Reaching September 12 in the most competitive way possible is the objective of the Leñadores (Lumberjacks) of Las Tunas, the most stable team in the country in the last three years and, like the rest of the teams of the 60th National Baseball Series, facing the challenge to prepare in just six weeks an extensive season of 75 games.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- This is what Reynaldo Infante, a former player and increasingly experienced coach, responsible for the team's physical preparation, assures. With him, we dialogue in search of the coordinates of that vital step towards any success that is sports training.

ROADMAP

“We have five weeks planned for the acquisition of competitive performance and one, of course, for modeling. The objective that we have set ourselves is that the athletes arrive in the best possible way at the beginning of the season, which is quite complex, since year after year we had between 12 and 14 weeks, and now we have stayed in the middle of that time. It is a great challenge for athletes and also for us, the management team.

"We plan to prioritize specific tasks, that is, not to spend time on more general issues, but to go directly to the actions of the game: on the offensive, prioritize the largest number of volumes with balls thrown; to the defense, the work will be based on the collective mechanics from the tactical point of view, appealing to the modified game, to the game with tasks, with the objective above all of consolidating the routines of the athletes, since this is a fairly mature group, with many players who have achieved sports mastery.

"The idea is for the team to be as competitive as possible when the National Series begins, although we anticipate that, from the third sub-series onwards, certain fluctuations, personalized or group-based, will begin to show us that they are entering the optimal form."

Are you worried about having just six weeks of preparation for a long and uninterrupted season?

The truth is that considering that it will be a long season, of 75 games, we have another six weeks planned, already within the competition, in which we would continue the preparation phase. For example, the bench players would have different training than the regular ones, so that their form states are matched and if they need to enter the daily game, they are in the most possible appropriate conditions.

All this, seeking that the competitive form is lengthened as much as possible and that the optimal form does not fluctuate as much within the competition.

How do you rate the new system, with two days off in the week?

It suits us very well because traditionally we work five frequencies a week in training and by coinciding now with the five days of play that there will be each week, it will allow us to maintain the same work dynamic.

The work-rest relationship is essential in sports training and much more in competition. In other words, this modality that is going to be used in the National Series, far from harming us, is going to benefit us in the best preparation of athletes.

The preparation phase will begin on August 3 at the Julio Antonio Mella Stadium under strict sanitary security measures, with the presence of essential personnel and without training games with other teams in the schedule.

The Lumberjacks will debut on September 12 against the Hurricanes of Mayabeque, the first of four sub-series away from home at the start of the 60th National Series.