Antrim Football Thread

[marty34]

Marty 45, sorry for bawling you out a few weeks ago. We are definitely in head scratching mode now, thats for sure.

No offence taken BS.

Regarding PG1. A real good template to follow there. Been at a good few mtches there over the past few years. Great planning for future on and off the pitch.

I think coaching is important but 1 thing really annoys me is drills. Theamount of times I be at different matches and there's an underage training going on on the pitch beside the game.

But the amount of straight line drills does my head in. Maybe 10 young lads behind a cone waiting their turn and the 'coach' tells them to focus. If you leave kids 30 secs, they'll start messing about. They're kids.

Just play games is what I say. They're learning skills, playing the game and making decisions etc.

Let the play. F%&k the drills.

There's a happy medium.

If you play a game a weaker or less confident kid may touch the ball or be involved maybe half a dozen times at best whereas the more developed would be multiples of that and dominate the game which doesn't do them any favours in the longer term either.

Drills with kids are fine, if they're concise, not too complicated and they are involved more often than not.

Standing in a line for anything more than 30 seconds leads to bolloxology from them, so best to always have small groups of 3's and 4's but then you need more coaches to manage that.

My take is that JC is small sided game.

1 V 1
2 V 2
3 V 3.

They will get confidence and success there. Build it up gradually.

Not 15 V 15 at U10's - I mean small sided games but the only issue is how many coaches you have to spot and fix.

Play game i.e. working on a pick up off the ground. You don't need drills for that or standing in a long queue for 3 mins before you get 'a turn' at it. Play a 2 V 2 and get a point for everytime a player lift the ball off the ground correctly.

As I say, I hate drills. There's no learning in it for kids and especially adults. But that's just me. 

f**k! If ya can't do the basics then y'all learn nothing playing the game.

Drills need to replicate game play but hone in on the skills too, fielding the ball, quick dips, hand passing, left foot right foot, blocking the ball, it's getting rarer.

These are built into stations were they move into like circuits.

Break it up with backs and forwards, another round of stations different drills, backs and forwards reversed.

Finishing with shooting, build in pass and shoot variations, one on ones and practice hand passing the ball over the bar..

This facilitates the not standing around in lines, organising the stations based on numbers.

Getting them learning a style of play, smart frees, spatial awareness, support and running off the ball..

There are plenty to do and mix it up, bring in 'guest' trainers usually the country player in the club.

Start on the basics, if a player can master the basics and is a workhorse I'll have him all day over the 'star'

Oh and keepers need to do their own training on top of the training and free takers, that needs to be perfected from early on..

This might be new but how about....games replicating games? That's be a better option than drills.

I'm no Paul Kinnerk but it's hard to beat games. Any coach doing drills should have a word with him/herself.

[Milltown Row2]

Have you taken any tots or under 10's under 12's over the years? Maybe they are different gravy at your club but having been involved and seen a fair few championships over the years there is a a proven method to building skills, and while we all love plying the games, learning the basics and mastering them would be my priority.

At juvenile levels and I'm talking the youngsters in the games they wouldn't be getting that many touches of the ball as  its generally the 'big' lads of the teams that are on the ball mainly

Anyway, we'll agree to disagree on that one

[YoungSaff]

Interesting to see what antrim do to try contain Barry McNulty and his 2p efforts , if going off previous games where we have been very stand off we will be put to the sword

[belfastsaff]

if someone kicks 12 points in 30 minutes i think that would put him in the danger man category

[Cnoc Bán]

Have you taken any tots or under 10's under 12's over the years? Maybe they are different gravy at your club but having been involved and seen a fair few championships over the years there is a a proven method to building skills, and while we all love plying the games, learning the basics and mastering them would be my priority.

At juvenile levels and I'm talking the youngsters in the games they wouldn't be getting that many touches of the ball as  its generally the 'big' lads of the teams that are on the ball mainly

Anyway, we'll agree to disagree on that one

You are correct in my eyes.

Straight line drills are a thing of the past.

Modern drills can bring in game type situations anyway and as a coach myself, you have to recognise the different skill levels in your team and make sure, as you say, the stronger players don't dominate and the weaker players never get the ball.

There are a multitude of drills out there that keep the players focused and always involved so they aren't standing the back of a line getting bored.

