My Fourth Day At Wigan Warriors

I came into todays training session aiming to aid my ability to take training drills. The day started as per usual where in which the gym were organised appropriately for the days resistance training. The U15 and U16 squad and coaches entered the gym, Ian gathered the athletes together and informed them that we was going to be indoors for the whole of todays session as the wheather wasnt appropriate for the session the coaches had in mind. Therefore we was going to utilise this opportunity to try out a new piece of equipment. The circuit played out as planned with the players this week showing significant improvements in lifting technique. Majority of players progressed from a box squat to a full squat, with a handful of individuals progressing further to a front squat. This was a real boost of confidence for myself as the individuals who progressed to front squat was the individuals who shown most willingness to listen to my feedback. Myself and Ian continued to look for training imperfections and focused on those who did progress wasnt overloading themselves too much as the last thing the club wants is more injuries.

During the circuit training session Ian explained to me what the next part of the session entailed. This gave me the opportunity to facilitate my improvement in confidence when taking sessions myself. Once the circuit had finished I got the players together and took a leadership role in explaining what we was going to do next.

We went into the sports hall were the players enabled the new digital timer to be utilisised for the first time since Wigan Warriors had purchased it. With the use of this new equipment the players focused on improving their cardio. The players had to complete two lengths of the sports hall in 15 seconds with a 15 second break and then continue this drill for aslong as possible. I was stood at the side encouraging the athletes to continue for aslong as they could. I was very surprised to hear the atheletes who had already dropped out to stay and cheer their fellow team mates on. The evidence of their maturity reinforced Wigan Warriors policy being professional and having the right attitude.

Upon reflection, I was very pleased with how the session went. I put myself out of my comfort zone and put myself in the spot light. The players shown great progression with some indiviuals even attempting front squats. This was very encouraging and in some way felt rewarding to see the progression from those who shown eagerness to listen to what feedback the coaches gave them. I left feeling excited to see what the next session would involve and to see if the progression of some players more than others would motivate the competitive nature these individuals to progress to the same standard. My aim for next week is to try and have more players attempting the front squat to box.

By Connor Franks