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EIS Media Guide XIX Commonwealth Games – Delhi 2010

CONTENTS The Commonwealth Games

About the English Institute of Sport

EIS Delivery at the Games

Prevention better than cure – Sport Medicine

Team Psychology

Balancing Act – Performance Lifestyle

From the UK to Delhi

Peaking & Tapering

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The Commonwealth

Games

The idea of the “Commonwealth Games” can be traced back to 1891, with

the Rev. Astly Cooper of England suggesting in two articles that a “Pan-

Britannic-Pan Anglican Contest and Festival...every four years as a means

of increasing the goodwill and good understanding of the Empire”.

The first format of the Games took place in 1911 with the “Inter-Empire Championships” taking

place at the “Festival of Empire” in London with teams from Australia, Canada, South Africa and

the UK competing in Athletics, Boxing, Swimming and Wrestling.

After the Olympic Games in Antwerp in 1920 and Paris in 1924, track and field events between

the British Empire and the USA were held in London but it wasn‟t until after the 1928 Olympics

in Amsterdam that the first practical steps were taken to organise the British Empire Games.

Canadian Mr M. M. (Bobby) Robinson called a meeting of representatives of all Empire countries,

with the first event then held in 1930 in Hamilton Canada.

Changing to the „British Empire and Commonwealth Games‟ in 1950, again in 1966 to the

„British Commonwealth Games‟ and finally in 1974 to the „Commonwealth Games‟, with the

international body becoming The Commonwealth Games Federation.

For more information about the history of the Commonwealth Games visit the WeAreEngland website here

Delhi 2010 The Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010 will see approx 8,500 athletes and officials take part in

the following sports:

Archery Aquatics Athletics Badminton

Boxing Cycling Gymnastics Hockey

Lawn Bowls Netball Rugby 7s Shooting

Squash Table Tennis Tennis Weightlifting

Wrestling

In addition 15 events will be contested across four Para Sports.

Athletics Swimming Powerlifting Table Tennis

About the EIS

The English Institute of Sport (EIS) works in partnership with sports to

improve performances through the delivery of high quality sport science

and medical support to elite athletes, through its nationwide network of

expertise and facilities.

Under the leadership of Chairman Steve Cram MBE, the EIS Board and National

Director Nigel Walker, our vision is to be the world‟s leading provider of

performance-impacting sport science and sport medicine in elite sport.

The EIS, as provider of choice for sport science and medical services in England,

works across Olympic and Paralympic summer and winter sports as well as English

and professional sports.

Aiming to be the employer of choice for practitioners within sport science and

medicine, the EIS is working to create a sustainable, quality assured support

system.

THE EIS...

Employs over 250 staff across the country

Delivers support out of 15 EIS High

Performance Centres as well as a number

of sport specific partner sites around

England

Works with almost 50 Olympic, Paralympic,

English and Professional sports

Supports approximately 1700 elite athletes

Delivers on average 4000 hours of sport

science and medicine each week

EIS & the Commonwealth

Games The EIS works with 18 of the 21 Commonwealth Games sports on a

regular basis back in England and has worked closely with Commonwealth

Games England to integrate support services with sports‟ preparation

leading into and during the Games.

Approximately 25 practitioners from the EIS will be working at the preparation camps

and the Games themselves, including Dr Mike Loosemore as Head Medic and Lynda

Daley as Head Physiotherapist for the England team.

Leading into the games sport scientists and sport physicians from the EIS have

worked closely with sports‟ coaches, athletes and support teams to ensure strategies

for coping with the demands of the event are in place, from travel and recovery, to

nutrition and injury prevention.

Around the Commonwealth Games the EIS...

Has delivered an average of 2000 hours a

week of Sport Science & Medical support to

CWG sports over the past year.

The EIS has around 25 practitioners working

at holding camps and/or the Games

themselves

Several practitioners will work as part of the

CWG England support team,

Prevention Better

Than Cure

The EIS Sport Medicine service has targeted common elite sport injuries

with a view to reducing the time out of competition and training.

