Effect of Training on Grass

[maris]

@Hawiian_Surferboy

This year training with a new coach who trains his athletes mainly on a turf field up until jan or feb i found that it helped out a lot sprint wise. As Charlie mentioned I learned not to fight the ground and stay relaxed, which did help increase my turnover rate. The other part was that it helped keep my legs fresher as the pounding from the track would cause me to take longer to recover from sessions as my shins and knees would be sore. So I can definatly see the added benifit from keeping at least one session of grass work in during the year.

What is the climate like in British Columbia? I was under the impression it was similarish to Britain in that it was quite wet? Was this not an issue?

[Silencer23]

I feel much faster and much more reactive on grass than on a hard track. I
feel i’m getting good feedback from it, and stride length is much better !!! on a track I lose alot of energy and find it harder to maintain proper top speed technique.

Weird because you all say grass is much slower… well maybe its just me ? I’m talking about real grass by the way.

[jerry_adair]

We use the new turf as much as possible. Almost all tempo is done on it,along with plyos and some sprinting. We’ve even done early season hurdle work on it especially for 400 hurdles

[Sharmer]

@maris

Ok, given that and the conditions here in the UK, would there be a benefit of doing late SPP and comp phase training on grass?? Perhaps not all, but some of the speed sessions??

Francis’ camp move onto the track around mid SPP from what I can gather, correct me if I am wrong, but due to the conditions here in the UK, where the weather does not permit speed work on the grass until at the earliest April/May time, although this year, much later, is there a benefit of getting on the gras closer to and during the season? Would you see the benefits of increased leg stiffness transfer to performance? Or is it likely to be detrimental to performance?

The positive I can see is that if you did say one speed session a week on grass, you are moving slightly away from the high intensity speed work on the track and the specificity of the actual races, perhaps gaining a super compensatory benefit?? I’d be interested to hear what you think, Sharmer.

I think you can do accel work or grass even if its soft, just keep away from max speed work.

Stiffer legs enable higher freq, elastic energy is transformed faster. Theoretically increased stiffness requires greater force to change muscle length. So you need to be strong to maximise leg stiffness. However those with stiff musculature invariable are strong.

[maris]

@Sharmer

I think you can do accel work or grass even if its soft, just keep away from max speed work.

Stiffer legs enable higher freq, elastic energy is transformed faster. Theoretically increased stiffness requires greater force to change muscle length. So you need to be strong to maximise leg stiffness. However those with stiff musculature invariable are strong.

I may incorporate some acceleration sessions on grass over the summer then. The problem with the grass in the winter is not just the softness, but it is more often than not waterlogged, running through a puddle of mud. I really don’t think you could effectively accelerate in it. However, there is of course the opportunity when starting the GPP to include some early acceleration workouts on the grass up til mid October or so.

[Sharmer]

@maris

I may incorporate some acceleration sessions on grass over the summer then. The problem with the grass in the winter is not just the softness, but it is more often than not waterlogged, running through a puddle of mud. I really don’t think you could effectively accelerate in it. However, there is of course the opportunity when starting the GPP to include some early acceleration workouts on the grass up til mid October or so.

Try and find some cricket fields the grass is usually good.

[maris]

@Sharmer

Try and find some cricket fields the grass is usually good.

That’s not a bad idea actually. I’m not sure how many are used exclusively for cricket here, as often they double up for football in the winter, thus making them a little more boggy. I’ll look into it though.

[Hawiian_Surferboy]

@maris

What is the climate like in British Columbia? I was under the impression it was similarish to Britain in that it was quite wet? Was this not an issue?

im not to sure what the weather is like where you are, hopefully it has better than ours as it rained and even snowed most of the weeks during winter. The amount of snow we go does not happen much, but normally a lot of rain. This is the other reason why i like to continue grass/turf running into the spp as the turf does not allow the water to pool up and is even somewhat dry allowing for decent conditions to train

[PhilG]

@maris

That’s not a bad idea actually. I’m not sure how many are used exclusively for cricket here, as often they double up for football in the winter, thus making them a little more boggy. I’ll look into it though.

Its a good idea, I often used the boundary of a cricket pitch when I ran (many moons ago) and encourage my athletes to do the same, particularly on tempo days. Cricket clubs are usually ok with that, just stay well away from the sacred 22yds in the middle.

[kitkat1]

@PhilG

Its a good idea, I often used the boundary of a cricket pitch when I ran (many moons ago) and encourage my athletes to do the same, particularly on tempo days. Cricket clubs are usually ok with that, just stay well away from the sacred 22yds in the middle.

Stuff that! We specifically selected that area to do acceleration training. It’s the only part of the oval that has had the heavy roller treatment, so is pretty sound underfoot.

Although I will admit we ran on the edge of the pitch, not from wicket to wicket - besides, too many wooden sticks in the way and we’re not bloody hurdlers you know

[hornblower]

@kitkat1

Stuff that! We specifically selected that area to do acceleration training. It’s the only part of the oval that has had the heavy roller treatment, so is pretty sound underfoot.

are you serious? you train on the pitch in spikes!? :eek:

don’t let the groundsman see you do that…

[kentcounty]

@hornblower

are you serious? you train on the pitch in spikes!? :eek:

don’t let the groundsman see you do that…

These cricketers are a little too precious!

I agree, right on the edge is rock hard and very fast!!!

[NFS]

@hornblower

are you serious? you train on the pitch in spikes!? :eek:

don’t let the groundsman see you do that…

See it as an extra spice in your training.

Hopefully you’ll be faster then him

[hornblower]

@NFS

See it as an extra spice in your training.

Hopefully you’ll be faster then him

hopefully he won’t have a shotgun…

[jumper]

@PhilG

Its a good idea, I often used the boundary of a cricket pitch when I ran (many moons ago) and encourage my athletes to do the same, particularly on tempo days. Cricket clubs are usually ok with that, just stay well away from the sacred 22yds in the middle.

Yeah I’ve been using the boundary of an AFL oval for my tempo work. It’s great. It’s about 480m all the way around. It feels so free to be able to run such long distances without necessarily having to run tighter bends (like the track is). Plus it’s a different type of run for your body since you’re never running straight. Then I change what direction I run as well, to prevent my body becoming too lopsided.

[jumper]

I’ll be going to America in July and wanted to keep the grass running going – do they have anything similar to AFL ovals over there? Do they have many grass tracks? I’ll be going to Allentown, PA and then I’ll be in Las Vegas too, so any info on those two places would be great!

PS I know Vegas is in the desert, so I guess I’ll be running more on dirt than on grass. . Haha.

[d_nasty]

@jumper

I’ll be going to America in July and wanted to keep the grass running going – do they have anything similar to AFL ovals over there? Do they have many grass tracks? I’ll be going to Allentown, PA and then I’ll be in Las Vegas too, so any info on those two places would be great!

PS I know Vegas is in the desert, so I guess I’ll be running more on dirt than on grass. . Haha.

for pa you probably won’t be able to find any oval other than a track around an american football field

in vegas if you know where to look you can probably find all kinds of funky synthetic grasses. its a big city.

[John]

@d_nasty

for pa you probably won’t be able to find any oval other than a track around an american football field

I don’t think it being oval was the critical factor more the quality of grass.

[jumper]

@John

I don’t think it being oval was the critical factor more the quality of grass.

Yeah, that’s correct. :).

[jumper]

@d_nasty

for pa you probably won’t be able to find any oval other than a track around an american football field

in vegas if you know where to look you can probably find all kinds of funky synthetic grasses. its a big city.

Thanks man. I’ll definitely be looking all around both places. ;).