Mens FIQ Team
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Congratulations to everyone who made the team. This team has a great blend of youth and experience.
PS I wonder if Andrew (aka Big Daddy aka Mr Vice President aka the boss) Frawley the oldest mens team representative for Australia??
PPS I really do feel sorry for Matt Riley, the guys wins two majors this year and then does a hamstring in the beep test before a ball was even bowled. Don't worry champ, i can hear Vegas calling our names ;-)
PS I wonder if Andrew (aka Big Daddy aka Mr Vice President aka the boss) Frawley the oldest mens team representative for Australia??
PPS I really do feel sorry for Matt Riley, the guys wins two majors this year and then does a hamstring in the beep test before a ball was even bowled. Don't worry champ, i can hear Vegas calling our names ;-)
KnuckleHead
Vic Represent
Well Done to Everyone on making the Team. Matt unlucky mate to do a hammy. I did a hammy at the Asian Youth Camp last year after running at 6am in the morning. Adam got that PPS bit just right. Vegas is Calling.
Congrats to Everyone once again.
Congrats to Everyone once again.
Well done all who made the team! I know you will all bowl your hearts out and show the Australian fighting spirit.
Below has nothing to do with you Matt, please do not take offence, though I do feel for you situation.
Honestly though,
I cannot understand this continuing argument and badgering of TBA regarding the beep test.
Bowling is a SPORT! people need to be at peek (this is relative) form to represent Australia in this SPORT. Just because we bowl a ball and sit down does not mean we do not have to be in shape (mentally as well as PHYSICALLY). Bowlers must be able to bowl under any conditions for multiple (usually exceeding a 'standard' competition of 10) games continously throughout the day.
The last thing we want is a player (or 6) who has not had there fitness levels checked before arriving to represent the country to throw a couple of games and then pull out due to injury or lack of fitness (that could have been picked up during testing - I understand accidents do happen, I am talking about avoidable injury).
The beep test is a standard test for many (if not all) sports (and many organisations also that do not compete in a sport) to test a person physical fitness.
Just like all aspects of a qualification specification (exam, test ...), PREPARATION IS KEY.
If you know a beep test is going to happen, prepare for it!
*putting on fire jacket awaiting flaming*
my $0.05
Rhyss.
What a joke!!! It was talked about in another thread and it happened, but still it boggles the mind how the geniuses at the TBA could let it all rest on one day, they need to strategically place a mirror over there beds and wake up to themselves...Unlucky Matt, we all know you should be in there mate....
Guys,
I conducted the fitness testing with the boys on Sunday. I want to state publically a few things before this issue of the usefulness of fitness testing in elite bowling squads continues to get knocked by people who seem to like to critique any selection processes which are in place or have very little idea on what they are talking about.
Firstly, I want to state that all of the guys did pretty well in all of the fitness tests. A number of physical capacities were tested for on Sunday, including aerobic capacity, core muscle strength, lower body flexibility, grip strength and body fat. It is of my professional opinion that any poor scores or injuries which are sustained during any of these testing procedures are functions of physical deficiencies which would have likely presented themselves during the latter stages of a bowling tournament in the form of non-optimal performances or injuries. So how can the selectors justify including a bowler in a team if that person cannot obtain a relatively minimal level of physical fitness? Let's also put all of this into perspective, we are not asking that much of the bowlers in these fitness tests - all we are asking at this stage is to achieve a level 8 on a beep test. Only the beep test (aerobic capacity) was assessed in the form of allocation of selection points and as it turned out, everyone except 1 person achieved the maximum amount of selection points, so overall it was a non-factor in determining the team. I think everyone would agree that the bowlers who were put forward for selection are the best we have in Australia and after talking to them on Sunday, a majority of the guys already do some form of regular physical fitness training as part of their training for bowling and that it has helped in their performances.
