Wayne Lombard speaks about his inspiration to pursue exercise science, his experience training the Indian women’s hockey team, their typical routine at camp, major transformations, the Yo-Yo test, and much more.
Feeling inspired by all the hockey you have watched over the last few months during the qualifiers for Tokyo 2020? Or perhaps you are in awe of just how fit hockey teams are?
If you have been following hockey, you will know that the Indian women’s hockey team has become one of the dominant forces in international hockey in recent years.
Most recently, the team won the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Test Event and the FIH Series Finals 2019 in Hiroshima in June.
Much of the team’s success is due to its athletic performance on the pitch. The coach behind those faster field sprints, quick acceleration, rapid changes of direction, and amazing stamina is its scientific coach, Wayne Lombard.
In an exclusive chat with The Dragflick, Wayne Lombard spoke about his inspiration to pursue exercise science, his experience training the Chinese hockey team, his current role with the Indian women’s hockey team, the team’s routine at camp, and much more.
The Interview
You are in the process of attaining your Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Exercise Science. What inspired you to get into exercise science?
Yes, I am still in the process of attaining my PhD. Growing up in South Africa, sport was always a big part of my life. However, the defining moment for me was probably seeing the Springboks win the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa.
I saw how sport can unite a country and how Nelson Mandela made sure that the whole country understood the important role sport plays in a community.
I was also intrigued by Tim Noakes, a South African scientist and professor of exercise science and sports medicine at the University of Cape Town, who was doing a lot to promote sport, exercise science, and sports medicine in South Africa.
All of this motivated me to work at the SSISA (Sports Science Institute of South Africa), where I worked as a senior consultant for six years.
You have also been an athletic-performance head and consultant for China Hockey. How was this experience?
While I was at SSISA, I consulted for various national teams. At that time, I got the opportunity to work with the South African women’s hockey team, with Coach Giles Bonnet at the helm.
After a few years of consulting, I received a call from Giles asking if I would join him in China.
I spent the first year travelling back and forth. After that, we decided we could make a greater impact if I joined them full-time, which we agreed to do for a year.
My role primarily involved working with the Liaoning League team. I worked mainly with the senior men’s and women’s hockey teams, as well as a little with the junior hockey team.
The Liaoning team was very strong at the time, making up 90% of the national team, so it was a great experience working with them. The Chinese athletes were extremely dedicated and had a very strong work ethic. We achieved a lot during the two years that we worked together.
What originally led you to train hockey players specifically?
I never actively set out to work in hockey; it is simply how things have worked out. It was probably a combination of luck and a natural path that opened up through my experience and work at SSISA, as mentioned earlier.
The great thing about my job is that, if you understand the principles of exercise and physiology, you can apply them to any sport. I have been fortunate enough to work with many exciting athletes and sports over the past 12 years.
When you first received the assignment with the Indian team, what was the first thing you wanted to do with the players regarding their fitness?
It is an interesting question, as I generally take a slightly different approach. In any role I take on, I obviously want to see the athletes grow physically and mentally. However, my main goal initially is always to get the players to buy into the process I lay out for them.
Without that buy-in and trust, you can never truly achieve great results.
How much training can you actually do with the players? What is their fitness routine like when they are at camp?
Hockey in general is a very high-volume sport, which means that we train a lot. In an average week—although this is highly dependent on the time of the season and how far we are from the next competition—the players complete two to three strength-focused sessions, four to six hockey sessions, and two to three conditioning sessions.
This changes by a significant amount as we move through our training cycles.
When it comes to recovery and regeneration, do you have any go-to modalities or strategies to keep the players feeling fresh?
Recovery is a huge part of my planning, as it is also the major theme of my PhD research. The players all have a sheet that guides them on the best modalities to use and when to use them.
I assign points to the different modalities they use. They then add these up at the end of the week to see whether they have achieved the minimum required number of recovery points. The idea is for them to achieve at least 100 points per week.
Some of the modalities they use include ice baths, pneumatic recovery boots, good sleep, power naps, massages, and post-training nutrition.
In addition, the players submit data to me each morning and after every training session so that I can monitor their neuromuscular fatigue and assess where they are. This is now largely considered industry standard.
Which player has the highest Yo-Yo score on the team?
I do not want to give you a name, but the highest Yo-Yo score so far has been 21.7. I am sure that, when watching the matches, you would be able to work out who that might be.
What is one fitness challenge the players face?
There is no specific fitness challenge they face. The most important thing for me is to keep them, as far as possible, free from niggles and injuries.
From a fitness coach’s point of view, who is the best player you have worked with, or which player has undergone the greatest transformation?
I do not think it is fair to mention one individual, as every athlete—not only in hockey—with whom I have worked has tried their best and made good progress.
In general, however, the transformation of the Indian women’s hockey team over the last two to two-and-a-half years has been remarkable. It is all due to the effort that the players have put in day after day.
Last but not least, could you give one piece of fitness advice to a young hockey player?
Hockey has become such a fast and dynamic sport that players have to put in a lot of hours. If they do not put in the effort off the pitch to address their overall athleticism, they will struggle to play at the highest level.
As a young hockey player, you need to spend as much time developing your holistic athletic skills and physicality as you invest in playing hockey.
By investing time in holistic athletic skills, I mean that a player needs to develop their running mechanics, learn how to change direction properly, and build a strong foundation of aerobic fitness and strength. I believe that, if you get these fundamentals right, everything else will fall into place.
Last but not least, my advice would be to keep doing the simple things savagely well.
Fitness, strength, and conditioning are processes. If you do not enjoy the process and invest the necessary hours intelligently, you will struggle to progress.
