With a work ethic that is second to none, Sydney FC is a club that takes no chances with strength and conditioning. Shannon Cole and coach Craig Duncan talk about their training programme.
Sydney Football Club, aka ‘FC’, were the inaugural 2006 A-League Cham-- pions. Some would say they are the most successful franchise after they again won the 2009/2010 season A-League championship, edging out fierce rivals Melbourne Victory in a hard-fought finals series. When their backs were against the wall, their fiercely loyal supporters ‘The Cove’, located at the northern end of the Sydney Football Stadium, provided inspiration and the courage to dig in and find another gear to get over the tops of their highly fancied interstate adversary.
With a work ethic that is second to none, they’re a club that takes no chances with strength and conditioning. The club’s Head of Human Performance is Dr. Craig Duncan, an accredited coach with a PhD in Exercise and Sports Science, who is no stranger to the ‘beautiful game’. After a successful career where he represented NSW and made his State league debut at only sixteen years of age, Craig then pursued an academic career that has seen him become internationally recognised in the field of exercise and sports science.
Looking through the current club roster, one of many names that jumps out when identifying the hard trainers, the guys who never put in less than their maximum effort, is Shannon Cole (#12). Despite it being the first week back of pre-season training, Cole is all business at their training facilities at Macquarie University. With a lot to prove to himself for the up-coming season, to say that Shannon Cole is focused would be an understatement!
M&F: How old were you when you started playing?
SHANNON COLE: I come from a sporting family with both of my grandfathers playing top grade rugby league (George Beaman playing for the Balmain Tigers and Newtown Jets and John Cole the Newtown Jets). I was the first person to play soccer in my family when I joined my first team at age six for Yaralla (Concord West).
M&F: Were you always interested in pursuing a professional sporting career?
SC: I always wanted to be a professional sportsman and growing up, I played rugby league, cricket and soccer.
M&F: Were you always a dedicated trainer?
SC: Yes, I have always been focused on being the hardest worker. The only thing you can do is to guarantee your own work rate.
M&F: What role has weight training played in your development through to the senior ranks?
SC: Growing up, I have always done some type of bodyweight weight-training, but I have mainly focused on functional fitness exercises and explosive power, like plyometrics.
M&F: Which parts of your day-to-day training do you find the most challenging?
SC: Playing the position of right full back, I find doing drills incorporating long distance running at speed for 60 minutes and then changing to do defensive drills very taxing.
M&F: Is there any specific or personal training that you do away from your teammates?
SC: I do a little extra training under the guidance of Craig Duncan, specifically long-distance running. I usually do anywhere from 8 km to 10 km per session.
M&F: What are some of the training goals you set yourself?
SC: I set myself simple goals like monitoring how fast I can lower my resting heart rate. I get it up to around 208 bpm and within a minute get it down to 120 bpm.
M&F: Do you cross train or do other activities outside of your chosen sport?
SC: Our coaching staff is very hands-on and want to know what we get up to from the perspective of recovery. So in the off-season, I enjoy swimming, tennis and basketball. I usually swim once a week and alternate between tennis and basketball a couple of times a week.
M&F: Have you had any significant injuries that have changed the way you’ve trained?
SC: A while back I tore my hamstring. That’s one thing that the coaching staff and I work on, to improve the strength in that area. It means more Romanian deadlifts and lunges using a medicine ball. I do three sets of eight reps, two to three times per week of these exercises.
M&F: Would you look to change sports should injury put you out of your chosen sport?
SC: If I couldn’t play soccer, I would like to play cricket – if I were good enough.
M&F: What does your day-to-day diet/eating look like?
SC: My playing weight is around 73 kg and I stay close to that in the off-season. My diet is fairly basic with three meals per day. If I snack, it’s usually just fruit but breakfast is normally cereal like Weet-Bix or Sustain with a piece of fruit. Lunch is usually a sandwich. My current favourite is turkey and cranberry. Dinner is anything from lean meats like chicken to stir-fries or pasta dishes. I like to think of myself as fairly handy in the kitchen and I share the cooking responsibilities with my partner Jacqueline (Shannon met Jacqueline when he was on a sporting college scholarship in the US). After the game I have a Musashi protein shake with a protein bar.
