Gaelic Football, the Real Beautiful Game

Gaelic Football, the Real Beautiful Game

By Des Shaw

31/03/14

As long as I can remember I have known the game of soccer to be called 'The Beautiful Game'. The phrase’s origins are disputed but it has been attributed to Brazilian footballer Waldyr Pereira (Didi) and the presenter Stuart Hall claimed to have coined it in 1958. In its current manifestation; with all the billion dollar sugar daddy owners, superstar egos with bank accounts to match, the mercenary ethos of most of the players and the constant diving & feigning injury, I’m finding it hard to see the beauty in this game. I conducted a coach education course recently with some Dutch physical education (PE) teachers who were visiting this fair isle and found myself coming away from it having somewhat of an epiphany; that our own Gaelic games are more special than I had ever realised before.

Some background about this visit; it was part of a European GAA initiative, who have the arduous task of developing our Gaelic games in schools and cities all around Europe. Currently there are over 360 international Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) affiliated clubs worldwide, 51 across Europe and 5 in the Netherlands alone. So my new Dutch friends travelled from the city of Almere located to the east of Amsterdam to pay us a visit and learn about the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and Gaelic football. A total of 7 PE teachers from the Helen Parkhurst School in Almere made the trip. It became clear from speaking to them, that their school system operates differently to ours here in Ireland. They are a public school but they pay special attention to science education, information and communication technology (ICT), culture and society, sport and environmental education. While there is an overall curriculum, there is a major focus placed upon on these particular areas. An example of this is the way their aspiring elite athletes who attend benefit from special education, where they are provided the opportunity to develop their athletic endeavours with more focus by having tailored learning schedules and by being given special exemptions. Our Dutch guests were given a guided tour of Croke Park and then I had the great privilege of presenting a coaching seminar on Gaelic Football, on behalf of the Leinster Council.

My job for the day was to educate these Dutch teachers in the subject of Gaelic football, an introduction to the game so to speak. The main aim was to give them an overview of the game and highlight the basic rules and skills involved. I also intended to provide them with some ideas of drills and games that they could bring back to their schools and use in their PE classes. I decided to use a brief presentation with some group work followed by a practical element introducing the skills, rules and games to the group. After a brief introduction I set the group a little task of introducing themselves, naming their sporting background and highlighting the key components that encapsulated their particular sport. So an example I gave them was golf which requires: eye/hand coordination, balance, core strength, power, touch, reading, timing, flexibility, visualisation and mental toughness (I probably left out some but this was only an exercise). This is where the session became interesting for me and, I hope, for them too. In the room we had some diverse sporting backgrounds, which included swimming, soccer, volleyball, basketball and judo. The group described their particular sports in detail, all of which are great sports in their own right. Though the skills and physical demands required for playing their particular sports often overlapped, there were also unique and interesting components to each of them. To follow on from this exercise and as part of the presentation I used a Youtube™ clip of Gaelic football which provided a reasonable summation of the game.

Side note: I wish the GAA would put together a professionally developed summation of our games which highlights the key skills and rules for people who may never have seen our games before. The video I used although it certainly got the message across, at times was lacking in visual quality and it would certainly have been nice to have HD quality footage to convey our games in the best light.

Upon viewing this video clip the look on their faces was first one of confusion which then turned into amazement. What followed was a barrage of questions which I can only describe as similar to the shelling the allies received at the Siege of Bastogne, they were coming thick and fast and from every direction. It was around this time that I started to break down the basic rules and skills. Through the process of highlighting the skills and rules to my Dutch guests, I tried to relate as many of them back to some other sport that they were familiar with as possible. This is where my epiphany occurred. I came to the realisation that Gaelic football is so multi faceted and is a combination of the greater elements that encapsulate so many other sports. When describing the handpass our volleyball coach in attendance described it as a serve, when describing the catch or bounce it was evident to us all of the basketball skills required to play Gaelic football. This occurred time and time again when explaining the skills/ rules and I began to realise, as did the Dutch teachers, how special and complex our game actually is. The more I thought about the components of Gaelic football, both the skills and physical demands that are required to play it, the more I started to see the limitations of the others sports that I enjoy watching or playing myself. Take for instance soccer which in my opening is described as ‘The Beautiful Game’ which, when you break it down, really does require a lot of skill to play. However one the Dutch teachers made a very significant point, soccer completely lacks the hand/eye coordination of Gaelic football. This was more and more evident when we looked at other popular sports and if you think deeply about it, there are very few sports that feature as many skills to master as Gaelic football. In my opinion the only game that offers as much (and more) is another of our national games hurling, which requires all the same components of Gaelic football but involves significantly more hand/eye coordination with the introduction of a bat/hockey style stick (hurl) and smaller sized ball (sliotar). I know I am completely biased when it comes to this topic but I challenge anyone to suggest another sport that offers more in terms of physical demands and skills required to play.

