Last week marked a momentous moment as JudoScotland hosted the first National Training Camp since the Performance Programme came in-house earlier this year.
This camp marked an important milestone, offering a valuable opportunity to establish clear expectations for judoka in terms of their daily training, development and overall performance journey.
Invited judoka spent four days at the National Training Centre engaging with various training exercises and judo sessions where they were joined by special guest 5 x World Champion and Olympian Uta Abe.
Uta’s first visit to Scotland ahead of her Olympic Training Camp in Slovakia this week coincided perfectly with the training camp where she was able to be an inspiring presence and take part in various sessions alongside judoka.
In addition to training, the camp also provided some valuable learning opportunities for the judoka to think about their lifestyle choices off the mat. Dr. Nikos Jakubiak, sportscotland Institute of Sport Senior Performance Nutritionist hosted a session which used athletes previously submitted food journals to dispel some myths on nutrition and provide valuable input on how to properly fuel your body ahead of training and competitions.
The camp would not be possible without support from partners. It is important to thank RA Sneddon Joinery & Building Contractors for supporting this camp and helping to subsidise this opportunity for our judoka, and to Lost Shore Resort for being such gracious hosts to our athletes.
Reflecting on the key learnings from the camp, attendee Finlay Strang said: “Having Nikos in speaking about nutrition and with Taka going through video analysis gave me a really different perspective on the other side of judo, it’s not just about being on the mat, it’s deeper than that.”
This sentiment was echoed by fellow judoka, Rachel McLean who commented: “My biggest takeaway from the camp will be the different advice and different perspectives that I’ve been able to get from the coaches. It’s been great to see different gripping strategies that I can apply at competitions, especially because I’m left-handed, all the coaches have been really good at helping me understand different ways that I can do the techniques.
“One of the biggest highlights has also been the accommodation at Lost Shore, it’s been very homey and comfortable there. It’s only a short walk back to the pods from the dojo so you can just go back after training and relax straightaway and get ready for your next session.”
With the Performance Programme now in-house we hope that this will be the first of many camps to come to continue to support our judoka and how we work with the wider judo community to prepare Scottish athletes for the GB World Class Performance Programme.