Shooting for Rio

Monday, May 9, 2016

Shooting for Rio

Massey University’s Recreation Centre became a testing arena for the New Zealand Tall Ferns squad on Saturday with 23 girls participating in a grueling testing regime ahead of the selection for the Rio Olympics.

The country’s best were put through their paces by eight Massey Exercise and Sport Science students, along with Tall Ferns’ strength and conditioning coach Adam Wolski. The 90-minute programme involved a range of tests, including vertical jumps, 20 metre sprints, an agility test and the yo-yo intermittent recovery test. This test assesses the athletes’ ability to perform intermittent repeated exercise and aerobic endurance. It is very similar to the “beep” test but allows 10 second rest intervals between each shuttle run.

Assistant Lecturer in Sport Psychology Warrick Wood says it is rewarding for his students to be exposed to such talented athletes, in a testing environment.

“We are extremely excited to be connected with Basketball New Zealand through our contribution to the Tall Ferns’ preparations as they head overseas to compete at a qualifying tournament to gain a spot at the Rio Olympic Games. This is a fantastic opportunity for our students to gain exposure to a high performance environment and apply what they have learnt in the classroom to make meaningful contributions to a national team.”

Mr Wood says the Tall Ferns are heading into a stressful environment. “At this level of competition, the variation in physical ability between teams is minimal, meaning the outcome will largely be determined by who ‘shows up’ mentally on the day.”

He says it is important the athletes have strategies in place that allow them to arrive at tip-off physically ready, combined with a calm state of mind that allows them to perform at a high level. “Such a mindset is a result of a number of factors that I hope to contribute to, including nurturing trust in preparation, clarity surrounding each individual’s role, achieving optimal levels of arousal and anxiety, and developing a supportive environment.”

Adam Wolski was exceptionally pleased with the testing conducted by the Massey team. “The pre-session organisation and the professionalism on the day was certainly at the standard needed for an international team preparing to qualify for the Olympics. It’s great we can get the data we need while providing students an extremely rare opportunity to gain experience with a National team. I can only hope it’s might motivate students to perhaps plunge themselves into the world of high performance sport.”

He says testing programmes allow the team to set standards and get a snapshot of where players are as a group. “The work ethic and desire of the Tall Ferns can never come under question, so preparation is an important focus for us on our push for success. Kennedy’s [Tall Ferns Coach Kennedy Kereama] teams always play a physical and high-tempo game so we need to make sure our players have the physical attributes to sustain that style of play. Importantly, it also gives us an understanding of the profile of what it takes to be a Tall Fern. With more and more opportunities for players to go to a US college or professional programmes in Australia and Europe, the standards and physical profile of the Tall Ferns continue to positively evolve.”

Second year Exercise and Sport Science student Samantha Barclay was thrilled to be able to take part in the testing. “I really enjoyed getting to work with such elite level athletes as the Tall Ferns. It was great to gain real experience on fitness testing protocols, and I am very thankful for the opportunity”

Basketball New Zealand has just announced the Tall Ferns squad for the upcoming tour of China and Europe, ahead of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in France next month. Details here.

ENDS

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