To finish our day together I went through some practical work developing skills, drills and games in which my Dutch guests were the participants. This gave them a further understanding and appreciation for our game. Performing each skill individually proved relatively easy for them but when I introduced more skills/ rules to each game, it was evident that there was a demand for increased concentration levels to perform these skills and adhere to the rules. We then discussed at length the different types of games and drills that could be used and in this discussion I made a very important point that using Gaelic football in their PE classes would benefit their pupils greatly by developing skills and movements that maybe alien to them and their preferred sports. In the broader picture of Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD), diversifying and playing multiple sports early will encourage the development of a more complete physical literacy of their athletes. I have found in my coaching observations that players, who have played basketball, can develop better ball handling, tackling skills and incredible spin (pivot) moves that transfer so effortlessly and naturally on to the Gaelic football field. The players who never play basketball can struggle to develop these skills and perhaps in some cases never will. The same principle can be applied to Gaelic football, that it will offer other movements and skills that will help the overall development of any athlete regardless of their particular sports. This is a principle I always endorse and try to pass on to fellow coaches and aspiring athletes.

In conclusion found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable day; the merging of cultures provoked a deeper understanding of our sports in both my Dutch guests and I. It’s a strange feeling but I believe I have gained more from that coach education session than the actual participants. I have to admit I have been one of those critics in the past who have damned Gaelic football in its recent manifestations, with the blanket defences and the over emphasis and reliance on fitness levels. However this experience has unearthed for me a greater love, appreciation and understanding of Gaelic football, it truly is a special game and one which I feel we as coaches, players and supporters are not nearly proud enough of. Its complexity, physical demands and skill levels are unparalleled with the exception of our sister game hurling. My wish is that anyone reading this will also come to this realisation and develop a new appreciation and love for our game. Gaelic football is ‘The Real Beautiful Game.’

Until next time.

Do everything better!

Des.

10 Things All Modern Athletes Should Own

10 Things All Modern Athletes Should Own

By Des Shaw

15/02/14

Sport, like most things around us is constantly evolving. The demands and expectations placed upon athletes now are higher than ever. Acquiring that vital edge or optimum performance is a never ending journey athletes must navigate. Athletes spend their careers trying to obtain that edge, generally looking to coaches, fitness specialists, and psychologists etc. to help them acquire it. They use mediums such as strength and conditioning, nutrition, skill acquisition, video analysis; the list goes on and on….

Thinking about the countless athletes out there striving for that elusive edge, I decided to devise a list of tools that I feel every serious athlete should own which will help them to stay ahead of the average and to at least compete with elite competitors. I have made use of these items during my own career and cannot recommend them strongly enough.

Foam Roller

Foam rollers are cylindrical, dense foam products used by athletes to perform Self Myofasical Release (SMR). SMR is basically self massage, a process where athletes roll particular muscle groups along or over the foam roller, in order to find areas of adverse tightness or soreness. Once this area is identified, a short period of direct pressure or bodyweight is placed upon it to release some of the tightness. It must be noted that this will not reduce all soreness or remove all tightness and must be accompanied by adequate mobility and flexibility work.

Other tools used for SMR are sliotars, hockey balls or other hard balls for the difficult areas that the foam roller can’t reach such as the psoas, pectoral or deep gluteal muscles. These are great for releasing tightness from problem areas which most athletes don’t even know are tight and restricted.

