The way I block the training, there are elements that do become more specific in terms of overall transference as camps near; however, it’s important to note that even the general training is not entirely non-specific.
Transfer must be understood as negative, neutral, positive as well as indirect and direct.
It is therefore critical that no training ever results in negative transfer because that is synonymous with a waste of time.
In regards to ‘specific abdominal work’ in order to attain a high correlation to field based sport demands the drill would have to become very close to playing the sport itself (in order that all or most of the criteria of dynamic correspondence are met). This is where the ‘functional’ enthusiasts reveal there pedestrian qualification level because you can imagine how perverted the exercise becomes when one attempts to match a component of the competition exercise without possessing a sufficient understanding of biodynamics and bioenergetics.
So what you see in the extensive med ball and abdominal work is highly beneficial supportive, not specific, work. The transfer is positive due to the regime of muscle activity; however, the forces involved are very much different. So this work, in conjunction with other training, serves to develop an excellent work capacity, of positive transfer, from which to either build upon with more intensive demands (in the case of a beginner or one coming of a prolonged period of no training) or a strong supportive element that is performed in concert with more intensive forms of training within the same training week, such as tempo, (and in this sense it also serves a restorative function due to its extensive nature).