A High Performance Rugby Union Workshop at Otago Polytechnic in July 2017 attracted high-level practitioners from around the world.
The workshop covered all aspects of strength and conditioning training and related activity including sports psychology, movement analysis, gym-based strength/power and sport nutrition. The top-level presenters included Matt Blair, Hayden Croft, Brendon Timmins and Simon Body from Otago Polytechnic, Dr Ken Hodge and Dr Phil Handcock from the University of Otago, Argentinian strength and conditioning expert, Alejandro Pastor, dietitian Dr Kirsty Fairbairn, and Joe Cole of Profiler Corp.
The world-class workshop, which focused on High Performance Conditioning, drew participants from Argentina, Spain, Kenya and South Africa as well as from within New Zealand. Attendees reported that they appreciated the opportunity to share professional experiences as well as the rugby-focussed programme. Matt Blair says:
Attendees had a blast of a time and appreciated the diverse range of material that was presented.
The event, from 12-14 July 2017, holds global significance, with the launch of GPSports newest product, EVO. This is the world’s first GPS unit that meets World Rugby’s new specifications for match play. Otago Polytechnic is the first institution in the world to have the accredited units. The smaller units are less invasive for the players. They provide accurate metrics such as distance covered, speed, acceleration, and work load, to enable coaches to get a better understanding of what was actually happening.
Read more about Matt Blair's research here.
Read more about Hayden Croft's research here.
Read more about Simon Body here.