Resistance Bands/ Thera Bands
These are very versatile tools and ones I definitely recommend to have in your kit bag at all times. Resistance bands come in a variety of resistance strengths from very light (8-35lb) to heavy (80-180lb) and Thera bands which are much lighter in resistance. Resistance and Thera bands have a wide range of uses, too many to list here completely. I have listed some of my favourite uses below:

1.     Warming Up. Bands can be used to perform a range of exercises with light resistance to engage and activate the muscle groups required. Examples below – band pull aparts (Shoulder and Back) and band walks (Glute Activation)

2.     Increasing/ decreasing resistance in the different ranges of contraction (eccentric & concentric) while performing an exercise. Examples below – pull ups (big help for beginners or weak athletes) and bench press (adding more resistance in the concentric phase of the lift)

Dumbbells

Owning a good set of adjustable dumbbells is, in my opinion, a must for all athletes. I have an adjustable set, along with some extra weight plates and I can perform a full workout at home even when I can’t make it to the gym or to training. A spacious, clean and well equipped gym is great but not essential to get a good workout completed. A lot of my workouts can be done in the comfort of my own home. Basic dumbbells can facilitate a full body workout when you use compound exercises (exercises which involve more than one joint or muscle group) and dumbbell complexes (series of exercises flowing one after the other).

Here’s a good video by Mike Boyle talking about dumbbell complexes.

I also like dumbbells because they can allow even experienced athletes the possibility to work on improving lifting techniques away from the gym environment with lighter loads. Using dumbbells also offers a great opportunity to try correcting subtle imbalances in an athlete’s composition.  For instance whilst performing a bench press exercise, using dumbbells allows for both arms to be strengthened evenly which is beneficial for athletes who have a favoured side in sports such as tennis, hurling etc. and may have developed slight imbalances in their musculature.

Diary

A diary is great way for any player or athlete to monitor a multitude of different performance related elements on a daily basis. It can be used to record their;

1.     Training Schedule and Training Loads

2.     Dietary and Fluid Intakes

3.     General Mood

4.     Heart Rate

5.     Reflections on Performances

6.     Goals and Training Targets

By recording these elements you are providing vital information for self reflection. Perusing these records can indicate areas that may need improvement or adjustment. Nutritional improvements are commonly made upon reflection of a food diary but monitoring your training load, mood and heart rate you can also determine when you are overtraining. Without going into too much detail, a high resting heart rate in the morning plus lack of appetite for training can be simple indicators of overtraining. If this was the case the training load may need to be reduced or altered and more rest & recovery time may need to be introduced. This is a simple example of what keeping a diary can provide.

If given to a fitness specialist or strength and conditioning coach it can alleviate their jobs significantly. It will provide them the specific information which they can utilise to manage and alter the athletes training load with more certainty.

Heart Rate Monitor

As mentioned above the heart rate manager is a great tool for any athlete to monitor themselves throughout the season. All players should check their resting heart rates every morning in order to see if there is any irregularities. The resting heart rate of the body (RHR) is the number of contractions of the heart that occur in a single minute while the body is at complete rest. RHR are dependent on many factors age, health, physical activity etc. but whatever the baseline number is, a significantly elevation of this figure can indicate overtraining is occurring. Athletes need to be aware of this as overtraining is a major risk factor for potential injury.

Heart rate monitors can also be used to ensure the required training intensity is being achieved and will help you from overtraining but also from undertraining. They can be used to ensure you are in the appropriate training zone or intensity. By estimating your max heart rate (MHR) you can use this figure to train at different training zones or percentages of your MHR. A simple estimated calculation for your MHR is 220-AGE (for men) and 226-AGE (for women). Mine for example is 220-29 = 191 MHR. However as this is only an approximate reading it is not precise for all individuals, but it can be used as a general training indicator for intensity levels. There are many other methods for monitoring training, such as GPS, blood and lactate testing but this is a cheap and cost effective method for personal use outside of organised training.

Clean Eating Cookbook

Nutrition is a key aspect of the pursuit for improved performance and we’ve all heard the saying ‘Garbage in, garbage out.’ So an athlete’s nutritional intake is so important to achieve optimum performance. There are many ideas, methods on what to eat and when to eat that I could write a whole article on it but to keep it short I believe in clean eating or a healthy whole foods diet. This means no processed or packaged foods just natural earth grown nutrients and wild caught or grass fed animal produce. This is a lifestyle more than a diet but as I found out at first, it’s one that can be hard to adhere to because my meals tended to be so bland and plain. This is why I recommend that every athlete purchase a good quality clean eating recipe book to give them options and directions on how to make their meals tasty but at the same time clean and healthy. My favourite to use is one by Mike Dolce, called ‘TheLiving Lean Cookbook’ as it contains lots of options and great recipes to try. I would suggest checking online where there are plenty of excellent websites providing advice and recipes for free. These can provide a good starting place for improving your diet.

