He Blinded Me With Science!

Over the last couple of years I had described how like soccer players, soccer referees are endurance athletes, particularly when it comes to refereeing a several match set in the same day.

Recently, the NSCAA held its annual convention in Philly and was attended by Jay Williams, who is the author of several publications including the blog The Science of Soccer. Kicking back has been following him for some time and enjoys both the raw science and commentary he provides.

Mr. Williams was recently asked to speak at the NSCAA annual convention and provided an excellent presentation and slide deck about recovery, both can be viewed here at his blog.

Why beyond curiosity is this important you may ask? I'll offer (2) reasons:

1. It helps to further understand the sport and its participants from a scientific perspective. Understanding what a player is going through is important to understanding how to manage a match. If you have ever run into a player who is "bonking" and their mood, you'll know what I mean.
2. Referees are endurance athletes and this information applies to them as well. Don;t forget a referee is running around for 90 minuets as well, and expends energy just like anyone else. Keep in mind, the ability to make accurate decision is also based on fatigue, and how quickly one fatigues depends in part on energy levels of the individual. You want to make good decisions for 90 minuets, fuel yourself properly.

Take a look at the preso as it presents some very necessary steps to assure an individual recovers properly for the next effort.

I'd also recommend the blog generally as the information presented is quite good.

Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound ...

So the weather is getting warmer ... birds are chirping ... and spring is on the cup of springing.

Have you trained today? We are about to start the season.

An easy run ... some stretching perhaps? Have you considered doing some jumping exercises?

Why you ask ... well take a peek below from The Science of Soccer Online. Compelling stuff.

Leg Strength, Sprint Speed and Jump Performance

Soccer players typically perform around a dozen sprints during the course of a 90 minute match. In the 2010 World Cup Finals, Mexican forward Javier Hernandez reached a top speed of more than 32 km/hr (close to 20 miles per hour). There is no doubt that sprint speed is an important player characteristic that can have an important impact on performance. For example, during a breakaway, it is the faster player who either outruns his or her defender or closes down the open forward. ...

Bottom line ... are we ready to keep up if a player kicks it into overdrive?

Most of us will start refereeing next week or so (and am thankful for the extra week due to very wet fields) ... and MLS has already started.

Are YOU ready?

Get your a$$ out there ...

So as many of you know, I am trying to transform myself from professional soccer referee, into amateur bicycle racer.

In the former life I was training 4 or 5 days a week during the season, and 5 or 6 days a week in the off season, working with a professional trainer.

This generally included cardio, flexibility, and strength training days, with a rest day or two in there as well.

In my "transformation" I have taken up a similar pattern by utilizing a professional trainer (specific to cycling), and find myself training 5 or 6 days a week for anywhere between 1 to 3 hours a day. I would love to do more, but real life is getting in the way ... and has the priority which was not always the case when I was a professional referee.

This training can get particularly lonely, especially as pictured above, you are out in the cold for 3 hours at a time, and no one else is crazy enough to go with you. This would happen as a referee too, wind, rain, snow, cold ... but it was critical to train outside.

Why?

Well, in both sports you don't always get the luxury to compete in 70 degree, sunny weather. It can rain during a match, or a race. Just the other week while spectacular weather for the NEOTHSL finals, there was a snap in the air as there should be in November here in the Northeast.

To train seriously and really be ready for the season, you can't hide indoors all off-season.

Take a look at "Personal Best - Winter Training - Faster and Safer Indoors?" from the NYT.

The fact that training indoors can be up to 10% easier than outside is intuitive to someone who has trained in both places. Consider this however ... for those of us who live in the Northeast of the US, it can be hard to train year round outside, yet it is reasonable to be "called on" at any time to referee around the world as a FIFA referee. Even for those National referees, there are off season training camps with mandatory fitness tests.

Refereeing (or racing) requires year round fitness.

I'll say this too ... while refereeing is not (as) competitive as racing, there is certainly competition ... usually friendly in nature. I was just reminded of the fact that BIG gains can be made by training hard in the off season. When so many have their bike (or running shoes) away, an athlete can make big strides during this time when others will struggle in the spring.

This is somewhat my mantra as I mount my bike in the early morning cold and snow. "You want to be a big time bike racer, you have to train in the winter."

Referees need to take a similar tact to be ready for the big time.

Secret Drink Mix Followup

So last week sometime I posed an article about "Secret Drink Mix", and more specifically about the science of hydration generally.

Well, I am happy to report that I have been using the Skratch Labs Secret Drink Mix for a week on training rides ... and it is AWESOME!!

Hands down best mix I have used, and I am hooked now and forever on the stuff. My personal favorite being the raspberry.

