Pool Recovery Sessions
Recovery sessions were rarely incorporated into sports specific training programs, except in Eastern Block countries. Yet the benefits of structured recovery periods are well documented both in terms of improved performances and decreased injury rates. Coaches and athletes alike need to be more aware of the importance of restoration and regeneration following heavy workloads, and of how to use the options available to facilitate recovery.
Training hard for any sport is a pre-requisite for success but training smart will lead to greater success. Making time for recovery sessions whether it be de-loading training, hydrotherapy, massage, relaxation methods or just resting are vital in a program.
Water/Pool sessions are a great means of allowing the athlete to recover from competitions/training and injury. Training is not only physically tiring but also psychologically draining.
Water recovery training is an excellent method of restoration not only physically but also mentally. When an athlete is tired and muscle sore, the mention of a pool session immediately brings about positive and relaxed thoughts.
Doing a recovery session in a pool after a game and before the next practice , or even after a fitness session, has proven to be beneficial to players.
Below is a sample program:
Water has a greater capability than air which increases the pressure and massage action on the muscle. Players will complete a series of exercises at a slow pace and covering small distances.
The player may begin the recovery session with a couple of slow relaxed laps (freestyle, sidestroke, backstroke)
The following exercises can then occur:
- Cycling on your back holding the side
- Lifting heels out of water (still on your back)
- Straight leg deep kick (on your back)
- Stretching (hamstrings, adductors, gluteus, calves)
- Trunk twists
- Heel flicks
- Scissors
- Lateral leg lifts
- Leg extension
- Hip rotations
- Arm pulls
- Light running
ALL EXERCISES ARE TO BE DONE AT A SLOW PACE; 30-40 SECS ON EACH EXERCISE WILL BE SUFFICIENT.
Notes to the above:
The text above gives a lowdown on pool work to regenerate tired bodies. I know from personal experience that cricket can leave the body very sore and incapable of performing at the level that you'd like to, especially if you're a seam bowler.
I now make a Pool Recovery Session a weekly part of my cricket season routine heading to my gym on a Sunday or Monday morning (depending on whether I've played both days at the weekend) without fail. I swim 10-20 lengths of different strokes at a moderate intensity allied to running in the pool forwards, backwards and sideways with a variety of heel flicks, high knees, calf raises, tipitoes etc. I then finish with some core rotation exercises using the entry ladder and if possible a cold shower on my hamstrings, quads and lower back.
Undoubtedly this speeds up my recovery time getting rid of muscle soreness and helping to loosen the body's joints. If you're serious about your cricket then pool work is an absolute must. Sussex CCC, arguably the most successful side in England in recent years, only book hotels for their players that have a pool - such is the importance they place on swim recovery work. All the test sides' fitness trainers use water to aid regeneration with some fast bowlers like Dale Steyn and Mitchell Johnson swimming twice daily both before and after the day's play.
Remember - Take responsibility for your own preparation so make it your New Year's resolution to get in the pool and enhance your chances of staying, alert, fresh and injury free.
Wello
January 2009