Having said all of this, I still believe that the protocol for fitness testing in bowlers still has some issues and I will communicate these to the TBA. But we need to start somewhere and collect data on elite bowlers long term to help them with their bowling performances and limit their potential for injuries both in the short term and long term. The preliminary data we have collected as a result of this current fitness testing protocol seems to be effective in identifying the physical characteristics and types of bowlers who are more likely to produce better bowling performances. So the testing does seem to be scientifically justified.
If you are still questioning the usefulness of fitness testing for bowlers, then you just have to look at similar sports which have been doing variations of the same thing for over 10 years, including sports such as archery and lawn bowls where the physical demands are similar to that of bowling. I do not anticipate TBA's position on fitness testing with bowlers to change anytime soon so those who are considering participating in elite Australian bowling squads should consider this when putting themselves forward for selection.
I am a bowler as well as a sports scientist and biomechanist for other sports and I continually get laughed at us when I insist that bowling is a sport and that I compete in organised tournaments. If we want more funding to be allocated by organisations such as the Australian Sports Commission so our bowlers do not have to pay to represent their country, then it has to be evaluated at levels which are expected by these governing bodies and are representative of the physical and mental demands of tournaments such as the World Championships.
Regards
Ken McLachlan
I conducted the fitness testing with the boys on Sunday. I want to state publically a few things before this issue of the usefulness of fitness testing in elite bowling squads continues to get knocked by people who seem to like to critique any selection processes which are in place or have very little idea on what they are talking about.
Firstly, I want to state that all of the guys did pretty well in all of the fitness tests. A number of physical capacities were tested for on Sunday, including aerobic capacity, core muscle strength, lower body flexibility, grip strength and body fat. It is of my professional opinion that any poor scores or injuries which are sustained during any of these testing procedures are functions of physical deficiencies which would have likely presented themselves during the latter stages of a bowling tournament in the form of non-optimal performances or injuries. So how can the selectors justify including a bowler in a team if that person cannot obtain a relatively minimal level of physical fitness? Let's also put all of this into perspective, we are not asking that much of the bowlers in these fitness tests - all we are asking at this stage is to achieve a level 8 on a beep test. Only the beep test (aerobic capacity) was assessed in the form of allocation of selection points and as it turned out, everyone except 1 person achieved the maximum amount of selection points, so overall it was a non-factor in determining the team. I think everyone would agree that the bowlers who were put forward for selection are the best we have in Australia and after talking to them on Sunday, a majority of the guys already do some form of regular physical fitness training as part of their training for bowling and that it has helped in their performances.
Having said all of this, I still believe that the protocol for fitness testing in bowlers still has some issues and I will communicate these to the TBA. But we need to start somewhere and collect data on elite bowlers long term to help them with their bowling performances and limit their potential for injuries both in the short term and long term. The preliminary data we have collected as a result of this current fitness testing protocol seems to be effective in identifying the physical characteristics and types of bowlers who are more likely to produce better bowling performances. So the testing does seem to be scientifically justified.
If you are still questioning the usefulness of fitness testing for bowlers, then you just have to look at similar sports which have been doing variations of the same thing for over 10 years, including sports such as archery and lawn bowls where the physical demands are similar to that of bowling. I do not anticipate TBA's position on fitness testing with bowlers to change anytime soon so those who are considering participating in elite Australian bowling squads should consider this when putting themselves forward for selection.
I am a bowler as well as a sports scientist and biomechanist for other sports and I continually get laughed at us when I insist that bowling is a sport and that I compete in organised tournaments. If we want more funding to be allocated by organisations such as the Australian Sports Commission so our bowlers do not have to pay to represent their country, then it has to be evaluated at levels which are expected by these governing bodies and are representative of the physical and mental demands of tournaments such as the World Championships.
Regards
Ken McLachlan
I think that the beep test is a pretty good measure of fitness, even if the events at FIQ are only 6 game blocks (and not the marathons we normally play here in Aust). There does need to be some form of fitness testing, whether it is the beep test or otherwise will always be open to debate but the beep test is an easy one to measure.
