FITNESS A guide to what is required for match officiating.

FITNESS

A guide to what is required for match officiating

What is fitness?The ability to meet the

demands of the environment.

Players

CrowdDecision making

Positioning

What is your environment?

A rugby pitch

What are the demands?

Changing speed and direction Anticipation

Perceptual Awareness

What do you see?

Young girl?

Old woman?

A donkey?

A seal?

We do not all see things in the same way!

Perceptual Awareness

A Dalmatian dog sniffing the ground?

The world upside down

When we know what we are looking for it makes things a lot easier

What do you see?

There is nothing to see as all the squares are equal but we try to “see” things

For a, b and c write down what you see

If a = brush or centipede – male response

If a = comb or teeth - female response

If b = target – male response

If b = dinner plate it is a female response

If c = head - male response

If c = cup - female response

To meet the demands of our environment we have to be fit and so a training regime

needs to become part of your life as a match official

The information collected from a Test Match shows what is required

of officials during a game

You have to be fit to officiate effectively. Once fatigue sets in, you become less accurate and slower in your decision-making. Mistakes are made and your positioning can become erratic. The longer you can delay fatigue the more successful you will be.

Referee 100m time secs

1st Half 2nd Half

Totals

% of distanc

e 

Sprinting 7m/s + 14.2 7.15 14 21 0.2 Cum%27.6

High Speed Running 5.5 – 6.9 m/s

14.5 -18.2

205.53 255 461 5.1

Running 4 – 5.4 m/s 18.5 -25

921.85 1123 2045

22.3

Jogging 2 – 3.9 m/s 25.6 -50

1988.63 2151 4140

45.2 

Walking 0.2 – 1.9 m/s 1148.95 1287 2436

26.6 

Standing below 0.2 m/s 26.93 24 51 0.6 

9155  

 Miles 5.6  

Touch Judge 1 100m time secs

1st Half

2nd Half

Totals % of distanc

e 

Sprinting 7m/s + 14.2 15.10 00 15 0.2 Cum%21.1

High Speed Running 5.5 – 6.9 m/s

14.5 -18.2

203 97 301 4.6

Running 4 – 5.4 m/s 18.5 -25

690 388 1079 16.3

Jogging 2 – 3.9 m/s 25.6 -50

1368 1321 2690 40.7 

Walking 0.2 – 1.9 m/s 1116 1342 2459 37.2 

Standing below 0.2 m/s 30 38 68 1.0 

6613 

 Miles 4.1  

Touch Judge 2 100m time secs

1st Half 2nd Half

Totals % of distanc

e 

Sprinting 7m/s + 14.2 164 7 171 2.3 Cum%26.7

High Speed Running 5.5 – 6.9 m/s

14.5 -18.2

573 103 677 9.2

Running 4 – 5.4 m/s 18.5 -25

706 406 1113 15.2

Jogging 2 – 3.9 m/s 25.6 -50

1487 1673 3161 43.2 

Walking 0.2 – 1.9 m/s 948 1202 2151 29.2 

Standing below 0.2 m/s 27 45 73 0.9 

7347 

  Miles 4.5  

It shows that over 25% of the time officials are working at 80 second a lap (400m) pace

Officials cover between 4-6 miles in a game

For touch judges this will have increased as the movement requirements have changed since this data

was collected

So training to pass the 12 minute run should not just be the emphasis of your training

A safe and effective way to see how hard you are working in to

use a heart rate monitor

220 – age gives your maximum heart rate

60 – 80% of max HR

>80% of max HR

To see an improvement in fitness the F.I.T.T Principle should be applied

F Frequency How often do I train?

At least 3 times a week to have an effect

I Intensity How hard do I train?

Once you start training the 10 minute run will become easier so you then need to run for longer or

faster

T Type What kind of training should I

do?

There are different types of training to improve different areas of fitness – circuits, weights, sprints, agility

work, intervals

T Time How long do I train?

This will increase as you get fitter but also depends on what type of

training you are doing

What should a training programme consist of?

Aerobic work

Aerobic work needs to be over 20 minutes in duration.

By going to the gym and working on a number of different exercises for 5 – 10 minutes you can very soon

be working for up to 60 minutes

If you feel your fitness levels are not particularly good then you need to start with low intensity aerobic work to get a good solid foundation before you try

any more intense type of activity

Circuit training is an excellent activity to improve muscular

endurance

Press Ups

Sit Ups

Leg Work

Cooper’s 12 minute run

By looking at the statistics from the test match and from matches you have officiated in you realise that you never run continuously for 12

minutes

So why, you might ask, do you have a set target to reach in 12 minutes as part of the fitness test?

Whilst aerobic work is essential to obtain a general fitness level, you must include anaerobic training as part of your training programme

to improve fitness levels to higher level.

Interval training includes any type of exercise with bursts of hard activity interspersed with a period of rest.

By breaking up a training session into smaller chunks you can do a greater total amount of work

For example: to complete Academy touch judge distance of 2400m you have to run 6 laps in 2 minutes per lap

Interval session

6 x 400m @ 1 minute 50 seconds pace with a 2 minute rest between runs will overload the body

At first not all 6 will be done in the set time, but if the training is regular this will eventually be achieved

You then either run at 1 minute 45 second pace or reduce the recovery time to 1 minute

Other long interval sessions aiming to run equal to or faster than lap pace

Track sessions

3 x 800m – 2/3 min rest

3 x 1200m – 3 min rest

2 x 1500m 5 min rest

1 x 4 laps, 2 x 3 laps, 3 x 2 laps, 4 x 1 lap – 4,3,2,1 min rest (a killer!!)

Grass sessions

6 x 1 min – 1 min rest

4/5 x 1½ min – 2 min rest

3 x 3 min – 3 min rest

5,4,3,2,1 min run 4,3,2,1 min rest

12 minutes of run 20 seconds walk 10 seconds

Using a rugby pitch run the diagonals, jog behind the try line – 3 x 4 laps

1,2,3,4,3,2,1 laps

Shuttle Runs – put markers 10m apart up to 60m. Work in 2 groups

Run 60m & back –(2nd group does the same)

Run 60m & back then 50m & back (2nd group does the same)

Run 60-50-40

Run 60-50-40-30

Run 60-50-40-30-20

Run 60-50-40-30-20-10

Complete session by running 60-50-40-30-20, 60-50-40-30, 60-50-40, 60-50, 60

Agility

Another vital component of match officiating is agility and a lot of time is spent on this area in training.

The definition of agility is:

The ability to change body position and direction quickly and with precision

It is a combination of speed and coordination

Any activity that uses short, quick movements forwards, sideways/crossover and backwards will improve limb speed

Place cones no more than 1 metre apart

Person A shouts the colours out in random for 30 -60 seconds

Person B moves to the called colour either forward, backwards or sideways

Footwork Drill