AFL, or Aussie rules, is one of the toughest physical sports in the world. It’s a gruelling affair of agility, skill, speed, strength and endurance, and one where players have to work hard to maintain a peak level of physical condition. It’s for this very reason that the pros and local players alike train year-round, ensuring that they are up to the challenge of another hard-hitting season in some extremely difficult conditions!
There are numerous conditioning drills you can undertake to reach this physical peak. Your drills should encompass the aforementioned elements of agility, skill, speed, strength and endurance as they are all essential to becoming a well-rounded player.
So, grab your best AFL merchandise online, because here are five essential Aussie rules conditioning drills to get you in peak form for the season opener:
- Agility: the markers drill
In the past, Aussie rules players would lob the ball as far as they could to try and work their way into the forward 50. This largely alleviated the need to be super agile as players would essentially grab the ball and boot it as far as they could hoping one of their forwards would get a mark.
But the game has evolved into a much tighter contest. Today, the ball moves in tight corners, with players having to move with speed and agility to avoid the oncoming rush of opponents looking to pin them for holding the ball.
As such, you have to work on your agility to avoid the opposition and get the ball off in tight positions. This is where the markers drill comes into play. You all know the drill: it involves placing markers across a small area of the pitch and dodging and weaving your way around them to improve your agility.
- Skill: the match simulation
This is one for your coaches to implement as it is imperative to handling these tight match situations that can only be improved on the training field. Your coach should set up a small playing area on your training field to simulate a match situation. They should set up mini goals on either side to assist with simulating working the ball towards the goal without the aid of the hopeful lob (which just doesn’t work the same these days!).
Next, the team should be split into two with one side wearing bibs and, there you have it: you’re creating a match simulation that will aid the team on gameday.
- Speed: Sprints
Aussie rules requires players to be far more rounded than in the past. Today, footy players have to be fast, as this is imperative to alluding the opposition and working towards the forward 50. So, one of the most classic drills in the game will be one that improves your speed on gameday: sprints.
So, sprinting drills are perfect for working the leg muscles that are needed to accelerate quickly and elude the opposition.
- Strength: Weights
But there is one physical attribute that has always been consistent in the game of AFL: strength. Strength is essential to both laying tackles and shaking them whilst withstanding the force of any hard bumps that come your way when you’re off the ball.
So, naturally, a consistent weight program is the best way to maintain a high standard of strength. This can be implemented both in training and in your own time and will go a long way to bringing you to your physical peak come gameday.
- Endurance: the 4-6-4 run
Footy isn’t a short game: it’s contested over around 120 minutes and requires players to be able to stay in the game for that time without the coach dragging them for lagging on the field.
So, one of the best endurance drills you can enlist is the 4-6-4 run, which includes four minutes of high-intensity sprinting with a six minute break in between another session of high-intensity four minute sprinting!