Now in that article I shared a video of Dr. Lim, and a really neat experiment about hydration in general.

Well right on cue, Dr. Williams of The Science of Soccer Online, posted Heat, Dehydration and Performance, a very worthy read on the topic.

The bottom line, and I quote from the article:

"The bottom line is, keep dehydration at bay by drinking plenty of fluids before and during play. Also, drink after the match. Staying hydrated can improve performance and avoid health problems."

Don't forget, referees are endurance athletes too, and need to abide by this same advice. For my money Skratch Labs has the best stuff around for it.

"Huffing and Puffing" Redux

Paul Levy strikes again with a good article from Not Running A Hospital. In this episode, Huffing and Puffing, Paul and some refereeing colleagues detail anecdotal examples of how the fitness levels of players has changed over the years. He comes to an interesting conclusion on that front as well. Take a look at the article, it was somewhat of a surprise ending that I don't completely disagree with.

It got me thinking however, not only do we have a larger rate of "more unfit players" (my term - and I don't think that is anecdotal, but is supported by good evidence regarding childhood weight), but I would also opine, even purely as a matter of sampling, that we also have a larger number of unfit referees.

Now there is a continuum here to be sure. Referees at the International and Professional level train nearly every day, and need to, to be able to keep up with the game. As you traverse the ranks, there is really less and less training required at the typical town level. If you go to a tournament like the Dallas Cup, all bets are off as those players in most groups are very experienced, very fit, and professionally trained. They will not hesitate to take advantage of a referee who has a "blind spot" because they can not get to a particular play.

Long story short, if you don't want to train to referee, to do well, you should plan to keep it in the youth soccer world (like U-12 and below who need a manager more than a referee), and fairly local. This may sound like a jab to youth soccer (who need good referees!), but it is really just intended to reinforce the point that you can not referee a match to train, to be ready to referee. It's a circular argument that holds no water.

Now, you can use matches to supplement your training. I used to do this a bunch where I would work a amateur match regularly to ready myself mentally and physically for a professional match. It was a "tuner" as it was. But to do no training, at all, and show up on Sunday for a match is not good practice, and frankly is not good training.

Think about it this way, you are training once a week in the event you are competing in. While I would agree by the end of a 3 month season you may have a marginal increase in fitness is it really the fitness you need for a match? Also, what about all those matches you were not "match fit" for? Is this fair to those teams?

I think not.

Train to referee ... not referee to train.

"Secret Drink Mix"

So dear friends, tournament season is upon us, and as many have heard me say in the past, refereeing at tournaments is an endurance sport.

At these events you are endurance athletes and need to fuel yourself like endurance athletes.

This is a topic near and dear to my heart as in my post-refereeing life I too am an endurance athlete in a different sport, cycling. These lessons are directly relatable though, and I offer an article on the topic here.

The author is Dr. Allen Lim, an exercise physiologist for Omega-Pharma-Quickstep pro cycling team. His blog post, Hydration Science and Practice, is a good reminder about how to fuel your body, and why just water is not enough, and some popular sports drinks are too much.

He does have an electrolyte solution for sale that I have not tried, so I don't have any comment on it yet, but (and more importantly of this discussion), the science involved is spectacular and worth looking at for any endurance athlete. I have included the video here which details his experiment.



Truly fascinating stuff, and a reminder about what it takes to keep and endurance athlete working at capacity for long stretches of time.

Think about it, a multi day stage race for cycling, 3 to 5 hours in the saddle churning for much of that time, for a few days in a row. Youth tournament play, several game sets, 5+ hours in a day working or exposed, for several days back to back. Both are demanding .... very demanding ... and there is some sharing between the two I feel.

"Secret Drink Mix" comes from Dr. Lim himself where he worked on the Tour de France in secretly replacing the overly sweet drinks supplied by the sponsor with his own, all natural recipes. Riders loved them, and thrived using this formula. As it was kept from the sponsors it became known as the "Secret Drink Mix."

Today, Dr. Lim and company can be found dispensing products, advice, and a most excellent cookbook (The FeedZone Cookbook) at SkratchLabs. If you are really interested, he has his "Secret Drink Mix" available for sale also, here.

Just a High School Match?

We started discussing yesterday about a match that I refereed earlier in the week, and my field position. Just as background, this was a high school level match that wound up as a 1::1 result. Evenly played, no major headaches.

Specifically we looked at "getting off the diagonal" and how it was necessary to be near play and get into the field more. To illustrate this point we used a GPS plot of my last match, which can be accessed below:

Now, if you hit the "View Details" button, you are going to be treated to a few other things too.

First is a summary of what went on:

I was a little blown away by the distance and calories frankly. Looking a little deeper, I saw something that should be self evident for referees ...

