WHENEVER I am coaching, one of the most common questions I am asked is ‘what is the most important aspect of being a goalkeeper?’ My answer is always the same. There is no one aspect that is more significant than any other as mastery of the position needs a competent level of ability in all goalkeeping […]
THE pancakes will have been ate, the forehead crossed and the Lenten period kicked off. Now I’ll hold my hands up and say I’m not the most religious of folk, wouldn’t be a great attendee of mass and truth be told it’s not something that’s really on my radar currently. But, and there’s always a […]
CONSIDERING the time of year with third level competitions near completion, player welfare or burnout is to the forefront of much discussion. It’s interesting at inter county level we have some players who in January and February, will have their most congested games schedule. In contrast we have other panel players who were in pre-season […]
EVERYWHERE I go whenever I am coaching goalkeepers; I am always asked about what gloves I think are the best to use. What is the best make, the best cut or what is the best fit. In reality there is no perfect pair of gloves that is best for everyone. Just like every goalkeeper is different, […]
WE got a letter home in my little man’s school bag last Friday telling us that it would be mental health awareness this week coming in. That coincidentally synced up with a guest speaker on my podcast – ‘Are You Well?’ – who is a full-time councillor and currently doing a master in Wellness on […]
WHEN asked by Gaelic Life’s Michael McMullan what he learnt from last year’s National League, Rory Gallagher replied “I learnt that we weren’t prepared enough for it. We weren’t focused well enough and we weren’t hungry enough.” A normal, standard response from a GAA manager – preparation, focus, hunger. For the first two (preparation and […]
By Patrick Morrison PART two of the levelled progression series, following on from last week’s opening. Level 5 – PERFORM THE SKILLS VERY WELL, AT SPEED, UNDER FATIGUE, UNDER PRESSURE, CONSISTENTLY [17-21yrs] This level is seen as a transitional level as the goalkeeper moves through both minor and u-21 grades where there is more emphasis […]
“A LEADER is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves.” Lao Tzu. Something I’ve been doing more of this year is working directly with businesses on their staff wellness. Going out and delivering workshops on a range of topics to […]
CAN you ever be too perfect? No is probably the automatic answer, but sometimes the pursuit of excellence in sport can lead to a futile road looking for the impossible – the perfect athlete or the perfect performance. The competitiveness of sport brings us to stressful situations like injuries, performance pressures, rows within the camp, rows […]
By Declan McCoy I WAS fortunate enough to have been in Croke Park last year to witness one of the best games of football in years when Armagh played Galway in the All-Ireland quarter final. The game was action-packed with quality, drama and, of course, controversy. One incident that I have spoken to a lot […]
