Off-season programming in elite football

Off seasons seem to be getting shorter no matter what level we’re talking about. What is your overall philosophy when it comes to off season programming for football players?

First, it means addressing the physical needs and requirements based on the previous season. For example, if a player had high availability and was involved in significant match minutes throughout the season, then the philosophy may be geared towards physical and mental recovery as well as any individual injury issues they may have. Another player may need a more developmental mindset towards his programme.

Through the regular and detailed physical profiling strategies clubs have in place throughout the season and the players’ pathways, we assign individual physical targets and design physical performance programmes accordingly.

The off season provides a good window of opportunity for a player to work on those specific physical performance areas of perceived weakness. For example, a player may require significant input from a strength and power point of view. They would use the time to complete a detailed programme addressing any needs, and resulting in the structural adaptations without impacting performance on the pitch.

Second, the off season is to prepare the player for the upcoming season. They should return to the club in adequate condition with the foundations in place to build on throughout the preseason period to the beginning of the competitive season.

There must always be a multi-disciplinary view on the design and implementation of an off season programme, with inputs not only from the physical performance department but also medical, psychological, nutritional and also coaching or performance analysis. This will provide a detailed and 360 degree viewpoint on the players’ off season development.

Overall, we must strive to individualise as much as possible, or at least have as much of an individual bias on every off season programme as we can. Each player must agree to the targets and the overall mindset of the programme. Whether it’s recovery, injury maintenance, or physical performance development, each player must understand and be accountable for their own off season.

Unlike 15-20 years ago, players are expected to come in to preseason in good shape. But is there an argument for players to use that time, or at least some of it, to relax mentally and physically?

Competitive seasons are starting earlier while also getting longer, so naturally the amount of time for what we describe as an “off season” seems to be constantly decreasing. With international competitions, there is almost no off season; while there is a big demand on players to remain in competitive, elite physical condition throughout the entire year, over consecutive seasons.

It is incredibly important that there is an element of rest and recovery in every off season programme. The amount is largely based on how much that player has played, as well as their individual factors. Competing at an elite level for 8-9 months is extremely demanding physically, and the necessary amount of recovery can differ significantly between athletes. Some require complete off feet recovery with a slow and gradual build up, whereas others prefer to be more active, and can complete low intensity sessions straight away.

We explain detailed nutritional programmes and advice on sleep hygiene strategies during the entire off season, but with a specific focus on recovery early on. Of course, we would be naive to suggest players do not “enjoy themselves” to some degree, so we educate and advise on alcohol and hydration strategies, explaining the effects these can have on overall recovery and body composition.

I think it is also important to allow the player time to mentally rest and recover. Players face extreme pressures, and are required to take on so much tactical information throughout a season to be able to perform successfully. Having time to recover is critical in supporting the players’ mental health and well being.

There is nothing worse for a player than getting injured before the season even begins. What are you programming for players in the off season to mitigate the risk of injury?

As performance practitioners, it is really important that we accept and understand the increased potential for injury during preseason. Preseason exposes players to a relatively high load over a short amount of time. Although we strive to do this in a gradual and appropriate timeframe, we must also appreciate that strain and breakdowns can and do occur.

We try to mitigate this risk by programming specific elements into an off season programme and ensure the player returns with a foundation level of conditioning, muscle and tendon health as they begin preseason. Conditioning programmes must appropriately increase intensity and volume. We specifically focus on developing runs that progress the player to maximal velocity, while also exposing them to adequate eccentric loading patterns, given the frequency of these actions during football specific training.

Off season is also extremely useful to target potential areas highlighted during the club’s testing and profiling processes. These may follow from performance testing, medical or musculoskeletal screening, as well as current or previous injury pathways. For example, a player who has been suffering with a level of tendinopathy can use the off season to increase and develop the tendon loading protocols that they may have been maintaining in season.

How would you recommend presenting all this information to players to ensure maximum compliance?

Communication of any training programme is critical for its success. You may write the greatest development programme ever, with incredible depth and detail, but if it’s poorly communicated to the players, it is just words on paper.

Players respond really well to interactive and dynamic programmes rather than printed booklets. For example, at Swansea we developed the off season programme as an interactive ebook. Once the players downloaded and saved it onto their device of choice, all the details and intricacies were just one click away each day or week. All information, visuals and videos were automatic and gave the players everything they needed to understand what we programmed and when they should do it.

Previously, I have also sent out the programmes in 2-3 week segments rather than one long 6-8 week programme. This allowed the player to focus on the immediate and near term goals for that specific period: recovery, development, conditioning, taper, etc. This approach created a simpler and more compliant programme.

It is really important to appreciate and understand the differences in players respond to information. Whether it is through visuals, written or verbal communication, we must deliver all styles to ensure the greatest adherence and compliance.

We also must provide some context and information as part of the programme. Whether that is simple match data (match minutes, complete games), physical load data (total chronic load) or physical profiling data (strength and power diagnostics, testing results), this information provides the basis of the programme. Educating the players on this data and what it means in terms of programme design and prescription will always generate greater accountability and adherence.

How are you tracking compliance during the off season? What would you recommend for those with and without the budget to track it?

Tracking players through the off season, in whatever capacity you as a department / club choose, always benefits the return to training programmes during preseason. Understanding what and how much the player completed allows a smooth transition back into football specific training.

The department can give players external and internal load devices (GPS, heart rate), and then the staff can download the information later to get a handle on total volume. However, this can be an incredibly expensive way to gather this information, especially when the inevitable happens and a few units go missing. This type of objective data can also come from players’ smart watches or devices, but we must appreciate the potential for less accurate data.

Using RPE and total session duration is also a really simple way to generate an indicator on load, and generally does increase player accountability. However, each player must be truly educated on the RPE scale and how to use it.

If you can develop processes and strategies in place to record and collect this information following every session, and for the multidisciplinary team to monitor it throughout the off season rather than retrospectively, you can assist or intervene as required. Generally, some level of communication, whether phone calls or text messages, is necessary and will help the players through the off season.

There are many ways to track load through this period. Each have their advantages and disadvantages. What is most important is implementing a method that is consistent and as accurate as possible. It mustn’t be data for the sake of data. It should always have some impact and inform decision making.

Its popular for players to seek external help during the off season, and this is now happening at all levels. How do you manage this, and what would be your recommendations to practitioners who are experiencing external practitioners working with their players for the first time?

This is becoming more popular and somewhat inevitable. I see some advantages and benefits for players to go see these practitioners.

I think it is a positive sign that a player is taking accountability for their own development and career. We always prefer players to query and question programmes, as it shows they are taking interest and control of their physical development. Also, training within a different environment and accessing different coaching voices / styles is sometimes necessary to generate a greater application during these periods away from the club.

However, we need to be extremely careful with this level of service; and mitigate the risk by supporting the player and asking for complete transparency and collaboration.

Managing this once again comes back to communication and the relationship you build with the players. If the player is well educated and informed on the reasoning behind each detail of the programme and they understand the type of work they need to be doing at each point to allow a safe and optimal return to preseason, then completing a slightly different version of the session or drill with another coach is somewhat irrelevant.

We will always make ourselves available for consultation if the player wants to seek external help during this period, and try to collaborate as much as possible. This transparent approach is critical in ensuring programme quality and communication of data and insights.

There are some fantastic practitioners out there, and we must try to use this to our advantage to optimally complete the off season programme.