Need help on aussie rules football. if u play that would be great help !?

Question

well i got to do this for my physical ed subject but i need help.

what instruments do they use is AFL to anaylse performance like eg. heart monitor to measure fitness???

&&

also what equipment( clothing, equipment, surfaces) have been made over the past years to improve AFL?

DESPRETTE NEED OF HELP please if u know give me a answer thanks !

Answer 1

GPS units are used to monitor where players run during a game, and how many kilometres they cover.

The main improvement in equipment are the boots, which are now as comfortable as running shoes.

Answer 2

They do diagnostics on everything these day including obviously fitness, blood counts and quality, muscle strengths, skin folds and diets.

Then there are counselling, mentoring and psychology sessions.

Comprehensive video sessions, tactical, opponent and skill improvement.

As well as clothing as someone else has mentioned

Most of the above are innovations in the last 10 to 15 years and are becoming more specific across all clubs and not just the leaders West Coast.

Answer 3

It sounds to me like you're not personally interested in Australian Rules Football in the sense that you do not serioiusly wish to take up the sport but, rather you need to pass an exam and part of it relates to a sport you know nothing about.

I can't help you much with modern gadetry as my playing days are long passed. Although I can say that modern clubs do use heart rate monitors, GPS tracking etc (the latter indicating that a top line midfielder runs the equivalent of a half marathon every match- couple that with the fact they train several times per week and you can appreeciate that the physical demands of the sport are ennomous.) As an interesting aside, I recall watching a football program on TV during the '80's where topline AFL midfielders were matched against ollympic runners (who were not at their peak because the ollympics at that time were a long way off) but, nevertheless, the footballers wiped off the ollympians. I can't remember who participated in these events but I do remember the winner of the event was then Hawthorn rover John Platten. That sort of comparison ought lead you to understand that AFL players are truely elite athletes even from a world class perspective.

Even today, one of the most important pieces of equipment is the ubiquitous and ancient stop watch as speed is very important and has become more so with the passage of time.

Another thing that might interest you and might provide an unusual answer to an exam question concerns the 'blade' football boots of the late 1970's. In fact I would be interested to know whatever became of them. A serious problem existed (and alas still exists despite the clever design of 'blades') in regard to the design of the boots used to play Australian Rules Football. Historically, the boot design has followed that developed for the game of soccer.

That has presented serious problems for Australian footballers because there are huge differences between the games of soccer and Australian rules and hence huge differences in the design of the boot needed to play each sport. The traditional soccer boot has (at least since the late 1960's or early 70's) been a shoe (rather than a boot) on the base of which are mounted a series of spriggs (probably now more commonly referred to as studs) to provide the wearer with traction, particularly in wet weather when football is traditionally played.

While the spriggs provide advantages to Australian players and for the same reason that they do for soccer players, they also present serious problems, particularly for forward line players of Australian rules football. This is because forwards are required to sprint toward the ball as it enters the forward line but, when the forward gains possession, he is required to immediately reverse direction. Thus, the instant before the forward attempts to reverse direction and head toward his own goal, he digs the spriggs into the turf in an effort to halt his forward motion. The spriggs dig deep into the turf to provide the stop and then, when the player attempts to turn in order to reverse his direction he faces the danger of his foot (the motion or non-motion of which is determined by the sole of the boot which is embedded in the turf) remaining in the forward direction while the rest of the footballer's body rotates to effect the reversal of direction. The net result is the shearing of the ligaments of the knee corresponding to the static foot. This produces a very serious injury, usually requiring a knee reconstruction which would normally dictate that the player concerned is out of action for a full year. The fact that Australian Rules is a heavy contact sport only exacerbates the problem.

An Australian manufacturer in the late 1970's attempted to overcome this problem by designing the 'blades' football boot. It differed from the traditional boot in that, instead of having a series of spriggs on the sole, it had a series of curved blade shapes so that when a forward brought himself to a stop upon gaining possession of the ball, and then attempted to turn, the blades would then tend to cut through the turf when the torque was applied to the foot by virtue of the rotating knee so that the foot would tend to rotate in harmony with the turning knee thereby reducing the likelihood of serious knee damage.

A fan of the 'blades' boot was champion ruckman, Simon Maddern, from the Essonden Football Club. He wished to wear the newly designed boot but immediately encountered problems as each of the major clubs was sponsored by particular boot manufacturers and, the commercial obligations were such that all of the players of a particular club were obliged to wear the boots made by the manufacturer that sponsored their club. 'Blades' were only a minor manufacturer and could not compete with the multinationals such as Addidas and Nike etc and were never likely to be able to compete because they designed boots for an Australian game played only in Australia whereas their compeditors made boots for football players worldwide. While 'Blades' did take out a patent on their design, that would normally last only 18 years. This time has now of course long passed.

Maddern, determined to protect his knees, defied the dictates of his club and its sponsors and wore the boots on match day. He was fined the sum of $2 000 which would be significant today if applied on a weekly basis but, in the 1970's this was an enormous imposition. Hardly surprising then that Maddern never wore the boots again and I have never heard of 'blades' football boots since that time.

One might think that it would be logical for one of the multinationals to purchase a license to produce the 'blades' boot if they were such a great design! That would make sense today but, probably would not have back in the '70's. This is because the design was made specfic to conditions relating to Australian football. It would cost such companies a considerable amount of money to rejig their manufacturing processes in order to accomodate such a limited market, particularly given that that market would have to purchase soccer boots if 'blades' were put out of business.

My son now plays Australian Rules Football. I have therefore had some opportunity to notice the technilogical advances, particularly in relation to boots. I note that his boots wiegh probably a quarter of what mine weighed particularly when wet, as my boots were made of leather, they continually absorbed moisture throughout the game whereas his synthetic boots absorb nothing. There are also differences in the stops (ie spriggs or studs). Mine were made of leather and had to be hammered into the soles although later, the boots came with thread holes in the soles and alluminium spriggs that screwed in. My boy's have spriggs moulded onto the soles but, beyond that, there are no major differences and, no blades. I have very occassionally seen in recent times designs akin tothe '70's 'blades' but these are rare. In these times of obscessional concern with safety, I ponder what happened to 'blades'.

Answer 4

breathalyser - especially in Victoria - and booze/drugs bus in SA and WA.

seriously, why not attend training at your nearest club and ask the training staff, or the physios etc?

or get work experience with them if you're still at school?

Answer 5

Advice, go to AFL site.