TRAINING DEMANDS OF GAELIC FOOTBALL

By Mick McGurn – writing exclusively for Gaelic Star

Armagh’s physical conditioning coach considers the need for a specific approach to getting players fit to play.

With a lot of team now in their pre-season (preparation) phase, one of the questions frequently asked by coaches and trainers is, ‘are we training to suit the demands of the game?’

The buzz words doing the rounds in sport at the minute are ‘sport specific’, and even more intricate the term ‘position specific’.

If we are to adhere to these ideas, and train according to these theories, then we need to analyse what happens in our game.
Gaelic football is a contact/collision sport (measured by G forces), with high intermittent bouts of speed (measured in km/h), skill, strength and stamina (measured in metres by distance covered per game).
Reciprocally there are also spells during the game where a player may be inactive and do no more than talk nicely to his opposite number.
So basically we run hard, we tackle hard, we catch and pass and ultimately we shoot. Simple, but is it really? Or is it a sport made complicated by coaches and trainers!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike worked in sport specific sessions with the Irish Rugby Team.

With the introduction of GPS into gaelic games over the last few seasons we are finding out more and more about the physical needs required of players to perform at the highest level.
Teams who play a high octane, fast paced, intense brand of football, such as Kildare, Tyrone and Cork cover the greatest distance over the course of a game.

On average, the following distances are covered in a senior county championship game;
Full Backs – 7,000- 7,500 metres
Half Backs – 8,500-9,500 metres
Midfield – 9,000-10,000 metres
Half Forwards – 8,000-9,000 metres
Full Forwards – 6,000-7,000 metres

Admittedly these figures are at the higher end of the scale, and a lot will depend on the philosophy and game plan employed by coaches and managers.

As coaches we are forced to consider the question – ‘does our training mimic these distances (are we sport and position specific) and secondly does it need to?’

I’ll answer the second question for you. No we don’t need to cover the above distances, because at a closer inspection, a lot of the ground covered in the course of a game is at low intensity, ie walking and slow jogging (the Americans refer to this as garbage yardage!). If we attempted to cover up to 10,000 metres at every training session we would have more players in the physio room with overuse, and hence long term injuries (LTI’s), and no players able to play.

A study by Macintyre et al (2005) indicates that Gaelic footballers are required to have very high speed endurance levels. He found that 43% of match play in Gaelic football was spent in high intensity activity, adding further support to the importance of a high anaerobic capacity for these athletes. Strudwick et al (2002) felt that more emphasis should be placed on explosive strength and speed development when physically preparing Gaelic footballers.

This is reinforced when we re-visit the distances covered in a senior inter county championship match. Although figures of 7,000 – 10,000 metres covered per game may seem impressive, in reality only 2,500 – 4,500 metres are of any real quality. This should automatically indicate that this is a more appropriate training volume to cover in our preparation.

This is supported by Strudwick et al (2002), who stated that Gaelic football “places varying demands on the aerobic system with intermittent emphasis on anaerobic metabolism”.

Players from Kildare play a fast paced high octane game and as a result cover more ground.

As I mentioned earlier, Gaelic football is also a contact/collision sport. During the 2000/2001 season when I first started using GPS with St Helens Rugby League Club, we were fortunate enough to win the Challenge Cup Final, Super League Grand Final, and The World Club Championship.
I discovered that the amount of G force in a tackle for most of our players would amount to 12.5-13.5 G’s. It is only when we started replicating that intensity and amount of force in our training schedule, that we increased our success whilst playing.

In Gaelic football the G force in most of our tackles can amount from anything from 7 right up to 11.5 G’s, which is very impressive for amateur athletes. It would therefore make sense to incorporate short small bouts of this intensity into our training plan.
It is an excellent idea for a team to play high intensity matches as part of their training, as demonstrated by Tyrone. By doing this they have covered this important aspect of the training plan (job done!)

The final aspect of training I will address is speed in Gaelic football. Some of our top Gaelic Footballers can reach top speeds of 28-33 km/h. This again is a very impressive figure when you consider that the world’s top sprinters are recording 36-38 km/h.
If you break down the speed component during an actual game, it predominantly consists of short 0-5 – 0-10 metre sprints. Roughly around 60-70% of top end speed during the game will encompass these distances. The other 30-40% of top end speed covers the 10-25, and 25+ metres distances. Again common sense should indicate that we should be working on short, sharp, explosive sprints.

Usain Bolt wears the colours of Kerry. If only he could toe tap!

A lot of footballers speed requirements may take place in training matches.
When I worked with the Irish Rugby Team, I analysed our backs during set play session.
I discovered they covered 10-12 sprints in the course of their session at full speed. Through liaising with the coach and requesting that they received full recovery in between their reps I ensured that my speed session was covered within a sport specific rugby session (ball in hand, full pace with evasion and acceleration). It was also position specific.
So rather than risk overloading your players with too much speed and hence injury, it may be advisable to see what the players actually do in practice matches and small sided games. If you feel their speed requirements are covered in these sessions, then it’s two for the price of one.

References

McIntyre, M.C. A comparison of the physiological profiles of elite Gaelic footballers, hurlers, and soccer players. British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2005, 39:437-439.

Strudwick, A., Reilly, T. and Doran, D. Anthropometric and fitness profiles of elite players in two football codes. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. 2002, 42(2):239-242.