Underage Coaching

[Faugheen]

Indiana,the problem is that the rules of the go games are laid down by the county GDA before the blitz's start, one hop one solo, nearest player takes the free etc, there is no facility where by you can ensure that every player gets a touch of the ball. This is what i have the biggest problem with.

[INDIANA]

Indiana,the problem is that the rules of the go games are laid down by the county GDA before the blitz's start, one hop one solo, nearest player takes the free etc, there is no facility where by you can ensure that every player gets a touch of the ball. This is what i have the biggest problem with.

On that basis I'd agree with your initial post. We usually agree the rules ourselves before-hand between the two clubs.

[illdecide]

Big time, he's way to young to be worrying about involvement. As BC1 says throw him a ball and let him tear on himself, he may not look at the ball but let him run about. The problem with this is parents see other kids so well developed compared to their own kids and then sh1t themselves when they compare them to their own kids. Every child is different and some just pick it up so quick and others take a bit of time to adjust.

My we boy is 6 coming 7 and he's only starting to show an interest now and i'm down in the club 5 nights a week either coaching/training, committee meetings or looking after our pitch. but I never forced him down and let him make his own mind up now he's looking to come down every night im there...lol

[brokencrossbar1]

Big time, he's way to young to be worrying about involvement. As BC1 says throw him a ball and let him tear on himself, he may not look at the ball but let him run about. The problem with this is parents see other kids so well developed compared to their own kids and then sh1t themselves when they compare them to their own kids. Every child is different and some just pick it up so quick and others take a bit of time to adjust.

My we boy is 6 coming 7 and he's only starting to show an interest now and i'm down in the club 5 nights a week either coaching/training, committee meetings or looking after our pitch. but I never forced him down and let him make his own mind up now he's looking to come down every night im there...lol

Well I was thinking more along the lines of making daisy chains but yeah I agree with you as well!!!!

[illdecide]

Lol...Jasus and there's me thinking you men from Cross didn't do that sort of thing, I thought it was only Lurgan wans who made daisy chains

[johnneycool]

I was wondering what coaches thoughts are on playing outside club blitzes at u6 & u8. I wouldn't be in favour of it because; 1.I don't believe in asking children that are only learning the skills of the game to perform them under pressure. 2; You are asking them to play a game that they have no concept of (Positions etc). 3. Most of them might not get a kick of the ball for the duration of the game. I think that at this level only the more advanced players on the team will thrive while the rest will be turned off playing. I think fun games and internal conditioned games would be of more benefit to them. Any thoughts ??.

Not a fan of a load of them, but a few games every year is fine. Most of the kids really enjoy them, just make sure you play with the correct equipment, small sided games and emphasise fun.

yeah, small sided games is the way to go with the P2's and even P4's. 5 a side or whatever and let them at it, they'll all get a go at it at some point or another. We'd a wee lad, a bit indifferent to hurling, dad brought him along, then he managed to score a goal and the lights went on so to speak, it was all he could talk about and was keen as mustard thereafter.

It takes time and patience and even then its not for everybody no matter how hard you try, and you may even be trying too hard.

[BenDover]

Organised our 1st match yesterday, setup 3 pitches 21-45m and each pitch had 3 zones for DF, MF and F. The teams were 6 a side which worked very well and another thing I have started with our kids is to count out loud 1-2-3-4 and then they must pass the ball on, both sets of kids picked this up no bother and everyone got on the ball plenty of times. Great mornings craic and good too see the coaching tips being put into practice.

[manfromdelmonte]

It's great to see them doing stuff in matches that you practiced or encouraged at training.

[omagh_gael]

Quick question here regarding hurling skills. My eldest lad (5 years old in March past) loves football and hurling. He goes down to the local football club for coaching twice a week but we don't have time to send him to a neighbouring hurling club (their training sessions tend to clash most of the time as well).

I have zero experience playing hurling or even witnessing hurling coaching (u-6 level). My wee lad can (using a soft training ball):

- Throw up and strike using two hands and score points over a six foot set of nets from approx 25 feet from goal. He'd usually score on one out of four attempts.

- Pull ground strokes with pretty good coordination

- Can catch (one handed) the odd time if I throw to him from 6 ft away

- He struggles with the roll back and pick up (probably the wrong terminology!)

