Are you ready to elevate your Touch Football game? We spoke with Wayne Grant, High-Performance Manager for the Australian national Touch Football teams, to uncover the secrets of touch footy fitness. From building an aerobic base to mastering speed off the mark, Wayne shares practical advice to help players at every level enhance their fitness and skills.
Before the Season: Build Your Fitness Foundation
Preparing for a Touch Football season? The first step is building an aerobic base. Unlike other sports with long seasons, Touch requires focused, efficient preseason training.
Wayne explains:
“Developing a good aerobic fitness base is critical before a season or major tournament. Because Touch seasons are short and played year-round, the time spent on aerobic fitness is less than in other codes. After that, the focus quickly shifts to speed endurance.”
Touch Football demands repetitive bursts of maximum effort with short recovery periods. Training should simulate these conditions, where players must produce high-intensity efforts with brief rest intervals. Wayne suggests integrating ball-handling drills into speed endurance sessions to replicate game scenarios under fatigue.
The Importance of Speed and Agility
Speed off the mark is vital in Touch Football, and it’s not just about running forward. Players need to develop backwards speed, a skill unique to the sport.
“Touch requires speed from various positions—off the ground, while holding the ball, or picking it up. Backwards speed, in particular, is a differentiator. Players often retreat at speed for over 50 meters continuously, requiring stronger hamstrings compared to other sports,” says Wayne.
To improve speed and agility:
- Practice starting sprints from diverse positions.
- Include drills for backwards running and directional changes.
- Incorporate the Glycolytic Agility Test, a proven tool to enhance fitness.
Ball Skills: A Touch Football Must
In Touch, ball-handling is integral to every drill, even during fitness training. From day one of preseason, elite players practice passing, catching, and rolling the ball under game-like conditions.
“Executing high-level skills at speed and under fatigue is key,” Wayne emphasizes. “Ball-handling is prioritized more in Touch than in many other codes, and it’s incorporated into agility training to mimic game scenarios.”
Train Like a Pro
Want to take your Touch Football game to the next level? Pro Training Programs offers expert-designed training plans tailored for Touch and other sports. Whether you’re gearing up for a tournament or honing your skills, these programs are game-changers.
Conclusion
Touch Football demands a unique blend of speed, endurance, and agility—all while mastering ball-handling skills. With Wayne Grant’s expert advice and targeted training, you’ll be ready to dominate the field. Start your journey to elite-level touch footy fitness and skills today!
Ready to level up your game? Explore Touch Football here!
