How a 7′s athlete trains on the field to improve their speed and running condition.
Written by our guest expert the Australian Women’s Sevens Rugby Strength & Conditioning Coach Craig Twentyman 

Sevens rugby is a fast paced game of 2 x 7 minute halves extending to 2 x 10 minute halves for the final. Tournaments are generally run over 2 days with pool play the first day then ¼ finals, semi-finals and finals on day 2. There is generally 2-4 hours between games. Currently the men’s world series consists of 9 tournaments and the women’s consists of 5.

With the inclusion of 7s into the Olympic games in Rio 2016, 7s is now 1 of the fastest growing sports in the world.

At the elite level of both the men’s and women’s games athletes will cover anywhere between 500-1200m/half. Games run at around 80-110m/min with some running at a higher pace than this.

This intensity of running combined with the collision and competing for the ball aspect means athletes at the elite level must be fast, strong, powerful and extremely running fit.

This first article will look at how a 7s athlete trains on the field to improve their speed and running condition.

Assessment-

To be able to prescribe specific conditioning sessions we must first know where someone currently sits from a speed and condition point of view. We use tests which cover the energy system spectrum to build a profile for each individual. The tests we use are:

• 10/20/40m speed- gives us an idea of an individuals’ acceleration and max velocity running ability
• 3 X 300m shuttle- allows us to assess an athlete’s change in direction ability, their glycolytic power and their glycolytic capacity. The set-up is a start line then markers at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50m. You run out and back to each marker as hard as you can timing how long the 300m takes you. Recover for 2-minutes then repeat. Recover for 2-minutes then repeat again. We look at the speed of the first compared to the speed of the 2^nd and 3^rd efforts. A fast 1^st effort combined with minimal decrement over the next 2 is what we look for
• 1600m field run- simply a max effort run out and back on a 100m field for 16 lengths
• Yo-yo test- this requires a specific sound track. Similar to the beep test but has been shown to be a bit more specific as an assessment for field sport athletes. Completed over a 20m out and back run with 5m marked back from the start line which athletes need to walk to each time during the recovery time. At the end of each 20m out and back run there is a 10s recovery which is when they walk to the 5m mark and back to the start line ready for the next effort

We use these assessments regularly throughout the year to see how individuals are tracking, how their profiles are changing and where they may need some increased focus.

Speed-

This encompasses acceleration, maximum velocity and change of direction. A massive component of training to improve speed, fatigue resistance as well as the vital component of injury resilience is strength training- this will be covered in another article soon. On field speed training consists of maximum effort sprinting of varying distances. The key point here is that efforts must be at maximum effort. To ensure this we often partner athletes with similar speeds and have them compete against each other. Examples of some of the drills we use include-

• Basic technical drilling- skipping (a-skipping, b-skipping), cariocas, double leg/single leg plyometric work
• Maximum efforts ranging from 5 to 50m starting from different start positions. Beach sprint start, lying on the back, kneeling, sitting, 1 running backwards away from the other, side shuffling, with ball and without etc. The keys for us here are covering all our bases from the point of view that an athlete has to be able to react and be fast from any position
• Acceleration/deceleration over 60-100m. Random lengths of acceleration/deceleration on a call ensuring that each is at 100%- the ability to decelerate is a big component of the overall ability to change direction. If an athlete can’t decelerate effectively, no matter how fast they are able to accelerate their ability to change direction will be poor
• 3 cone drill and 5-10-5 shuttle drill. These are assessments used in the NFL combine as a way to test an athlete’s acceleration and agility. We have our athletes perform them with and without a ball working over varying distances
• Curve sprinting
• Partner band resisted sprinting- using stretch bands to provide varying degrees of resistance. From low resistance for technique drills and longer speed efforts to higher resistance for acceleration work. Again we also perform efforts running backwards, side shuffling and side running

 

Conditioning-

As with the speed examples above our priority with conditioning is ensuring all our bases are covered. This means efforts of different lengths, time and intensity. Combined with the running component is the very important contact component. Besides the more technical tackle/contact aspect which the coaches cover off we perform wrestling efforts for conditioning as well as endless burpees to replicate that fatigue accumulated from getting off the ground, tackling, running with someone grappling them and the condition to perform repeated contacts and sprints as required in a game. An athlete may be an extremely good runner but if they aren’t exposed to this contact/down & up component they will struggle in a game. Examples of some of the drills we use include-

• 10s sprint:20s recovery X 5- run distances are individually prescribed depending on 1600m run and yo-yo test results. Looking at 150-170% MAS (maximal aerobic speed)
• 10s burpee:10s recovery:5s sprint:15s recovery:10s burpee:10s recovery X 5
• 15s run:15s recovery X 5- 2 burpees during the recovery period. Looking at 120-130% MAS
• 200m shuttles- alternating between 10, 20, 30, 40m out and back, 4 X 50m out and back, 2 X 100m out and back
• 15s standing wrestle to take down:15s recovery X 5
• 10s turtle flip (wrestle):20s recovery X 5
• Conditioning games- games such as 1 touch drop off touch, Fiji touch, playball 7s, touch with burpees/running efforts/wrestle efforts throughout

My priority with the conditioning is maintaining intensity throughout. I find it has worked well for us to work in blocks of 5-7-minutes. This is specific to lengths of halves of the games, so we can look at the GPS data and compare intensities, but also the athletes are able to maintain the high intensity for this time compared to say a straight 30-minute block of conditioning. For our purposes intensity trumps volume when we talk about ‘bang for your buck’ training choices.

This on-field conditioning is supplemented with gym based conditioning such as prowler pushing, sled pulling & pushing and rowing.

In the off-season we will also complete different sessions for a change of scene and to expose the athletes to a different stimulus. Hill running, running on the track and strongman circuits are an example of some of these different training options that we won’t necessarily use too much in season but are good for a change up out of season.

My next article will detail the gym based strength and power training that the athletes complete.

If you have any questions or comments about anything I’ve mentioned above feel free to contact me on email at or on twitter .