M&F: Is there any player in your club that you look to for motivation for your training?
SC: I get inspiration from former player Steve Corica. He has been my biggest inspiration – in his final season, which many say was his best, he trained as hard if not harder at age 36 than many of those ten years his junior. Steve made me look at myself to keep raising my standards.
M&F: Do you follow other sporting codes?
SC: Coming from a rugby league family, I still follow rugby league particularly the West Tigers (formerly Balmain Tigers) and Western Suburbs RLFC. When I was in the States I really got into their sports, especially basketball and ice hockey.
M&F: Have you ever done anything that could be seen as different in regards to your training?
SC: When I was a kid I used to practise my free kicks by kicking a soccer ball over the neighbour’s car – I made sure the ball fell before hitting the bush by controlling the topspin.
M&F: Do you have a post-game recovery regime?
SC: What we do for post-game recovery is ice baths for five minutes. This is done in the sequence of three minutes in then one minute out followed by one minute back in. Then we do some stretching, then icing, then a light jog followed by a stretch.
DR. CRAIG DUNCAN
Head of Human Performance, Sydney FC
M&F: How did you become interested in being a strength/conditioning coach?
CRAIG DUNCAN: I have always been interested in the workings of the human body and how it adapts to training and I have been the Sydney FC Head of Human Performance since 2009/10 season.
M&F: How would you describe your training philosophy?
CD: It is imperative that your training matches the specific outcomes you require. It is also vital that the players I work with are monitored to ensure they are coping with the training loads.
M&F: Is there anything unique about your training philosophy?
CD: The amount of time I spend on player monitoring! With the 22 players in the squad, we monitor everything – pre-training measurements, sleep patterns, post-game/training soreness, the general well-being of individual players and their resting heart rate. Data analysis is very important and we’re in the process of developing our own software.
M&F: Do you look to other sporting codes for new coaching ideas?
CD: Yes, I look at aspects of what my colleagues do in their respective sports, like the way AFL co-ordinates training and their monitoring of players. I think we all exchange methods but most of my work is specific to our game.
M&F: What goals have you set yourself as the strength and conditioning coach?
CD: To give the best service possible to our players and by seeing them achieve their goals, I achieve mine.
M&F: Do you have a coaching staff and what qualities do you look for in your staff?
CD: I have an assistant and a number of interns. I am most interested in their integrity as people and how they communicate. The coaching staff is comprised of the head coach, two assistant coaches and a goalkeeping coach.
M&F: What qualities, both physiological and psychological, make for a good athlete?
CD: Players in football need to have a competent blend of many physiological components including aerobic power, speed, agility, power, strength, etc. Psychologically, players that are successful are intrinsically motivated, are able to self-reflect and have a strong self-efficacy.
M&F: What separates the good from the great athlete?
CD: The commitment to work hard, and faith in their own ability.
M&F: How often do you train your athletes?
CD: Our players are full time therefore we train six days a week pre-season.
M&F: Is there any specific one-to-one training you do with the athletes?
CD: Yes, all our players have individualised programmes and therefore some may need specific one-to-one work. Also, when players are in a rehab phase I will do lots of one-to-one work.
M&F: Briefly explain your training regime.
CD: Football conditioning is done primarily with the ball in training. Strength work is very functional and specific and this is undertaken two to three times a week and includes mostly bodyweight and medicine ball work.
M&F: What does the recovery programme entail?
CD: Recovery is a major aspect of what we do and is based on an intricate monitoring system we use to ensure players are coping with training. We also use ice baths, massage and yoga and all this is combined with a sound nutrition and supplementation programme.
M&F: Do you provide any advice on supplements?
CD: Yes we do, in conjunction with our supplement supplier Musashi, and all the players have an individualised supplementation programme. M&F
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