Plan Ahead Is Important

Putting into action what we learn is one of the most important lessons that I have learnt from the week long Oceania Sports and Education Programme (OSEP) Strength and Conditioning Course says Tennis national rep and coach, Vienna Kumar.

"One of the topics that stood out for me during this course was periodisation, which was something we as coaches or even players lack knowledge on," she said.

"Learning to plan training times and phases accordingly and understanding the load of training needed in each phase is really important and beneficial to athletes and coaches."

Vienna said in her five years of playing for the Fiji National Team, she has never encountered a coach that put in place a plan for training leading up to any competition.

"I would like to start implementing this for my personal training and work with my federation to start periodisation plans for every major tournament," she said.

Vienna said broadening her knowledge on strength and conditioning was also important.

"This is one area that was never taught to me in my 11years of playing tennis, so I wish to take back as much as I can," she said.

Vienna said as an athlete and coach she would ensure that her federation would benefit from what she had learned from the week long course and hopefully their athletes will show better results in future competitions.

OSEP Master Educator Tihrani Uluinakauvadra said Participants (Coaches) should be able to change some of their traditional training approach to a more funtional approach after the week long course.  

"Strength and Conditioning coaches play a vital role in the performance of athletes," he said.

"An athlete can only meet the demands of his or her sport if the body coordinates and moves functionally and this is what is learnt during the course."

Tihrani said strength and conditioning was an area that was lacking in all sports despite a few local experts currently focused on their own sports.

"It is also important that we have more continuous Professional Development for potential Educators and Master Educators in strength and conditioning especially for those from other sports," he said.

‍