SOA Coach Education Day - Introduction to Sprint Orienteering

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Asher Shaw
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1 SOA Coach Education Day - Introduction to Sprint Orienteering Murray Strain 9 th December

2 Introduction Sprint orienteering is a new and exciting discipline that anyone can enjoy. Today Stewart/Andy will tell you more about it, as Murray is running a cross-country race in Galashiels right now! 14/12/2006 2

3 Topics of Discussion Introduction to Sprint Racing, history and styles ISSOM special maps for special races Skills Required and how to train them physical, technical & mental Some examples from real sprint races 14/12/2006 3

4 History of Sprint Orienteering Mid 90 s Scandinavia started holding short races in city parks In 1996 the Park World Tour started: Races in scenic and historic parks around the world Putting O in the public eye Using Sprint races as a promotional tool for the sport 14/12/2006 4

5 History of Sprint Orienteering 2001 First Sprint race at the World Championships in Finland 2003 WOC in Switzerland 14/12/2006 5

6 History of Sprint Orienteering Jamie Stevenson World Champion! 14/12/2006 6

7 History of Sprint Orienteering Since then consistently been Team GBR s best discipline, with top results at WOC, World Cup and PWT from many athletes British Sprint Champs since 2002 Races such as Oxford City Race show there is an appetite for something different in UK Orienteering right now 14/12/2006 7

What is Sprint-O? Key feature 12-15 minute winning time 2.

8 What is Sprint-O? Key feature minute winning time km courses Generally in a park / urban setting 14/12/2006 8

9 What is Sprint-O? Demands quick orienteering Route choices can be very different to normal -o Expect the unexpected eg WOC 2006 trip to the amusement park! 14/12/2006 9

10 ISSOM Special races need special maps ISSOM International Specification for Sprint Orienteering Maps Emphasis on impassable objects new symbols for walls and fences to make them stand out. 14/12/

11 ISOM Normal ISSOM Sprint All detail stands out Solid colours indicate impassable objects fences, hedges, buildings Paths less obvious 14/12/

12 ISSOM Important! Impassable means forbidden to cross disqualification if you are spotted crossing: Impassable walls (thick black line) Impassable fences (thick black line with tags) Hedges ( linear thickets ) (green lines) Out of bounds areas (settlement green) Even if they are perfectly easy to cross! 14/12/

13 WOC Sprint Qualifier 14/12/

14 Skills Needed To Succeed at Sprint-O Physical Technical Mental Just like any other orienteering race Emphasis will vary depending on the level of competition For club-level runners Technical skills are most important, as the runner progresses Physical and Mental preparation become more important 14/12/

15 Physical Ability to run maximally for 15 minutes Similar to 5000m or 4km Cross Country Very similar to normal orienteering a 5000m runner will train in a very similar fashion to a marathon runner, so despite being a sprint it is still an endurance event 14/12/

16 Physical Differences: ability to absorb steep hill climbs different to xc or track more demand on running at max pace than most orienteering 14/12/

17 Physical The Important Bit: Don t worry about running fast in the race Prepare your athletes to run fast while concentrating on other things KEY in Sprint-O only run as fast as you can orienteer. The time to relocate is more than the difference between gold and also-ran Brain = navigation Legs = running fast 14/12/

18 Physical Another key area is using your speed wisely in the race If you put yourself in oxygen debt or over your lactate threshold too far leg burning syndrome it takes a large proportion of the race time to recover Example: Nordic Championships in Sweden 14/12/

19 Technical Route Choice Precision Flow Simplification 14/12/

20 Route Choice The first choice to make is whether this is an important decision or not Some route choices have nothing in them, and any time spent deciding between them is wasted time Others are harder and the difference between them can be significant Making this decision is part of the instinct of sprint-racing! 14/12/

21 Simple Route Choice From this years World University sprint race (Purple boxes are temporary street cafés) 14/12/

22 Simple Route Choice While there may be subtle differences between the red and blue routes, they will not become apparent in the 3 seconds difference it might make. So just choose one, quickly I chose blue! 14/12/

23 Simple Route Choice Unfortunately the car park was full of Ladas and Skodas so my route wasn t the best! Some things you just can t plan for Just take it on the chin and move on 14/12/

24 Route Choice Preparation is Key old maps, street maps or even visiting the area can help your athlete prepare for route choice legs. Another example from World Universities, where knowledge of the area gave us an advantage From studying the old map we knew there were only two bridges across the road, which made choosing a route easier 14/12/

