Football News: Inflatable Cubes Inflating Swansea's Hopes

Image from: walesonline.co.uk

Swansea City have taken a step to help their players recover from Gary Monk's double training sessions, with a new addition to their training ground, inflatable cubes. With beds inside and reduced lighting and noise dampening to allow players to get some rest, these cubes are almost like mini hotels.

They have a wet-room shower, air-conditioning, USB slots and wifi, so that players never need to be far from their social media moments they so love to share with us. It is clear that the South Wales club are looking forward at ways to get more from the players, as well as just looking to buy better players.

One of the main issues with footballers is that they do not look after themselves as well as they should when away from the club. When they should be resting, they are often off doing other things, and football clubs have no way of keeping tabs on them once they leave the training ground.

The Swans have come up with a great solution to this, though renting the cubes is not really a long term option, keeping the players at hand to ensure they get at least some rest between training sessions. It is also good for team bonding, as the players will be around each other more.

This initiative, if the players buy into it, will increase player fitness, strength and lengthen their careers, due to the rest following a training session being crucial. It is when the body repairs and recovers ready to start all over again.

It brings to mind an interview with Frank Lampard, regarding why it was he was able to play so many games a season, at the height of his career, without needing to be rotated. He put it down to his tendency to fall asleep in the afternoons after training, feeling that the extra rest had increased his fitness markedly.

Research backs up his words, as it has clearly shown that a good rest makes almost as much difference to a player's fitness levels as good training. A fully refreshed player will also be able to train harder and so gain more benefit from his next training session too.

With the training methods used in football becoming more and more scientifically advanced, each little thing that can be done to give a team an edge is vital. Gary Monk might just have hit upon something that can allow Swansea to step their game up a level fitness wise.

With a smaller budget than other teams, it is difficult to bring in enough quality players to allow for rotation to keep players fresh at the end of the season. This might well remove that issue from the equation, leaving even a small squad fit and strong, no matter how many games they are asked to play.

If it works as well as the theory suggests, then surely the next step would be a permanent building for the players to use?

Written by Tris Burke July 02 2015 15:35:09