The most luxurious and beneficial sports training camps in the world

The world of professional sport is big business these days and that means that the owners, administrators, and governing bodies have to look after their athletes better than ever before. This often means sending them around the world in order to recharge or prepare. Indeed, gone are the days where the England rugby team would head off on the bus to a drizzly and damp Bournemouth beach for some ‘warm weather training’. Nowadays and with the advent of globalization, there is no excuse for not taking advantage of the most conducive climates or training facilities around the globe.

In fact, if we were to see how far the England rugby union side has come in recent times, you’ll find that Eddie Jones’ men actually jet off to a place called Tenerife Top Training. Situated in the Atlantic and off the coast of North Africa, Tenerife provides year-round sunshine which makes it a prime location for rugby players leading up to the Six Nations in the depths of the European winter.

The warmer environment and five-star accommodation help players recover quicker from injuries that they picked up before flying out. You can imagine the healing powers of a Tenerife beach are a lot greater than that of a dark and freezing rugby pitch in County Durham. In any case, it always seems to work for England, and their 2021 Six Nations betting odds suggest as much with the team at odds of 9/4 to win the competition.

In fact, Eddie Jones’ men have won three of the last five Six Nations tournaments so they are on to a winning formula with the training camps in Tenerife.

Then again, sometimes, teams opt for colder environments to prepare instead. In 2012, the South African cricket team chose to go to Switzerland before taking on England in the United Kingdom. World-renowned explorer Mike Horn was their guide for the week as the Proteas walked among glaciers and cycled through dense Swiss forest in order to build better team morale.

Whilst this team-building exercise was going on, the English tabloids accused the South Africans of shortchanging the British public by not playing any warm-up games and instead opting for a holistic approach in the Swiss mountains.

As it turns out, finding tranquility and inner peace was enough for the South Africans as they arrived on English shores a week later and beat England to become the number one team in the world.

Alternatively, there are times when athletes don’t need to leave home in order to get into the best physical and mental shape. Indeed, before Usain Bolt retired in 2017, he would spend his time on home soil preparing for an event. Training in Jamaica as the tropical trade winds of the Caribbean blew over the local sports field was the best preparation for Bolt who would go on to win eight Olympic gold medals. 

There are many ways to skin a cat and teams, as well as individuals, just need to find out what works best for them. The secret is out though: not taking advantage of the most idyllic settings in the world will stunt performances.