25 Route Choice 14/12/

26 Route Choice 14/12/

27 Route Choice 14/12/

28 Route Choice Actually there is nothing between these routes The fastest two runners were 1 second apart, one went north (me) the other went south 14/12/

29 More Complex Route Choice The first rule for more complex route choices is plan the whole leg before you start it. Make sure you are not running to a dead end or an uncrossable feature Know your control description: there is a big difference between Inside corner and outside corner Smooth lines are quicker than lots of twists and turns 14/12/

30 More Complex Route Choices Make sure you are not running to a dead end or an uncrossable feature 14/12/

31 Route Choice Know your control description: there is a big difference between Inside corner and outside corner 14/12/

32 Route Choice Smooth lines are quicker than lots of twists and turns 14/12/

33 Route Choice Smooth lines are quicker than lots of twists and turns 14/12/

34 Route Choices Smooth lines are quicker than lots of twists and turns 14/12/

35 Route Choice Smooth lines are quicker than lots of twists and turns 14/12/

36 Route Choice How to improve this? Armchair exercises two seconds to choose a route, then analyse if it is the best OCAD is good for accurately measuring route lengths use the marked route tool in course setting. When hills are involved it is harder to judge which is quicker. Plan a training course with flat vs hilly legs and test run all possible routes analyse where your strengths and weaknesses are Practise makes perfect! 14/12/

37 Precision and Flow A sprint race can have 20+ controls That s one every 30-40s on average Spiking controls cleanly and control flow are very important Cut out 1 second hesitation finding the control, and 1 second leaving the control and you will jump up the scoreboard How? 14/12/

38 Precision and Flow Use longer legs to look ahead Pick which legs need route choice decisions Plan control picks so you know which way to turn at each control Precision is all about planning ahead, knowing exactly where the control will be, using map and control descriptions. 14/12/

39 Precision and Flow Precision is much easier in definite areas around buildings or other manmade features When sprints visit forest sections control locations can be vaguer Normal orienteering techniques such as attack points and distance judgement come into play then But generally you will not be far from paths or other catching features 14/12/

40 Precision and Flow Again, practise makes perfect Possible sessions: Fast control pick courses with lots of changes of direction Interval/map memory control pick run a hard interval while memorising a short control pick, then hide the map and do the course 14/12/

41 Simplification You can give yourself time to plan ahead in a sprint race by simplifying a long leg But always give yourself something definite to get you back in contact with the map: otherwise you can run way too far or lose concentration and have to relocate. 14/12/

42 Mental Preparation Sprint races can be full of surprises Some can be planned for, others you just need to be flexible Races in public or in front of TV cameras create extra pressures which are hard to replicate in training The additional factor of knowing every second can make a difference can increase tensions too 14/12/

43 Mental Preparation Confidence is key to overcoming this Confidence can be built up by doing lots of races and training courses Believe in the preparation you ve done! Visualisation is also a useful tool. Ask your athlete to think about what go wrong, and how they will react if it happens Also think about how it will feel when it is going well remember to never think about the result until the finish line! 14/12/

44 Mental Preparation A PWT course in China was round an amusement park The planner of WOC2006 had a surprise in store another theme park! Coping with these surprises is key to success 14/12/

45 Mental Preparation One session I did to practise for the World Universities was to run a sprint course through Edinburgh Old Town, during the Fringe festival When I managed to choose the right alley-way off the Royal Mile in the midst of street performers and tourists, I knew I could handle anything in Slovakia! 14/12/

46 Bringing it all together Hauskens Law Of Sprint 1. Read every detail en route to the first control 2. Plan your route to the next control completely, including the control description, before leaving the control 3. Longer smoother routes are better than shorter twisty ones 4. Look up at buildings to see where to run - ignore the small stuff on the ground 14/12/

47 So Applying these rules will see you or your athletes go a long way in Sprint Orienteering Hopefully today we ve raised some your awareness of the areas important to succeeding in this discipline Now, we have some examples of Sprint- O courses for you to look at and discuss, what tactics would you adopt if you picked these maps up on the start line? 14/12/

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Course Planning COF Conference

Course Planning COF Conference Course Planning 2011 COF Conference Today s presentation What is a good course? Course planner s raw ingredients Cooking up good courses: Long / Middle What s different about Sprint? JWOC 2011 courses