Get to know Huddersfield Town’s First Team and Academy staff
- New ‘Know Your Role’ feature
- Town introduces you to the Club’s First Team and Academy staff
- Today we look at Physical Performance Coach, Callum Adams
With the coronavirus currently postponing Town’s fixture list, we’ve decided to introduce you to some of our First Team and Academy Staff – and first up is First Team Physical Performance Coach, Callum Adams!
Callum has been with the Terriers since 2013, when he was recruited by then Head of Sports Science, Darren Robinson, to volunteer with the Club in a physical testing capacity. He went on to be offered an internship at the end of his Exercise Science degree in 2014, before being offered a full-time position as First Team Physical Performance Coach ahead of the 2015/16 season.
Callum’s role sees him ensure that Town’s First Team players are prepared to perform at optimal levels physically to fit the demands of both football and the Terriers’ style of play. He discussed what that involves.
“I take a lead role in the monitoring of the squad and each individual player to ensure of readiness to train and play, and the ability to perform to their best.
“This includes the use of GPS (global positioning system) to track all grass-based work, daily subjective reporting and daily, weekly or monthly testing.
“My other key roles include pre-training activation, squad strength, early to late stage strength and conditioning for rehab players and working with players that have individual performance plans – for example, extra physical objective sessions, hydration, helping provide player nutrition/supplements and assisting with game day preparation for both home and away.”
While Callum doesn’t have a typical average day due to the nature of his job, he makes sure to follow a structure.
“7am – Personal training (myself), as I am a strong believer in the cliché ‘practice what you preach’. I believe in order to best understand what a player should be feeling whilst performing prescribed exercise, I should practise this myself. Plus, I enjoy health and well-being.
“8.30am – Performance Services team meeting. As a department we discuss the day ahead in terms of squad/player activity, in order to check and challenge the week ahead.
“9am – Everyday setup: GPS, fluids, pre activation and supplements.
“9.30am – Players report. As a department, we check on players readiness to train with a subjective questionnaire and weight tracking. This also gives us chance to have a verbal conversation with each player and get a feel for their mood, stress levels, fatigue, etc.
“10am – I use this time to sit down and complete any analysis, reporting, planning, research or fulfil any extra work, for example upper body strength sessions with individual players.
“10.45am – Lead the pre-training preparation session. I conduct a session for the players that best suits them to prepare for the upcoming session on that day, with focus on long term physical development work.
“11.15am - Training begins. I spend my time either indoors with injured/recovering players or outdoors working with late stage rehab players. When we have no injured players or none working that day, I will use this time for important admin or research. At times I may be asked to assist in training.
“12.30pm – Most days recovery for the majority will begin, with my main role in this process managing the cryotherapy chamber or mobility. Certain training days, players will rest, recuperate and then begin strength work later that day with myself, Dan Hughes or Callum Walsh or all three depending on the focus.
“1.30pm - Collect, download, analyse and report (GPS) training activity for the day. This is sent to Head of Performance Services, John Iga, Danny and Nicky, Mark Hudson, Paul Clements and the rest of the performance team. This allows discussion and helps aid certain decisions going forward.
“2.30pm onwards – This is where each day can vary a lot. This could be a squad strength session, individual work with players, meetings, admin work, research or remedial work (that nobody enjoys!).”
Callum was quick to say that there are many aspects of his job that he enjoys and is grateful for.
“I love working with players and helping them achieve physical objectives.
“I love seeing the young pros progress and enjoy the journey of becoming a fully established member of the dressing room, helping the players in their prime to perform at a high level week in week out and helping the experienced players continue their careers at an optimal level!
“I enjoy the weekly buzz of game day as it gives all the hard work from the staff and players in the week real context!
“I also enjoy having an influence on important decisions, it strives me to keep developing and challenging others on a daily basis.”
If you feel inspired to investigate Callum’s profession, he has some words of advice!
“I’d say, do not be afraid to do something for nothing
“Enjoy learning.
“No matter what you currently do, work hard and believe you can achieve your dream career.
“Tough times will shape you and allow you to mould the way your work.
“Most importantly, enjoy the process, you will never know everything, but the moment you think you do is when you will struggle.”
