Developing young AFL players strength & skills
As a rugby state, AFL doesn’t often get a look in here in NSW.
Which can be bad news if you are trying to put a team together. Like any competitive sports, teams are looking for the cream of the crop, and if there aren’t any talented kids who have grown up playing the sport, there is a limited pool to pick from.
That’s all starting to change, at least where AFL is concerned.
The Sydney Swans have set up an Academy to help young players develop their skills in the game, and give the selectors some NSW blood to choose from.
But it’s not just what happens on field that’s important, but how the players develop off-field. Stephen Kelly is a Strength and Condition Coach for the Sydney Swans Academy and PhD student at UTS. His PhD has involved profiling these younger players and comparing them to the senior, or professional players, to work out what they need to be doing in the gym to fast track their development.
Image: Mike Hauser on Flickr.
