Jackaroos reach new heights
The Australian Jackaroos, NTC Squad members and High Performance staff have embraced a new style of training to gain an edge over their competitors. The Australian Jackaroos have lifted their training intensity after a review by the Australian Sports Commission found that athletes need to become more accountable for their personal training on and off the green.
The Australian High Performance Team led by National Coach Steve Glasson and High Performance Co-ordinator Peter Brown is always looking at ways to improve the program to benefit Australia’s elite bowlers.
The first modification to the program is incorporating individual physical training programs and reporting systems to encourage the athletes to focus their spare time on improving their health and well-being.
Australian National Coach Steve Glasson has nothing but positive things to say about the new program and the way in which the Australian squads have embraced the changes.
“The idea of the program is to find activities that are fun and motivating to get the whole team more active and for them to communicate with each other what they are doing to help push each other along,” Mr Glasson said.
“The great thing about the changes the Australian Jackaroos are implementing to their training programs is that there has been a lot of player feedback; players are making recommendations and really owning what they are doing together as one team,” Mr Glasson said.
During the month of April the Australian Jackaroos and coaching staff have already walked, ran, swam or cycled 936.6km which is an average of 39kms each in a month, which is a substantial amount considering at least five days were lost for all during the Australian Sides Championships.
Some Jackaroos have incorporated boot camp style activities to their training, core strength training at gyms and boxing which is hours of exercise on top of the 936.6km.
“It is incredibly pleasing that players who haven’t communicated their training well in the past are now taking it on board and having a real crack; fitness doesn’t happen overnight but the team is working very hard to ensure that when they make it to a benchmark event they are feeling just as good physically at the end of a long two week campaign as they did on the first day,” Mr Glasson said.
After the success of the new programs incorporated to Bowls Australia’s High Performance Program, the NTC Squads are now embracing the new aspects of training and both squads are motivating each other to new heights.
High Performance Co-ordinator Peter Brown is able to monitor everyone’s progress and offer instant feedback.
All of this fitness training will be important for the lucky players selected to represent Australia at the Asia Pacific Championships, the 2016 World Championships and the 2018 Commonwealth Games as all of these international campaigns are over 10 days in length including practice days.
National Coach Steve Glasson hopes that the extra work players put in now will be the extra one per cent difference between gold and silver on the international stage.
Bowls Australia would like to acknowledge the assistance and funding provided by the Australian Commonwealth Games Association to Bowls Australia for athletes in the “Gold Coast GOLD” 2018 program.
The Gold Coast GOLD program was devised by the ACGA to maximise podium performances at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and assist athletes who are expected to be nominated for selection to the 2018 Australian Team.
