By Patrick Morrison WHENEVER I was younger, Sherry’s Field in the heart of Armagh City was our playground. A very large field, it included five full tennis courts, a soccer pitch, a playground as well as some fringe areas for building tree huts and the like. No matter what the weather was like, most of […]
HAVING watched the unbelievably exciting hurling finals on Sunday, it’s hard not to be envious of the speed and incisive transitions in those games. This is in stark contrast to the football that is currently on show. As we enter the summer months, we are beginning to see that Gaelic football is becoming more defensive […]
By John McMahon WITHOUT doubt, the most popular topic area I have during Strength & Conditioning workshops I deliver to clubs is – What is the best way to condition our players? A few articles back I discussed how to structure your training week and monitor and manage your training loads with your teams. This […]
By Steven Poacher ONLY a few weeks ago, big news emerged from Croke Park that the GAA is taking out the competitive element out of games and blitzes for hurling and football for u-12, in a bid to make the sport more inclusive, forgiving and ultimately more focused on participation and enjoyment. There has been […]
By Patrick Morrison OVER the past few weekends, we have seen some excellent exhibitions of goalkeeping in numerous matches. Colm Reape (Mayo), Shaun Patton (Donegal), Niall Kane (Down), Shane Ryan (Kerry), Odhrán Lynch (Derry) and probably the best and most all-round performance from Tyrone’s Niall Morgan against Armagh in Omagh. All of the goalkeeping skills […]
By Patrick Morrison WHENEVER I am coaching goalkeepers around the country, there are six main goalkeeping areas that I will coach them in. These six areas are, in my opinion, the main areas involved within the goalkeeping position and incorporate every possibility that a goalkeeper may face during competitive games. My six goalkeeping areas are […]
By Patrick Morrison IN the 1968 Olympics Games in Mexico City, the final of the men’s high jump event took place on Sunday 20th October. As the athletes competed and vied for their ultimate Olympic goal by the end of the event only three competitors remained. Valertin Gavrilov of the Soviet Union, Ed Caruthers from […]
THE goal of training in general should be to do as much as possible, as often as possible and keep improving. Unfortunately, the reality of training is not so simple. While training does trigger positive adaptations and benefits performance in the long-term, this comes at the price of the breakdown of the body and impaired […]
By Patrick Morrison A GOALKEEPER, like any other player in Gaelic sports, has three main areas that contribute to their on-field performance. These three areas are all interlinked and have a constant bearing on how the other areas function at all times. It is also important to understand that these three areas are all influenced […]
IN sports, the concept of winning and losing is central to the game. However, focusing solely on winning can lead to short-term thinking and a lack of sustainability. Instead, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we were all able (coaches especially) to adopt an “infinite game” mindset, where the goal is not to win but to […]