Integrating coaching with sport medicine and physiotherapy alongside

sport science services such as strength and conditioning, physiology and

biomechanics, the EIS aims to develop robust athletes who are best

prepared to compete in their sport on the international stage.

Research undertaken by the EIS and UK Sport into injuries and illnesses most

commonly suffered by high performance athletes identified that; shoulder, knee and

lumber back (lower spine) injuries and respiratory infections were the most common

to occur.

Targeted training and further sport specific monitoring and research has been

undertaken to best inform programmes and help athletes in their training. Read more

here

Pre-hab & Re-hab Examples

Hockey‟s Richard Mantell came through a

serious ankle injury in 2010 through rehab

support at the EIS site in Bisham.

Boxing‟s European campaign saw a full

squad taken through from the holding camp

due to preventative physiotherapy and

medical care complimenting their training.

Squash‟s Nick Matthews integrates strength

and conditioning and physio as part of his

programme, having bounced back as World

Number 1 after a serious shoulder injury.

Team Psychology

Working together as part of a team is often far more complex in high

performance sport than it seems. Being able to create a shared vision,

a cohesive unit and setting expectations, requires the right balance of

personality, commitment and circumstance.

Part of the EIS Performance Psychology support across the sports it works has

included areas such as Pressure Training and Team Psychology.

Watch an interview with EIS Performance Psychologist Tom Cross on his work with

the England Women‟s Hockey Team here

Mental Focus will be a key requirement for athletes going into the Games, read an

article on how athletes will focus here

EIS Performance Psychologists to talk

„Team Psychology‟ include:

Simon Middlemas, working with

Netball & Swimming

Tom Cross, working with Hockey

Pete Lindsey, working with Boxing

Simon Drane, working with Badminton

Balancing Act

Performance Lifestyle

Performance Lifestyle is a personal coaching and mentoring service

that supports athletes with their continued personal and professional

development.

Delivered by over 20 professionally trained practitioners within the EIS,

Performance Lifestyle works with over 1000 athletes to ensure that they

develop the skills to cope with the demands of high performance sport, whilst

developing a portfolio of transferable skills and experiences that will benefit

their careers in the future.

In hockey, a number of athletes have developed work experience and

placement opportunities to compliment their training, watch an interview with

EIS Performance Lifestyle advisor Emma Mitchell on her work with Hockey,

here. In swimming there are many athletes who require further education to

work with their training and competition schedule. Read about one athletes‟

balancing act here.

EIS Performance Lifestyle Advisors

working with CWG Sports include....

Emma Mitchell, working with Hockey

Jane Mawdsley, working with Swimming

Dan Salcedo, working with Boxing &

Diving

From England to

Delhi

Travelling from England to Delhi involves a variety of physiological

aspects which athletes will prepare for as part of their training

programmes.

As well as advice from the Commonwealth Games England support team, many

sports will be utilising strategies devised with their EIS support staff which they

have tried and tested in training and competition over the past cycle.

To ensure athletes arrive fresh and perform to their best, they will have

prepared acclimatisation strategies, devised techniques to minimise the impact

of travel and planned what their hydration and recovery strategies look like.

Watch an interview with EIS Performance Nutritionist Mark Ellison on his work

with the England Boxing squad here.

Examples of Sports Preparations for

Delhi...

England Hockey squads trained at

the Environmental Chamber in hot

and humid conditions before

travelling to Delhi

England boxers have recovery

strategies in place, tried and tested

over the summer.

Peaking & Tapering

The demands of international competition require careful planning

and preparation in order that athletes „peak‟ at the optimal time.

Many athletes have talked about their competitive schedule and which

competitions they‟re tapering towards. EIS Support Teams, including

physiologists and strength and conditioning coaches, have worked alongside

coaches and athletes to help plan training strategies for peaking and tapering.

Watch EIS Strength & Conditioning Coach Ian Pyper here talking about his work

with the England Boxing team.

Read about EIS Strength & Conditioning Coach Barry Shillabeer and Physiologist

Ben Hollis and their work with the swimming squad here.

Watch an interview with EIS Strength & Conditioning Coach Ian Pyper on his

work with the England Boxing squad in preparation for the Games here.