Blender

A good quality blender is a great investment for any household but an even better one for an athlete. I use mine quite regularly make many of my recipes, like homemade pesto, clean eating ice cream etc., but I use it mostly for making smoothies and shakes.

Smoothies and shakes are great way to pack a lot of macronutrients into one meal and more importantly into your body. Some people have issues with; consuming solid foods immediately after training, eating certain types of foods in particular vegetables or haven’t the time to prepare cooked meals. Side note, I had issues eating vegetables in my teens mainly because I didn’t like the look or taste, now I’m packing the blender with them and creating great macronutrient dense smoothies and shakes to eat. So if you’re like me then give blending a try. There are many great sites online with countless recipes to try. One of my favourites is Jason Vale’s website, I was so impressed that I even bought one of his recipe books.

Protein Shaker & Water Bottle

These are definitely a must for all athletes to own. Having a protein shaker packed with either a smoothie or workout shake in your training bag is a great way for making sure that you have an easy and convenient source of macronutrients for before during and after your workout. Preparing cooked meals for demanding training schedules or work schedules can be quite hard and the nutrition demands of an athlete can be neglected because of this reason. I find that using smoothies or workout shakes are often the best and most cost effective solutions to this problem. I use mine all the time, in particular post workout and also whilst attending college, when I had very few healthy options on offer in the college canteen. It made sense to blend the night before and consume my shake throughout the college day along with other snacks too.

A personal measured water bottle is crucial for every athlete to own and in my opinion an item they should have in their possession at all times. Too many athletes do not consume sufficient amounts of water to match their training loads and often are dehydrated while training. Dehydration has major impact on performance and for athletes seeking that elusive edge, maintaining proper hydration levels throughout the day could be a step in the right direction towards optimum performance. I used to carry a two litre bottle with me throughout the day and I would generally try to drink at least 6 litres each day. Couple of tips that I found helped me achieve this were:

1.      Fill the bottle at night and leave it on your bedside locker. It must be the first thing you reach for, not the light switch, not the phone or laptop. A great habit to get into and immediately starts your hydration process.

2.     Drink your bottle (mine was 2litre) until empty and then refill. This way you can monitor the exact amount you have consumed during the day and record it in your diary.

Tupperware
If you like to cook, have time to prepare your meals or get meals prepared for you (by mammy!) then storing them in Tupperware is perfect for the busy athletes that are on the go. Carrying your own prepared meals with you eradicates this issue of not making healthy nutritional choices because there was no other option than eating out or going to McDonalds. You can prepare and section your meals or snacks into different Tupperware for different periods of the day and bring them with you anywhere. I used them all the time whilst attending college or at long coaching conferences. This way I can ensure that I am always eating a clean, healthy and properly prepared meal and I can monitor my portions and the content of my meals. It will takes a little more effort particularly if you are preparing the meals but again when striving for that ultimate goal, you have to start making sacrifices, dedicating more time and doing things differently in order to achieve them.

So this is a rough breakdown of the costs of each item approximately.

                                                                   €

Foam Roller                                                20                                  

Resistance Band                                         10-20

Dumbbells                                                  30-40

Heart Rate Monitor                                     50

Clean Eating Recipe Book                           20

Diary                                                          05

Blender                                                       50

Tupperware                                                10

Protein Shaker                                            05

Waterbottle                                                 01

Total                                                          221

I would advise you to shop around, you can get better prices but I don’t think that around €200 is too much to pay if you’re chasing a dream or a goal. Also ask around you’d be surprised who has some of these item lying idle and only happy for you to take them off their hands. 

So there you have my list of things all athletes should own and there is probably some other items that could be added but these are the few I think are most important. If you can think of any others or disagree drop me a comment here.

Do Everthing Better.

Des Shaw