A match to return to victory after the first defeat of the season, at the beginning of November against Valenciennes. Saturday evening against Rennes, Sens Volley 89 will once again face its audience. The opportunity for us to take stock of this team which has been very significantly overhauled at the start of the season, many new players, new members of the staff, including a new coach. And an individualized approach to the players’ fitness level.
A questionnaire every morning
It is a simple but essential method for the new coach of Sens Volley 89, Simon Garel: “every morning, they have the opportunity to fill out a short questionnaire, in which there are lots of indicators. The quality of food, the quality of sleep, motivation”. But also the general state of fitness, pain or even the progress of the menstrual cycle. “For example, the menstrual cycle, we know that two or three days before the cycle begins and two or three days after, there is ligament fragility,” explains the coach, “significantly greater fragility, therefore a risk of injury. We try to lighten the load a little, jump less and that kind of thing.”
The players’ period taken into account
An approach appreciated by players like Anais Robert, who is starting her third season at Sens: “It’s no longer a subject that should be taboo. It’s scientifically proven that it has an impact on performance and the risk of injury so it’s the BA-BA for me to take it into account.” This individualized approach is normal, Simon Garel also believes: “I can’t come to training and say – ah, I have the feeling that they are tired. Training on radar is what was done twenty years ago and it’s no longer possible. “
And going through writing is particularly useful according to Noémie Secrétant, she has just arrived at the club: “I’m not someone who has a great time reaching out to people. Writing allows the coach to come and talk to us. It leads to discussion.” But beyond the individual approach, it is indeed a collective that must be built and the victories at the start of the season contribute to this.
A flamboyant start to the season, to put into perspective
With five wins and one loss, Sens is third in Pool A of Elite Women. But the new coach, Simon Garel, wants to put this good start to the season into perspective because many teams in the new Elite Women’s championship are of a lower level than Sens. “Our team was originally designed to go to Elite Access. Elite Access was canceled and so far we have only played a team that was supposed to go to Elite Access and we lost. We have to also see this. I’m not denigrating what we’re doing. It’s great to have so many victories, but for the moment we still have very little information on what we are capable of doing in the future. adversity. You have to experience big matches, like this one. that we experienced against Valenciennes and that we will experience against Evreux soon These are matches where the team is really built whether you lose or win. For example, we made a video review of the Valenciennes match. that we lose. I showed as a team where we had failed It was our very irregular quality of service and our fourth set that we start with the gun It will be easier for the girls. identify that and say to yourself – he You don’t have to relive it.”
