Rohan Connelly made an interesting observation on page 5 of The Age sports section today, noting that, last week, four teams heading into their weekend off lost (Collingwood, Sydney, North, Carlton). This week, three of the teams that won those games also lost before going into their own week off.
I don't want to start a thread that turns into a "let's bash the mental softness of professional footballers", but, without looking at past years' results heading into the mid-season break, this seems very strange. I'll grant you that it could all simply be coincidence, though that obviously won't support much of a thread. Taking the supposition that it is not mere coincidence, why would professional athletes, well paid and feted (and sometimes baited) by fans wherever they go, so look forward to a simple weekend off that their minds would be unable to focus on the more immediate goal of winning the current game, a fixation that most seem to be able to hold for almost every other week of the football year?
Are they trained so hard and has the game become so fast and taxing that the mere thought of a short break is enough to take their focus off all else? If so, what can be done about it? Train them harder so the games and harder training take less of a toll (is that even possible)? Increase list sizes? Tinker with the rules to make footy some sort of weird contact-allowed cousin to netball, where certain players are restricted to certain areas (yes, I, too, would scream if the AFL even entertained this). Is it all just a mental battle that can be won by better (or, I should say, more advanced) sports psychology?
I saw an interesting article of the Crows' advanced training techniques, which include using GPS systems to track players at training to get an idea of how far the can run before becoming tired, and using this data to make proactive changes during a game before the tiredness shows in a players' performance. It would be great if all clubs had access to the same training technology, but not all clubs have the financial resources. Also, clubs who hire people on the cutting edge of their field and implement new methods probably derserve to have a competitive edge.
I don't have an answer for my own question, but it surprises me a little that such finely honed athletes could drop their bundle at the thought of a week's holiday, much like myself and my classmates in Year 8 would be pretty useless in the week leading up to end of term. Maybe we all had more in common with professional athletes than we thought...
I don't want to start a thread that turns into a "let's bash the mental softness of professional footballers", but, without looking at past years' results heading into the mid-season break, this seems very strange. I'll grant you that it could all simply be coincidence, though that obviously won't support much of a thread. Taking the supposition that it is not mere coincidence, why would professional athletes, well paid and feted (and sometimes baited) by fans wherever they go, so look forward to a simple weekend off that their minds would be unable to focus on the more immediate goal of winning the current game, a fixation that most seem to be able to hold for almost every other week of the football year?
Are they trained so hard and has the game become so fast and taxing that the mere thought of a short break is enough to take their focus off all else? If so, what can be done about it? Train them harder so the games and harder training take less of a toll (is that even possible)? Increase list sizes? Tinker with the rules to make footy some sort of weird contact-allowed cousin to netball, where certain players are restricted to certain areas (yes, I, too, would scream if the AFL even entertained this). Is it all just a mental battle that can be won by better (or, I should say, more advanced) sports psychology?
I saw an interesting article of the Crows' advanced training techniques, which include using GPS systems to track players at training to get an idea of how far the can run before becoming tired, and using this data to make proactive changes during a game before the tiredness shows in a players' performance. It would be great if all clubs had access to the same training technology, but not all clubs have the financial resources. Also, clubs who hire people on the cutting edge of their field and implement new methods probably derserve to have a competitive edge.
I don't have an answer for my own question, but it surprises me a little that such finely honed athletes could drop their bundle at the thought of a week's holiday, much like myself and my classmates in Year 8 would be pretty useless in the week leading up to end of term. Maybe we all had more in common with professional athletes than we thought...
