HH coaches answer your questions about Delhi | Lifestyle | Hardcore Hockey

COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2010

Hardcore Hockey High Performance Coaches Jo Nightingale and Amanda Partington were in Delhi with the Welsh women's squad from September 25th until October 15th. 

Now back in the UK, Jo and Amanda have responded to the first set of questions HH received below - 

'Was the athletes village really as bad as reports suggested?'

The athletes village was not as we had imagined following the news reports. We had good facilities in Block 1.

See images below:

'How do players cope with playing in such high temperatures?'

Players coped really well and had prepared in acclimatisation chambers or steam rooms before we left for Delhi. Staff at Team Wales had investigated the use ice jackets and neck coolers. It is essential to cool your wrists, head and neck to reduce your core temperature, so we opted for ice towels. Out at the tournament we had taken out an 'eski' which is simply a cooler box. All players had a small towel which would be immersed in 10 bottles of water and 20KG of ice from arrival at the stadium. Post warm up in the changing rooms, players would place their ice towels on their neck and wrists to try to stop their core temperature from rising. Once the game starts then players rotated frequently and again used their ice towels to bring their core temp down as quickly as possible. Your wrists and neck have major arteries close to to the surface of your skin and so cool your blood and body temperature quicker than other locations.

A key player was the GK who had an ice bucket behind goal with her water, ice towel towel and neck scarf. The main priority for the GK was to try to keep body the increase in core temperature to a minimum level, whilst performing the required warm up with pads and helmet on. We had to drastically change the traditional warm up with the GK to manage the environment and heat. We started with just pads and kickers on and after every 6-8 shots the GK would rest and take small sips of ice cold water. You must sip the water so that your body can absorb it. Frequent sips are therefore better than large gulps in a short space of time.

Gloves and stick would then be added and we would work with a tennis ball or conditioned practices to work the hands. Finally the helmet was worn and we would work the dives and smothers etc before the GK worked in the players stick & ball warm up towards goal. Throughout all of this warm up the GK would have to step out every 8-10 shots/actions and take helmet off and use the ice towel and sip water for 1 minute.

'How is performance analysis used during elite competitions?'

Video analysis is used to great effect within a tournament environment. During the game the video analyst will live code/tag key moments in the game such as Outletting, Pressing, 25 entry, circle entry, Goals, PCA and PCD for both teams. Following the game the coaches must select appropriate clips to support their debrief. The video analyst also does the same for teams you will or may encounter in the tournament. In addition to the debrief session, coaches must scout and prepare clips for the team briefing for your next opponents from this footage.

Another role for the analyst and use of video footage is for individual player feedback or team units for specific discussion around key points. At any point in the tournament a player may request personal feedback or may wish to see some footage of specific instances and so the video footage which has been coded is invaluable asset to personal and  team development

If you have any more questions you would like to ask about preparation and competition at the Commonwealth Games send them to info@hardcorehockey.co.uk