BUT I'm pretty sure a beep test is supposed to be conducted on a basketball court or grass surface and NOT concrete? The reason for this is to avoid injury and undue stresses to the lower body ie knees and hamstrings etc. Anytime i have ever done a beep test, we had either bowled multiple games beforehand (FIQ Youth Camp) or did a group warm up session (conducted by someone) so we were warmed up and the chance of injury was greatly reduced.
Back on topic - good luck to all the boys heading off to the Worlds!!
BUT I'm pretty sure a beep test is supposed to be conducted on a basketball court or grass surface and NOT concrete? The reason for this is to avoid injury and undue stresses to the lower body ie knees and hamstrings etc. Anytime i have ever done a beep test, we had either bowled multiple games beforehand (FIQ Youth Camp) or did a group warm up session (conducted by someone) so we were warmed up and the chance of injury was greatly reduced.
Back on topic - good luck to all the boys heading off to the Worlds!!
Goldberg,
I am happy to address that issues you raised.
The amount of impact forces which are distributed through the lower body will not change that much between a basketball court and concrete surface. Grass surfaces are indeed softer but with the dew in the morning, there would have been an issue with shoe-surface traction which plays more of a role in lower body injuries than inpact forces. We did not have any other place to conduct the beep test expect on a concrete surface. There is no scientific evidence to suggest that ground surface hardness has a DIRECT influence on the incidence of lower body injuries, especially hamstring injuries. I am completing a PhD on lower body injuries and have investigated these issues of surface characteristics as well as other injury risk factors extensively.
A warm up was conducted beforehand and bowlers stretched afterwards to reduce the risk of injuries to the bowlers. While Matt did convey to me that he had some form of hamstring injury, he also mentioned that it did not impact on his bowling execution, nor should it.
Regards
Ken
I am happy to address that issues you raised.
The amount of impact forces which are distributed through the lower body will not change that much between a basketball court and concrete surface. Grass surfaces are indeed softer but with the dew in the morning, there would have been an issue with shoe-surface traction which plays more of a role in lower body injuries than inpact forces. We did not have any other place to conduct the beep test expect on a concrete surface. There is no scientific evidence to suggest that ground surface hardness has a DIRECT influence on the incidence of lower body injuries, especially hamstring injuries. I am completing a PhD on lower body injuries and have investigated these issues of surface characteristics as well as other injury risk factors extensively.
A warm up was conducted beforehand and bowlers stretched afterwards to reduce the risk of injuries to the bowlers. While Matt did convey to me that he had some form of hamstring injury, he also mentioned that it did not impact on his bowling execution, nor should it.
Regards
Ken
Thanks for clearing that up Ken. I had always been led to believe that the test wasnt supposed to be done on concrete? As for the dew, i guess it could have been done in the afternoon (which is when we did them in previous bowling camps).
Anyway, this thread isnt about the beep test. Its about the guys going to world champs. We have six guys going who are going to do a great job. Lets give them our support and cheer them on against Team USA and some of the other powerhouse nations in our sport. With guys like Belmo and Frawls and Walshy and Jarrod there is an abundance of international experience and medals - get in there and show them how its done boys!
Anyway, this thread isnt about the beep test. Its about the guys going to world champs. We have six guys going who are going to do a great job. Lets give them our support and cheer them on against Team USA and some of the other powerhouse nations in our sport. With guys like Belmo and Frawls and Walshy and Jarrod there is an abundance of international experience and medals - get in there and show them how its done boys!
in regards to the beep test, an issue raised often after every team trial, i do see its relevance and importance in making our sport move away from the 'recreation' title it has claimed. HOWEVER, i do have a problem with its emphasis in the critera of selections/roll offs.
there are pleanty of outstanding performers in bowling that would struggle with reaching the required level on the beep test for maximum points. (based on the last 2 team trials)
but that doesnt mean they dont have the stamina to bowl 30 games a day. (not that you bowl more than 6 at one time)
its a difficult topic to agree on and it always will be. those who can run dont mind - those who cant like myself will argue against it.
but one thing which is a point i believe the majority can agree on - TBA need to get their act together and figure out how they plan on holding their next camp.
