Swansea City work hard and rest well with new Snoozeboxes
3rd July
Garry Monk's men will be given short shrift if they complain about feeling tired during the Swans' tough pre-season training schedule.
The squad is currently being put through a gruelling training programme ahead of the new Barclays Premier League campaign which includes double training sessions every morning and afternoon.
And in a bid to squeeze every inch out of the squad to get the club's fifth campaign off to a flyer at Chelsea on August 8, the club's sports science gurus have turned to 30 individual 'Snoozeboxes' so the players can recover fully in between sessions.
The Snoozebox is a portable tent structure that is inflated with air to form an individual room that has just enough space for a double bed.
So instead of risking sleeping on the job, it means the players can have a Welsh siesta after lunch at the training ground - instead of battling with the traffic to go home - and emerge for the afternoon session fresh and raring to go.
"Pre-season is where the volume of work is at its highest,'' explained Jonny Northeast, Swansea City's Head of Sports Science and Fitness. "So it's important we try and provide the players with as many recovery strategies as we can in order to get the best out of them on the pitch.
"One way is to aid their sleep. Last season we started monitoring their sleep patterns with special digital sleep bands. This is the next step for us.
"By having the Snoozeboxes at the training ground it means the players don't have to travel to and from home in between sessions. By having something available on site it is better for everyone. The boys find it beneficial and have taken to them really well.
"The likes of Real Madrid, who have a hotel on site, and Manchester United do the same thing.
"They are due to be returned before we go to Germany at the end of next week. But we'll assess their benefits fully while we're away and if the compliance and uptake is good we may try and keep them for a bit longer.''
PIC: Swans' Head of Sports Science and Fitness Jonny Northeast
Some of the Snoozeboxes available include wet-room showers, air conditioning, WiFi and USB devices.
"We haven't gone that far. They probably wouldn't come out if we did.'' joked Northeast. "Saying that, they've already managed to hack into the WiFi coming from the main building.''
Swans midfielder Leon Britton is one of the players who has been using the Snoozeboxes on a regular basis.
"I think it's a great idea,'' he added. "It would take me well over an hour in between sessions to travel home and back.
"We don't get a lot of time between sessions, so it just makes things a lot easier to stay at the training ground. It gives us a chance to rest and recover.
"Things have certainly changed since I joined the club 10 years ago. When I first arrived in Swansea, my apartment wasn't much bigger than this,'' he joked.
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