Pictured L- R, Top Row -Andrew McClean, Damian Martin,Johnny Bradley. Front Row -Bronwen Masters, Dr Matt Spencer, Declan Gamble, Dr Johnny Bloomfield, Laura Ostler.
On Friday 30th October Matt delivered two presentations during the monthly Performance Science meeting. The focus for the morning seminar was preparation of team sports for competition and Matt provided SINI staff with a valuable insight into what it takes to prepare team sport players to compete and win at the Olympic Games. Matt drew upon his experience of preparing the Australian men’s hockey teams, which won bronze in Sydney (2000) and Gold in Athens (2004). The challenges and pressures involved in training these world class athletes were outlined and effective training methods were illustrated. Matt emphasised the importance of preparation and alluded to training for the “worst case scenario”. For example, the intensity of training during preparation phases for tournaments was often more demanding than actual competition, which gave the players the confidence to perform at high workrates particularly during the latter stages of games. Following the Olympic final some players remarked that the intensity of the game was less than what they had experienced during training, thereby acknowledging the excellent preparation conducted by the science and coaching staff.
In the afternoon session, SINI staff were given an opportunity to discuss specific case studies relating to the provision of science support to different athletes and sports and Matt drew on his 10 years experience of working within the Australian Institute of Sport system to facilitate this. Matt highlighted the importance of being prepared and well researched in the field prior to proposing new interventions to coaches. This process ensured that there was an evidence base and rationale for the introduction of the intervention and this included stressing the potential value that it could add to the programme. When providing support in this environment, it is also critical to make a good first impression, as you may not get another chance to make a mistake! Although some interventions did not prove successful the experience of trialling it provided lessons to be learned and these added to the knowledge and preparation for subsequent projects.
SINI Performance Science unit lead, Declan Gamble, organises these workshops to ensure his team discuss current best practices and are afforded the opportunity to fast-track their knowledge and applied skills. Declan had this to say of the workshop,
“We all found the workshop stimulating and the interactive nature of the presentations allowed for excellent discussion and shared learning. This knowledge will assist in service delivery to the various team sports and individual athletes that we support. The feedback from the staff was extremely positive and we were privileged to have an applied scientist of Matt’s calibre with us. His success with Olympic athletes has been inspirational and this represents a challenge to the support team at SINI to aspire to reach similar standards. This supports the philosophy of striving for excellence that we embrace on a daily basis”.
Matt remarked.
"When I was given a tour around SINI, I was very impressed by the whole building. The sport science and strength and conditioning facilities were particularly impressive and I would rate them as world class. My impression of the staff of the Performance Science department was that of a team of young professionals that are intelligent, vibrant and looking to develop their knowledge and experiences in the aim of assisting SINI athletes and coaches pursue their performance goals. The atmosphere during the workshop was excellent, with a high level of interaction and discussion around the issues that were presented."
