The following is a report from the ABS residential training which was held over the weekend of 21 and 22 April 2012;
In Attendance:
Boxers – Aqeel Ahmed, Pushker Singh, Charlie Flynn, Lewis Benson, Stewart Burt, Kieran Smith, Brian Forsyth, Stephen Lavelle. In addition the following boxers attended the sparring sessions – Jack Turner, Brandon Singh, James Dickie, Tommy Philbin and Cameron New.
Coaches – Barry McFadden, Joe Ham and Craig McEvoy
The ABS Senior Squad are now well into their build up program for the GB Championships next month, which includes a trip out to Serbia next week (01 – 06 May) to compete in the extremely tough Belgrade Winners.
The Residential Camps form a crucial part of the boxer’s preparation, providing excellent sparring opportunities throughout the weight categories.
With the boxers arriving at 10am on Saturday and departing 12pm on Sunday, the squad were put through their paces on no fewer than 5 sessions over the camp. Once the administration and weight checks had been carried out, the boxers were put through a technique session working on a range of skills from tactical ringcraft to phases of attack.
The rest of the day was allocated for sparring, with the squad being broken down into 4 groups with only 1 group sparring in the gym at the one time. This allowed those not sparring a chance to rest back at the hotel which would be crucial given the intensity of the program.
Once the sparring had been completed, all the squad then returned to the gym at 8pm for a themed equipment session. Each rou saw the boxers respond to a different theme (opponent / tactics), varying tempos and tactical awareness.
After a good night’s rest, an early start saw the boxers giving their all on a challenging interval running session in the nearby Beveridge Park – Gutsy performances meant the vital stamina bank was being strengthened in every boxer.
The final session of the camp comprised of 3 stages. After a plyometric warm-up, the boxers conducted further sparring working on tactics from the previous day. Immediately after the sparring all the boxers went straight into a padwork session, finishing up with a groundwork session consisting of cardio, upper and lower body exercises.
The camp proved to be another success with all the boxers giving 100% for the duration.
All of the squad would like to thank the boxers and coaches who travelled to the camp to provide additional sparring for the team.
