussed and then the breakdown of YTP's for two different age groups will be presented in more detail.
A Yearly Training Program is broken up into various Macrocycles or Periods; phases that focus on a specific training goal. Dr. Tudor Bompa was a pioneer in Periodization and termed many of these phases that we know and use today. The terminology is utilized within the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP) material across many sports.
Check out the rest of the article
Sample YTP Outlines for T2T to T2C |
| NST Update - Summer 2010
By: Eric de Nys, Senior Development Team Coach
 It's August 18th and the summer, if you want to call it that, is ripping by. Canmore has seen what seems to be an abnormally cool June and July with an obscene amount of rain. Nonetheless, training needs to be done and our skin is waterproof so out the door we go.
The start of the training year for the National Ski Team was slower than normal with the "Olympic Hangover" and many changes taking place operationally. While athletes' bodies were perhaps ready to start training, their minds necessarily weren't. The stress an Olympics at home puts on a person is perhaps not noticed during the event itself but to the contrary, after; hence why I call it the "Olympic Hangover"
The training year started with a fantastic camp in Bend, Oregon. The goal in Bend was to provide a fresh training environment to the team and to get in general specific volume/base while working on technique and to set in motion a new way of doing "business". Bend is the stomping grounds of new Head Coach, Justin Wadsworth and he was eager to show off all that Bend had to offer and it did not disappoint. The entire team had never been to Bend so it was a fresh environment with lots of new things to discover. The skiing was fantastic despite the less than ideal weather we were served up, stellar running trails , amazing mountain biking, great roller skiing and some sweet rivalry with the US team in a few workouts and a fun game of soccer. Not to mention, the men had a good evening of fly fishing, some tasty restaurants to visit and a general good vibe to start the year. Overall, the Bend camp was awesome and really set in motion the rest of the season with a new way of thinking and conducting ourselves.
Check out the rest of the article
Alex Harvey - Nouvelle-Zélande
Stefan Kuhn - New Zealand Update
Devon Kershaw - New Zealand Update
Chandra Crawford - Yo-Yo Update
Perianne Jones - Yo-Yo Update |
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| Female Talent Squad Update
By: Lisa Patterson, Eastern HP Coordinator
The Female Talent Squad (FTS) is a new initiative for the 2010-2011 year set out by CCC to assist young female athletes reach their ski potential. The program nominated 15 athletes from Western Canada and 15 from Eastern Canada between the ages of 16 and 18.
One of the aspects of the program is to provide female mentorship to the young FTS athletes. Each FTS athlete is matched up with a current NST, recently retired NST or top National level senior female mentor. It is at this point in a young athlete's career that they may have many questions around the direction of their ski endeavours. The mentors can act as a sounding board to the young FTS athletes since many have had many of the same questions and inquiries when they were young up and coming athletes.
Check out the rest of the article |
| 'Geek Corner' - Video Anaysis Software
By: James Cunningham, Western HP Coordinator
Video review is a very effective tool for technique analysis with your athletes. You can do this on the side of the trail during a workout or more in depth after a workout. Back in the lodge you have a few options to review the video, you can go straight from the camera to a TV or you can import the video to the computer and use one of the many software applications for more in-depth review. As with
Dartfish Screen Capture | everything, there are trade-off's when it comes to the decision of what type of analysis you are looking to do. In a very short time you can post the video either online or to a computer in the lodge and do a simple review with the ability to do slow motion and frame by frame. If you want to do more in-depth review, you might need to spend a significant amount of time to setup all the different clips and combinations that are possible with some of the advanced software applications. For most situations you will gain the most benefit from the more immediate and simple review and spending your limited time working with the athletes. On some occasions, such as a glacier training camp (coaches have more time typically), you might feel like doing a very technical and in-depth analysis will be beneficial. I'll briefly cover some of the different software before I go into a few things that you can tackle in Dartfish specifically.
Sara Renner -StroMotion sample
Shayla Swanson - first vs. last lap - SimulCam sample
NST Men - Side-by-Side comparison sample
Check out the entire collection of technique clips from a Classic TT with the NST in Canmore - Video |
| Racing Season Update - Important Info
Check out the following updates posted recently to the CCC website. As the racing season approaches all relevant info related to selection criteria, event calendars, race notices, FIS and CCC licence info and points lists will be posted as soon as it is available and whenever there is updated info.
2010-11 Domestic and Int'l Race Calendar - September 1 Update |
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