And adding a bit of competitiveness into them helps.

It all depends on how much effort the coach wants to put into the session.

[YoungSaff]

Would he be Leitrim's danger man?

Yes , type his name into youtube or Twitter and you'll see his highlights from the weekend , he kicked 0-12 in 30 mins against London , won them the game essentially kicking off both feet from play. Could cause antrim real headache

[belfastsaff]

Would he be Leitrim's danger man?

Yes , type his name into youtube or Twitter and you'll see his highlights from the weekend , he kicked 0-12 in 30 mins against London , won them the game essentially kicking off both feet from play. Could cause antrim real headache

Found it on Twitter there, brilliant scores and he's still a young lad! I'd put James on him. In my opinion he's the best man marker we have.

you must not have watched the game against longford....

[NorthAntrimSaff]

Would he be Leitrim's danger man?

Yes , type his name into youtube or Twitter and you'll see his highlights from the weekend , he kicked 0-12 in 30 mins against London , won them the game essentially kicking off both feet from play. Could cause antrim real headache

Found it on Twitter there, brilliant scores and he's still a young lad! I'd put James on him. In my opinion he's the best man marker we have.

KK like him or not is without doubt our go to man marker

[belfastsaff]

no but i watched antrim vs longford and i seen enough from James to know he is not capable of marking barry mcnulty. Also watched him last year vs sarsfields and moneyglass and his marking qualities weren't up to scratch then.

Keenan our best man marker imo

[Dunsilly King]

Would he be Leitrim's danger man?

Yes , type his name into youtube or Twitter and you'll see his highlights from the weekend , he kicked 0-12 in 30 mins against London , won them the game essentially kicking off both feet from play. Could cause antrim real headache

Found it on Twitter there, brilliant scores and he's still a young lad! I'd put James on him. In my opinion he's the best man marker we have.

KK like him or not is without doubt our go to man marker

As a footballer, KK is easily our best man marker, by a stretch. He was moved on to No 15 last weekend and wiped him out. Prior to that McAuley was on him and 15 was scoring for fun. Keenan is fast, strong, aggressive and  uncompromising, he is just what is needed in a full back player in this new game. 

[YoungSaff]

Have to agree with above , KK best we have for a man marking job in full back line , will he have enough to stop him , who knows but nobody i think would do as good a job

[NorthAntrimSaff]

Would he be Leitrim's danger man?

Yes , type his name into youtube or Twitter and you'll see his highlights from the weekend , he kicked 0-12 in 30 mins against London , won them the game essentially kicking off both feet from play. Could cause antrim real headache

Found it on Twitter there, brilliant scores and he's still a young lad! I'd put James on him. In my opinion he's the best man marker we have.

KK like him or not is without doubt our go to man marker

Gives away too many frees is my concern

If you are competetive and aggressive frees will be part of the game. You wont give too many frees away 5 yards off your man

[SaffronSports]

Regarding KK, I felt he was wasted a bit in the FB line. I get that they probably want him as one of the 3 men back as his speed will be useful in transitions if the ball is moved forward quickly but I think his energy would have been good on further up the pitch too. Suppose the management have to balance it out but I think back to before the new rules and he could have an impact on both sides of the ball.

[Round or stuffed]

Ulster Gaa run coaching courses steady but if you look into it Antrim have fewer qualified level 2 coaches than any other ulster county,  and only 3 level three coaches I believe , our lack of take up of coach development at club level is depressing compared to our neighbours

There is no such thing as a level 3 coach in the GAA, Award 2 is the highest level accreditation a coach can achieve, ulster GAA ran a diploma a number of year ago but it was limited in capacity so I don't imagine too many counties have many more than 2 or 3 who ever completed it

[YoungSaff]

Regarding KK, I felt he was wasted a bit in the FB line. I get that they probably want him as one of the 3 men back as his speed will be useful in transitions if the ball is moved forward quickly but I think his energy would have been good on further up the pitch too. Suppose the management have to balance it out but I think back to before the new rules and he could have an impact on both sides of the ball.

Not sure about this , think he has ideal characteristics for a corner back , pacey strong and physical great for coming out of full back line , some of our lads further up the pitch would not have his marking capabilities nor his agression , he also can get opportunities to get forward driving with ball