Basically what I am looking, from those more informed than myself, is what sort of skills would be taught at that level and what could I be doing out in the garden to help him along in case he wanted to devote more time to the small ball game when he gets older. I don't want to be 'teaching' him skills that would ordinarily be too far advanced for an under 6 player in case it'd put him off.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[AZOffaly]

Firstly, fair play to you. I wish we had more parents that would devote a half an hour to play with their kids and help them. At 6, it should be all about fun and basics. Don't try and do too much, and don't over think it. I wouldn't be emphasising the strike from the hand or anything like that, but if he likes doing it, then fair enough.

A couple of things you could do.

The Grip, make sure he is holding the hurl correctly, ready position, dominant hand on top, locking the hands together to strike the ball.
Ground Stroke, try get him to strike off both sides, and get him to really drive the ball, no tippy tappy stuff. Whip it.
The strike itself, he should be bending both arms, and cocking the wrists at the top of the swing. Watch for straight arms, golf style. Also watch his feet, they should be apart, and striding into the ball. His balance will be affected if the foot nearest the ball is not close to it.

After that it's just play. Let him see how far he can hit it, can he score goals on you, how many pucks to hit it the length of the garden etc. If you have an old tyre, let him pretend that is a ball, and swing on it as hard as he can, and watch for things like the balance, and the grip and swing.

You can do other stuff, but make sure the basics are in order and it'll get very easy for him. The GAA Learning Portal has good little games and exercises for most of this stuff, but really I'd say keep it simple, and just play. If he enjoys hitting the ball and beating his daddy in goals, he'll be well on the way.

This link will get you started.

http://learning.gaa.ie/Hurling_StrikeontheGround

[omagh_gael]

That's mighty stuff, AZ. Will tip away at that over the coming months. Although on Ulster final day he's in football mode all the way. So that means I better get back to teaching him the aul cynical fouling and sledging

[Smokin Joe]

What's the best drill / training technique for youngsters in getting them to recognise the importance of space in gaelic football?

It's instinctive to them to all crowd around the ball and then even when they pass they tend to admire their work and think that's their task done.  Of course you want them to move into free space to try to be an option to receive the ball again.  That's the theory, and was wondering what work in practice for anyone here?

[muppet]

What's the best drill / training technique for youngsters in getting them to recognise the importance of space in gaelic football?

It's instinctive to them to all crowd around the ball and then even when they pass they tend to admire their work and think that's their task done.  Of course you want them to move into free space to try to be an option to receive the ball again.  That's the theory, and was wondering what work in practice for anyone here?

I'd be interested in answers to this as well.

We are trying small games (4 or 5 aside), handpass only for passing, no shooting until your team has 3/4/5 passes. The good ones instinctively move away into space, when their team gets the ball (as long as the one with the ball is a competent passer). Others can be told and get it after a while. Some lads though.........

[Smokin Joe]

What's the best drill / training technique for youngsters in getting them to recognise the importance of space in gaelic football?

It's instinctive to them to all crowd around the ball and then even when they pass they tend to admire their work and think that's their task done.  Of course you want them to move into free space to try to be an option to receive the ball again.  That's the theory, and was wondering what work in practice for anyone here?

I'd be interested in answers to this as well.

We are trying small games (4 or 5 aside), handpass only for passing, no shooting until your team has 3/4/5 passes. The good ones instinctively move away into space, when their team gets the ball (as long as the one with the ball is a competent passer). Others can be told and get it after a while. Some lads though.........

Yeah, the weaker ones end up getting bottled up as they don't currently have what it takes to scan the options and make a pass before two or three of the opposition have hands round the ball; which is what they are supposed to do.
At U10 level even 3 or 4 aside can see that there is no room to get much out of the drill.  Hence this question

[Zulu]

I play games with 4 goals (but the goals are 6 pointy cones that have to knocked over with the ball rather than actual goals) in each corner and teams are allowed to score into all four goals but not into the same goal twice in a row. Players are not allowed to move with the ball so no steps, hops or solos. Depending on age group I progress from throwing the ball to hand passing and kicking. I start with no tackling only blocking or intercepting. As the player with the ball can't move his/her teammates must do so and as you have to knock cones over you have to get pretty close to score. Therefore players have to pass and move to be successful. If the kids are not getting it or some of them aren't I play the game with just me and one player to demonstrate. I start by getting him to pass the ball to me in the middle and then asking the kids what he should do if we want to score. They say move and I ask where and they'll usually say close to the goals. He does that and we score and then I ask what I should do and they (usually) tell me to move towards another goal as we can't score into the same goal twice. I give bonus points if a team scores into all four goals as this encourages them to move the ball to all four corners. I suggest playing this 4 v 1 to start or even without defenders but against the clock to see how many are passing and moving towards the next goal.