... we don't run at one speed. And in fact we are all over the map and need to be able to go from a stop, to a sprint, in a hurry.

If you look at the speeds also, you can see the average moving speed was 4.3 MPH and the top speed was 10.9 MPH. Note also that I was walking or stopped for about 23 minutes of the match.

Another indicator of effort was my heart rate ...

... which peaked at about 189 (not the theoretical max of 178 for me [220-age]), and averaged 172bpm. Note this does not include the half time interval where it was recorded in the 120's.

So what is the take away? Be ready to RUN for 90 minutes regardless of match!

It does not matter what level it is, or what competition you are at, a referee needs to be ready. This match was a well skilled, garden variety hight school match, and I had to run 9km, which is equivalent to fullback Mauricio Sabillon from Honduras in his 2010 World Cup match (source).

While fitness in not everything, a referee needs to be ready with fitness like this, even in their own backyard to be able to handle such matches appropriately.

Whatever you do, DON'T get lulled into think "it's just a high school match."

What a crock

Previously on Kicking Back we have discussed the age restriction that FIFA panel members have to live by. In short, you may referee until age 45, after that, you are retired from the panel. Keep in mind the history as well, that this age is down from 50 years old, not too long ago.

Well there are a couple of things that continue to make be believe that this decision for such highly trained athletes (i.e. the referees and ARs) is nonsense.

First, admittedly is my bias as I start to approach that age of mandatory retirement. Granted I may be having a Logan's Run moment, but I digress.

Second, is my genuine belief that fitness alone does not make a good referee. Or to say it a different way, fitness is not the only concern in such a realm. Now granted, fitness is critical, but it is not the end all be all in controlling a match. A referee can survive with slightly sub-par fitness (relative to a Cooper or BIP test) and do just fine. Lets face it no one is "on" 100% of the time. In fact, if you look at it from a sports science perspective, it can take anywhere from 10 to 21 days for an athlete to peak in fitness level, far more than the interval between matches.

Third, and this is really what spurred this whole thing, is Diana Nyad. Here is a woman who is swimming between Cuba and Florida. That's 103 miles. Yikes! (As a personal aside I have been toying with doing some sprint triathlons and even the 1/4 swim is too much for me) By the way, did I mention she had not swam at all in some 30 years?

And oh yeah, she's 62.

Still think 45 is the right age for retirement?

I don't.

Listen, I know the science, after the mid 30's for a variety of reasons I won't bore you with here, fitness declines and can't be recovered. But this is as individual as the athlete themselves. To make such a sweeping generalization about everyone that 45 is it, may be a convenient application of Pareto Efficiency, but does not reflect the reality that referees need a component of life experience to manage such high level matches. Take a look at the ages of referees in World Cup Finals: In hovers right around 40 in recent history, and has been as old as 54 (George Reader in 1950).

One can not reasonably make the argument that a person is fit at 45, and 45 + 1 day they are not.

If a referee is not fit, release them, if they are however, don't prohibit them from competing if the only thing they have "against" them is their age.

There is a compelling argument the other way however that is tough to dispel, and can be found here from UEFA.

Decision Fatigue ... Another reason to train

Take a look at "Decision Fatigue. For doctors, too?" from Paul Levy at Not Running a Hospital.

While the article does not directly address the point, it does continue to underscore the issue of how critical fitness is regarding mental match performance. It is one thing to be able to "keep up" with a match for the duration, i.e. to be near the play. It is quite another to be fit enough to both stay near play, and not have fatigue effecting your mental acuity.

Bottom line is we humans make poor decisions when we are fatigued physically. As referees we need to be as fit as possible to allow ourselves to make the best decisions possible in the throws of a match.

Don't believe me? Try this.

Get a friend to go with you to an empty soccer field. Bring a substitution paddle if you have it. Position your friend at midfield with the paddle closed, and you start at one corner of the field.

Have your friend say "go", and make a 75% effort run (fast jog following play) from where you are starting to the opposite corner of the field. When you reach the opposite corner, sprint to midfield. During that time have your friend put up a number on the sub board for 5 seconds, be looking because your friend is not going to announce when it will come. When the runner reaches midfield, go back to that 75% run, by this time the numbers should be away. Continue that 75% run to the opposite corner.

Rest 30 seconds at the endline.

Do this (3) times and at the end, without writing it down during the run, repeat back to your friend what the numbers were, in order. You may be amazed at the results.

Got that one? Great!

Augment the drill with (2) numbers at a time, a red, and a green. (6) numbers in total. In this case, you have to remember number, order, and color for (6) ... not just number and order for (3).

Practical application?

