National team camps are unique yet rewarding environments. In 7-10 days, us staff are tasked with building camaraderie, preparing players to perform in decisive fixtures, and getting a large group of often unfamiliar players and staff pulling in the same direction. There’s a lot for us physical performance coaches to consider, much of which can lie outside the realm of fitness. However, here are some of the common challenges I face during these periods.
One of the biggest challenges lies within creating routines that reflect best practice, but without being so confusing or overstimulating that players struggle to understand and adapt. When I first arrived, I attempted to perform detailed and extensive pre-activation sessions prior to pitch work. For many of the players, it was far more than what they were accustomed to. It was unfamiliar to them which led to ineffective sessions. By compromising and meeting the players in the middle of what they were used to and where I wanted to get them to, we found a method that improved compliance. I gave up a little but got more back.
Another challenge we face in these camps is understanding the physical status of the players. The challenge of managing physical load is common practice for coaches, but here we are limited on the context behind the months’ worth of load numbers on a report. What has been helpful tackling this is building a communication link with the parent club’s performance coach to better understand the context behind the numbers. Additionally, having informal catch ups with the players on day 1 of the camp allows me to get insight from the player’s perspective. With these insights, I organise players using a traffic light system to guide decision-making. “Green” players are regular starters who have maintained high, consistent chronic loading and arrive in good condition. They’re ready to go and can integrate fully from the start. “Amber” players are those who have had small disruptions to their normal loading profiles and may need minor modifications in the initial days before they are back to full speed. “Red” players usually fall into one of two categories. One category arrives with no match exposure in a significant amount of time, meaning their match fitness is very low, despite training regularly. Thus, to help them prepare for the upcoming matches, we will usually perform top ups during the opening days to ensure they can meet the extensive running demands of upcoming matches. The other category typically lacks robustness (and takes longer to recover) and played a full match the day before camp. Therefore, their first 48 hours need to be heavily managed, and their match minutes are carefully planned across the camp.
A major challenge we additionally face is the number of days in a row that players find themselves on a football pitch. Prior to the camp, players will typically have 3-5 days in a row with their club, with the travel day in-between then becoming their ‘day off’. Then, during the camp, players will not have a true day off away from football. This relentless schedule can lead to high levels of monotony and overreaching. Whilst players usually need to be on the pitch for some form of training due to the short turnaround of matches, we try to support them through physical and cognitive interventions. To help reduce overreaching, we push frequent ‘relaxing’ recovery modalities like foam rolling, sauna, pool-based recovery which allow the players to unwind and be slightly more passive throughout the process. To help reduce monotony, we try to implement as much fun and competitiveness as possible to the program. This can come in the form of fun team-based games built into the daily warm ups or MD+1 active recovery days. It can also come in the form of fun team challenges or quizzes in the evenings, after tactical team meetings.
A final challenge to consider is finding the balance between developing performance and managing fatigue. Youth players are still on their journey to becoming the finished product, and therefore we should continuously look to find and maximise windows of opportunity. Whilst national team camps are short in duration, I believe it’s still our responsibility to maximise the amount of athletic development provision and coaching we provide players with. Whether it’s warm ups, pre-activation sessions or gym sessions, there are daily opportunities to develop the players which we should look to take.
It’s easy to just focus on daily preparation and use our allotted pre-activation and warm up timeslots to take players through a general RAMP process that solely aims to prepare for the main football session. Instead, using this time to develop the player’s movement technique and outputs allows us to build for the long term picture, whilst still providing the daily preparation requirements. Likewise with the gym, we normally don’t want to induce too much fatigue as it may impact their freshness going into decisive matches. However, there is still a window of opportunity to microdose minimal effective-dose stimulus work. Low volume strength and tissue tolerance work the furthest away from matches, alongside low volume power work in the lead up to matches. This doesn’t need to overload the players, it can also be used to help maintain the hard work that parent clubs have fought for throughout the season, so that they don’t regress a week on the ladder of development. Parent clubs will typically provide provision for their player that has been periodised across the course of the season. This provision is adapted into the camp’s program. For those without such provision, we ensure appropriate levels of content are prepared to meet their needs.
To wrap, when facing any challenge, it’s important to remember that players are not robots. Take a moment to understand their journey in the lead up to the camp. Find windows of opportunity. Understand your philosophy and push the identity you want to create, yet be flexible and willing to adapt the camp’s provision to the player and their needs.
Author’s Bio
I graduated from Cardiff Metropolitan University and the University of Edinburgh with Strength & Conditioning related courses for my BSc and MSc. I also hold NSCA accreditation. Whilst I currently work with Crystal Palace U21s and Sweden’s U19s as a physical performance coach I have past experience working with Malmö FF, St Mirren FC, and Bellahouston Academy in similar roles.
Anyone who would like to get in contact with me can find me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/miguel-silva-72a34b182/