SOARING Newcastle Eagles skipper Andrew Bridge has revealed the reason for his flying form this season – a helping hand from a Falcon.
Bridge is rolling back the years to deliver some of his best performances in a black-and-white vest and reckons it is partly down to a diet plan devised with help from Newcastle Falcons captain James Hudson.
Hudson is a qualified sports nutritionist and his dietary advice has helped Bridge shed some extra weight, part of the reason for his sparkling displays so far this term.
“I am really happy with my form so far – I’m playing a lot better this year,” he told The Journal.
“One of the main things has been losing some weight from last year, along with taking ten weeks off in the summer which just recharged my batteries and helped me appreciate the game a bit more.
“I’ve been doing some work with James Hudson at the Falcons too, he has done his qualifications in nutrition so he’s been helping me out. I was asked if I wanted to meet him a while back and of course I jumped at the chance – and it’s a very kind offer on his behalf.
“I’m hoping to meet him this week and kick on with that because losing that weight has been a main thing. I’m not saying I was fat but as you get older it helps. If you’re a bit lighter it takes the pressure off your knees, I feel faster and I’m jumping higher too, which is nice.”
With its reliance on balance, pace and explosive fitness basketball couldn’t be much more different from rugby as a sport – but Bridge reckons athletes can find common ground when it comes to re-fuelling.
It helps that Hudson knows basketball well, partly though his wife Siobhan who plays the sport herself.
“We’ve not done anything on the training side but obviously there are differences between the two sports,” he said.
“We need to stay lean while their game is all about power but a lot of the eating plans are the same. It’s about when you need to eat, what you need to eat and basically how you approach diet as a concept.
“It has been a big help and I can’t thank James enough for taking the time to help me out.”
After making a fine start to the season the Eagles hope to march on in the BBL Cup on Friday, a competition that the Eagles have not won for six years.
They are in top form at the moment and defeat of ML Lions last Friday night took the Eagles to 4-0 for the league season – one win from their best ever start to a BBL campaign.
The Cup game brings a welcome distraction but Bridge knows that the next couple of weeks will be difficult with injuries starting to mount up. Paul Gause will be missing again on Friday but the mentality of the new-look Eagles seems to help them dig out victories even when the odds are stacked against them.
“The win on Friday was a big one for us,” Bridge said.
“It wasn’t really our preferred style of basketball but the way we’ve been with injuries, a win is a win.”
