David Buttifant lifts lid on why AFL players seem scared of pre-season training

Ever wondered why footballers often dread pre-season training?

Tom Elliott has.

Sydney ruckman Mike Pyke announced his retirement from the game this week, saying he couldn’t put his body through another summer on the training track.

It pricked Tom Elliott’s interest.

So he went to David Buttifant, who has been a high performance manager at North Melbourne, Collingwood and Carlton, to find out why players often seemed ‘scared’ of summer training.

‘It’s pretty daunting,’ Buttifant said on 3AW Drive.

‘Obviously if they have a good break and off-season before they commence it could be very daunting for them.

‘Because if they haven’t done a huge amount ? then there’s a bit of trepidation.

‘But most players now do some form of conditioning and a bit of work due that off period.’

Buttifant also lifted the lid on whether there was actually any real benefit in sending players overseas to train at altitude.

‘I think there’s definitely benefits,’ he said.