- running the beep test before bowling a points based system to make the team is not acceptable.
- holding a camp 6 weeks out before a team is meant to be competing internationally is not acceptable.
there is a year between now and the next australian team possiblity. im sure this is adequate time for the TBA to plan/develop/organise a camp/squad/trip details.
on a MUCH lighter note - a huge congrats to all the men who made the team. its a great group to see representing our country. well done and good luck.
there are pleanty of outstanding performers in bowling that would struggle with reaching the required level on the beep test for maximum points. (based on the last 2 team trials)
but that doesnt mean they dont have the stamina to bowl 30 games a day. (not that you bowl more than 6 at one time)
its a difficult topic to agree on and it always will be. those who can run dont mind - those who cant like myself will argue against it.
but one thing which is a point i believe the majority can agree on - TBA need to get their act together and figure out how they plan on holding their next camp.
- running the beep test before bowling a points based system to make the team is not acceptable.
- holding a camp 6 weeks out before a team is meant to be competing internationally is not acceptable.
there is a year between now and the next australian team possiblity. im sure this is adequate time for the TBA to plan/develop/organise a camp/squad/trip details.
on a MUCH lighter note - a huge congrats to all the men who made the team. its a great group to see representing our country. well done and good luck.
Kara,
We were able to statistically (not anecdotally) establish though our testing procedures with the youth squad that the majority of bowlers who performed well in the Challenge Sydney Youth tournament conducted on the same weekend performed well in their beep test and overall fitness test ranking (compared to each other). This was consistent with both the boys and the girls. This was the main reason why this protocol was carried over to the men's selection camp.
With regards to the complaint about conducting the test before bowling for selection points. A beep test wouldn't have made any difference in their bowling performances on Sunday as they were well stretched and rested before bowling for their selection points. It could even be argued that doing some form of physical activity (like a beep test) before bowling might have enhanced their performance because of the benefits of greater range of movement and better mental functioning. These benefits have been well proven and I would be happy to direct you to the relevant scientific literature to support this position.
Again, I must state that only a level 8 in the beep test was required. This equates to a maximum oxygen uptake level of around 40ml/kg/min which is categoried as "fair", one level below an average rating, when compared to a normative data in the appropriate age group. Highly appropriate in bowling I believe. If the bowlers were worried about the consequences of the beep test affecting their bowling performances, they could have achieved a level 8 and then stopped running and still have gotten maximum selection points. It would have been merely a warm up for those who were fit and healthy. So this is a non-issue.
Hope that clears everything up now from the fitness testing side of things.
Regards
Ken
We were able to statistically (not anecdotally) establish though our testing procedures with the youth squad that the majority of bowlers who performed well in the Challenge Sydney Youth tournament conducted on the same weekend performed well in their beep test and overall fitness test ranking (compared to each other). This was consistent with both the boys and the girls. This was the main reason why this protocol was carried over to the men's selection camp.
With regards to the complaint about conducting the test before bowling for selection points. A beep test wouldn't have made any difference in their bowling performances on Sunday as they were well stretched and rested before bowling for their selection points. It could even be argued that doing some form of physical activity (like a beep test) before bowling might have enhanced their performance because of the benefits of greater range of movement and better mental functioning. These benefits have been well proven and I would be happy to direct you to the relevant scientific literature to support this position.
Again, I must state that only a level 8 in the beep test was required. This equates to a maximum oxygen uptake level of around 40ml/kg/min which is categoried as "fair", one level below an average rating, when compared to a normative data in the appropriate age group. Highly appropriate in bowling I believe. If the bowlers were worried about the consequences of the beep test affecting their bowling performances, they could have achieved a level 8 and then stopped running and still have gotten maximum selection points. It would have been merely a warm up for those who were fit and healthy. So this is a non-issue.
Hope that clears everything up now from the fitness testing side of things.
Regards
Ken