Ever been running behind play and say an incident with two players but did not want to stop? What if that play goes on for a bit and you have a second incident? How about that problem player? Marquee player? After 90 minutes there is quite a list you may have compiled.

Staying physically fit will help when it comes time after 120 minutes to remember these details and act when you need to.

Brains ... and Body

Kicking Back Comments:
The other day we briefly discussed the topic of referee performance regarding what ones brain can handle, today we look briefly at the body.


There is symbiosis in refereeing where the mind and the body must be in concert to be at peak performance. Note that this "peak" can change from level to level. Clearly one will not need the fitness and training of a World Cup referee to perform optimally at a typical youth match.


That said, fitness is required for every level match, from the in-town small sided matches all the way up. There is no exception to that. One must be fit to referee, and I would opine that that fitness should be obtained before the referee enters the pitch to do the match. Game situations are not the place to improve fitness. Tactical awareness (i.e. match experience) is a different story, there is no other way to get experience except with, experience. Fitness however is different.


That said, below is an article from FIFA that details some of the plight of the referee and fitness intersecting. An interesting, quick read. Again for the record, I am not a doctor, but if you want a medical opinion go here (this one is for you Elie).

Protecting the ref

Refereeing is highly demanding, both physically and mentally, and injury prevention is as important for referees as it is for players. A referee needs to be as fit as, if not fitter than, the players, since he or she may be up to 20 years older, is rarely a full-time professional and cannot be substituted during the match. On top of the physical stress, there is also the mental strain of being in control of the match for 90 minutes under the ever watchful eye of both the bench and the public.

With this in mind, the FIFA Medical Assessment and Research Centre (F-MARC) has taken a close look at referee injuries and complaints. Its most recent study - Injuries of amateur football referees: a representative survey of Swiss referees officiating at all levels of play - focused on the extent and type of injuries sustained by referees at all national levels. ...

Full article continues here, courtesy of FIFA.com.

Assume the position

I have been impressed with the quality and fitness of the referees in the World Cup through the first 16 matches.  I may not be able to say the same for last night's referee in the Spain v Switzerland match.  English Referee Howard Webb was constantly in the way of the play, unless of course he was nowhere near it.So how does a casual (or even astute) observer tell when watching on TV that the referee positioning is sub-par?   It is easy.  Here are some tell-tale signs of bad positioning, all of which occurred in that game:

• When the player with the ball can reach out and touch the referee, or has to dribble around him.
• When the ball hits the referee, or the referee has to take quick action to jump over the ball or duck to avoid getting hit.
• When there is a long counter attack and the referee is not even in the TV picture because he is struggling to keep up.
• When the referee is positioned between the ball carrier and one of his teammates.
  

That last one may be a little harder to observe, but if you just take ten minutes and look for it you will see a pattern emerge.  Look for this to happen in the middle third of the field.  Does the player with the ball have options to pass to both flanks, or is the referee taking one of those options away?  A smart referee will adjust his position to make sure there is a defender in between himself and the ball carrier.  Webb didn't, and it took away Spain's crisp passing ability, which is one of Spain's best weapons.

Run Forrest ... RUN!

A very interesting article regarding Brian Hall's training for the 2002 World Cup, and World Cup refereeing fitness generally from CNN's Heath pages.

(CNN) -- For two years leading up to the World Cup, Brian Hall exercised four hours almost every day. ...

Sir ... Step away from the ice cream cone

Much is often made about referee fitness, and rightly so. Fitness is a critical component to match control. While not always used, it must always be available in the event it is called on.

What is not often discussed is assessor fitness. A brief story to help illustrate ...

Over this beautiful Memorial Day weekend I had the opportunity to stop with one of my kids for an ice cream at a local establishment for such. While waiting for our order, I overheard (it was really not that hard as they were speaking VERY LOUDLY) a conversation about how poor the refereeing was at a local soccer match, in particular regarding offside decisions.

My first reaction was to look in the direction of the speaker, and when I did I almost immediately dismissed their comments. Why you ask? Because the speaker was about 300 pounds with ice cream dripping from the hand that was not holding the phone.

How could I take that opinion seriously? They certainly did not look like a referee, or act like a referee, or even seem knowledgeable in the game beside knowledge of the term "offside" which seemed to be in the correct context.

It got me thinking (as I was eating my cake batter ice cream with rainbow sprinkles) that how can a referee take an assessor seriously when they don't look or act the part? Now, granted I may be taking this example to an absurd extreme, but the message stands. It is important for referee and assessor alike to be knowledgeable, act, and look the part.

Now fitness for an assessor clearly need not be to the level of a referee, but to "sell" a message to a referee that much better, putting down the ice cream cone may not be a horrible idea. I know I'm going to.