Front Row Development - about time
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Bruce Ross
Ken Catchpole (46)
Quite a few members might recall some of Jerry's galloping runs down the sideline in the 2008 season - runaway train style. He was something of a cult figure with the ABC TV commentators. This suggests that his strength was certainly not impacting negatively on his mobility.
Since then he has been at the Brumbies where max strength training doesn't seem to be a priority.
Bruce Ross
Ken Catchpole (46)
That's a very sore point. At the Brumbies his scrum coach was Bill Young, the quintessential "small sneaky prop to teach him all the dirty tricks about scrummaging". Young proceeded to do just that. And the reason that Bill Young had to rely on "dirty tricks" was that he didn't have the size or strength to cope with truly powerful players like Jerry. When you've got that big an engine you don't need dirty tricks. Young was exactly the wrong coach to develop Yanuyanutawa.
Bruce Ross
Ken Catchpole (46)
Thanks, fatprop. I wasn't aware of the Mike Cron videos. His knowledge is extraordinary and his logic compelling.
D
daz
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Bruce Ross
Ken Catchpole (46)
H
Hartman
Guest
I find this post very interesting, for a few reasons. I trained for and competed in powerlifting from February until about September of 2009 as I went to a terrible rugby school where the "1st XV" (a walk-in team) didn't even have a training session other than on a Wednesday morning, the morning of our games, and I needed some form of training that would further my rugby. In July, with about 5 months training, I won my division in the Sydney Classic by a total of about 100kg over the three lifts (or would have if it weren't for rule-based technicalities - I'll leave that story for another day). My division had 2 competitors, which is, funnily enough, one more competitor than our friend Watson Crichton's division had. Again funnily enough, I was actually present at this competition that Watson "won", coaching a friend and helping some others. I don't think I stayed for Crichton's division, he doesn't look familiar.
Now firstly, while I am very happy for young Mr Crichton and wish him the best of success in both Powerlifting, should he choose to pursue it, and Rugby, I should probably clear up a few misconceptions.
1.) Those numbers are not considered outstanding for a 16-year-old powerlifter. They aren't bad, the deadlift is probably the most impressive, the squat is alright, and the bench is pretty unimpressive considering he weighed in at 109.4kg. He also only benched 90kg and not 110kg as the article said.
2.) Powerlifting allows the use of "supportive" gear which can add as much as 60kg to the squat, about 50kg to the bench press and about 40kg to the deadlift. I'm not sure if Crichton used it, often newer powerlifters are encouraged not to use it in their first competition and then gradually phase it in. If he did use it he wouldn't have recieved anywhere close to the amount of benefit I listed, but it's still worth considering.
3.) As I mentioned before, there was only one person in his division, he isn't some "champion". The World Champions in his weight class in the u18 age group he competed in have squats approaching 300kg, bench presses approaching 200kg, and deadlifts possibly exceeding 300kg.
4.) A lot of the reason that powerlifters have good gym numbers is because they are technically proficient at the squat, bench press and deadlift, as they have to be to maximise their performance. So a non-powerlifter who bench presses 120kg is probably stronger than a powerlifter who bench presses 120kg, just because the non-powerlifter will have less-efficient bench press technique.
Don't get me wrong, this fella will be markedly stronger than anyone he plays with or against this year. But really, strength doesn't mean as much as is cracked up in scrummaging (I play 6/8/4/5, but this is what I've been told by props), and especially not in rugby in general. Based on my gym numbers, I'm the strongest person in Colts at my club as far as I'm aware... and I'm nothing impressive on the field. I play 3rd grade colts and am not even one of the best players on my team. It's not because I'm a fat out-of-shape powerlifter, I'm reasonably fast and reasonably fit, but rugby is about more than just athleticism.
What I don't understand is why the ARU can so easily recognise the importance of physical strength, but then have such poor means of developing it. From a powerlifting perspective, the way in which people particularly at schoolboy level do their strength training is very poor and ineffective. Rather than waste their money on expensive gambles on a kid who they have literally drawn out of a hat, why not invest a bit into proper strength training at grassroots levels? Give me any 16-year-old kid and I'll have him putting up numbers comparable to Crichton's within a year... and I don't even have Strength and Conditioning qualifications.
Anyway, if anyone has anything they'd like to know about Powerlifting and how it relates to Rugby, feel free to ask. In the meantime I'll be sending the ARU a letter confirming my acceptance into the high-performance squad.
Now firstly, while I am very happy for young Mr Crichton and wish him the best of success in both Powerlifting, should he choose to pursue it, and Rugby, I should probably clear up a few misconceptions.
1.) Those numbers are not considered outstanding for a 16-year-old powerlifter. They aren't bad, the deadlift is probably the most impressive, the squat is alright, and the bench is pretty unimpressive considering he weighed in at 109.4kg. He also only benched 90kg and not 110kg as the article said.
2.) Powerlifting allows the use of "supportive" gear which can add as much as 60kg to the squat, about 50kg to the bench press and about 40kg to the deadlift. I'm not sure if Crichton used it, often newer powerlifters are encouraged not to use it in their first competition and then gradually phase it in. If he did use it he wouldn't have recieved anywhere close to the amount of benefit I listed, but it's still worth considering.
3.) As I mentioned before, there was only one person in his division, he isn't some "champion". The World Champions in his weight class in the u18 age group he competed in have squats approaching 300kg, bench presses approaching 200kg, and deadlifts possibly exceeding 300kg.
4.) A lot of the reason that powerlifters have good gym numbers is because they are technically proficient at the squat, bench press and deadlift, as they have to be to maximise their performance. So a non-powerlifter who bench presses 120kg is probably stronger than a powerlifter who bench presses 120kg, just because the non-powerlifter will have less-efficient bench press technique.
Don't get me wrong, this fella will be markedly stronger than anyone he plays with or against this year. But really, strength doesn't mean as much as is cracked up in scrummaging (I play 6/8/4/5, but this is what I've been told by props), and especially not in rugby in general. Based on my gym numbers, I'm the strongest person in Colts at my club as far as I'm aware... and I'm nothing impressive on the field. I play 3rd grade colts and am not even one of the best players on my team. It's not because I'm a fat out-of-shape powerlifter, I'm reasonably fast and reasonably fit, but rugby is about more than just athleticism.
What I don't understand is why the ARU can so easily recognise the importance of physical strength, but then have such poor means of developing it. From a powerlifting perspective, the way in which people particularly at schoolboy level do their strength training is very poor and ineffective. Rather than waste their money on expensive gambles on a kid who they have literally drawn out of a hat, why not invest a bit into proper strength training at grassroots levels? Give me any 16-year-old kid and I'll have him putting up numbers comparable to Crichton's within a year... and I don't even have Strength and Conditioning qualifications.
Anyway, if anyone has anything they'd like to know about Powerlifting and how it relates to Rugby, feel free to ask. In the meantime I'll be sending the ARU a letter confirming my acceptance into the high-performance squad.
H
Hartman
Guest
Every kid would be like this bloke with about 9 months gym training. That's exactly the problem. Just put the NSW u16 props on proper gym programmes, and voila.
Bruce Ross
Ken Catchpole (46)
I would have thought , topo, that you of all people would know that Tommy also handles prodigious weights in the gym. There would be few backs in Australian rugby who could match him.
D
daz
Guest
Just quietly, why would you ask a pertinent question as an aside?
Christ, I'm such a loser; I was exhausted just watching those 6 reps and now my grammer is under attack....
And I've just voted as a frequent (although a considerate) outdoors pisser as well. Is there no end to my shame?
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