The GAA Rat Race

[orangeman]

Are there any or many examples of lads refusing to join county panels or taking part in trials due to the perceived level of commitment required to be county footballer ?.

The talk of 5/6 sessions a week you'd imagine is putting some lads off.

[DennistheMenace]

Galway's Sean Armstrong the latest to retire at the tender age of 29 due to the increasing commitments involved and time consumption of modern day inter-county football.

[Muzz]

This thread getting a mention in the Irish News today by Phillip Jordan.  Looks like hes in agreement.

[DennistheMenace]

This thread getting a mention in the Irish News today by Phillip Jordan.  Looks like hes in agreement.

Coming from an ex County Player of his ilk (not his fault he's from Tyrone!) that speaks volumes.

I also think the increase in training, time consumption, gym work, commitment is intrinsically linked to the payment of managers.

[Eamonnca1]

This thread getting a mention in the Irish News today by Phillip Jordan.  Looks like hes in agreement.

Got a link? Or is it paywalled?

[twohands!!!]

Are there any or many examples of lads refusing to join county panels or taking part in trials due to the perceived level of commitment required to be county footballer ?.

The talk of 5/6 sessions a week you'd imagine is putting some lads off.

I was talking to someone from Kerry about this and they said there was more than one individual in Kerry this year who opted out/couldn't commit of the panel. Would have been fringe panel members but still.

It's not something that lads announce or is likely to get much publicity but I reckon that there is a substantial number who've opted out of the intercounty game.

[DennistheMenace]

Far too many players retiring from 29-33 in intercounty football these days, some drop down to club football and play one season but realising that club training is what county training used to be like, the demands on both are ridiculous. I know a good few clubs in Derry out training on the pitch already, for a league that starts in April. Madness.

[orangeman]

Another good article with insight from the physio. The Maldini plan in Munster is interesting.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/burnout-reaches-breaking-point-30865612.html

[INDIANA]

Another good article with insight from the physio. The Maldini plan in Munster is interesting.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/burnout-reaches-breaking-point-30865612.html

Should put it into the Hastings Cup thread - would be a good education for some

[waterfordlad]

The training demands are crazy now. Waterford hurlers played 3 challenge matches in December and were back training for a good while before that. It used be that the year kicked off in January but now there is hardly any closed season. Players are getting no off season in some cases and recurring injuries are being picked up. It's no wonder players are opting off panels or retiring at relatively early ages.

[Rossfan]

Another good article with insight from the physio. The Maldini plan in Munster is interesting.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/burnout-reaches-breaking-point-30865612.html

Should put it into the Hastings Cup thread - would be a good education for some

That's the magic cure - ban the Hastings cup

[manfromdelmonte]

the way the inter county season is structured is to blame for this very early start for county training

the likes of FBD league, Kehoe Cup, Walsh Shield etc should be done away with then teams wouldn't need to train for an early January start

then you have the championship starting at different dates for each county (due to imbalances in the draw) and some crazy scheduling (eg Connacht)
which means teams (and some silly managers) have to plan differently for the championship season

[INDIANA]

the way the inter county season is structured is to blame for this very early start for county training

the likes of FBD league, Kehoe Cup, Walsh Shield etc should be done away with then teams wouldn't need to train for an early January start

then you have the championship starting at different dates for each county (due to imbalances in the draw) and some crazy scheduling (eg Connacht)
which means teams (and some silly managers) have to plan differently for the championship season

The only way to stop the madness is to combine the league and championship and scrap the subsidiary competitions. Enforce a proper closed season by actively sanctioning counties heavily for breaching the rules.

Its not that difficult to do but the GAA don't have balls for the fight unfortunately. Currently the tail wags the dog whereby the counties run the association.

[orangeman]

http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/football/coach-warns-of-doomsday-scenario-for-over-trained-gaa-playersnbsp-305335.html

By Jackie Cahill
A top strength and conditioning coach fears training demands placed on leading GAA players are "not sustainable."

Alan O'Connor, currently working alongside Wexford senior football manager David Power, predicts a doomsday scenario unless the situation is addressed.

O'Connor was involved with Loughmore-Castleiney as the Tipperary dual stars won three county senior titles in just two seasons.

Loughmore won an historic dual double in 2013 and retained their football crown last year but a fixtures pile-up meant that the champions had to replay their county SFC final on St Stephen's Day, 2014.

O'Connor also served as strength and conditioning coach with Tipperary's All-Ireland minor football winning team of 2011, when Power was in charge.

A year later, Tipp retained their Munster crown as the minor hurlers captured provincial and All-Ireland minor glory. Twelve dual players were involved with both teams but massive success was still achieved, with O'Connor citing healthy communication at the time with hurling counterpart Keith Hennessy, who worked with the Waterford senior hurlers last year, as a major factor.

But O'Connor revealed how, while working with the Tipp U21 footballers last year, he told some players not to train when they detailed training patterns over the last week.

And he said: "The talent pool will be there but players are not going to achieve their full potential. And this is the time of year when the damage is done. A parent came to me in 2011 and said 'you're not training the team hard enough.' "I was dealing with eight dual players at the time. I said 'look, I have a plan in my head, don't worry, things will work out.' He came to me after we won the All-Ireland and said 'now I see what you're doing.'

"It's not what I did with Tipp in 2011 — it's what I didn't do. I didn't flog them and with the dual players, we did not physically run them. Everything was with a ball."

O'Connor added: "Around July 2012, we conducted a counter-movement jump test with a player to measure the power in his legs.

"It showed that he was 20% lower than what he was eight weeks previously in a fitness test. We gave that player two weeks off. He came back to us then and was back to that previous level.

"At inter-county, it's very easy to periodise your training. You know the dates your playing and you can macrocycle the whole year. The mesoscyle is 2-6 weeks and within that, you microcycle for one week. But when you're involved with a club, and the way fixtures are gone, you can only microcycle. It's very hard for the club player. There's a rule where an U16 can't play U21. Surely a minor shouldn't be allowed to play senior with his club."

O'Connor warned: "The situation is not sustainable. Even as a coach, you would be burned out. The county board doesn't realise and people don't realise that it's not just about being on the pitch for an hour.

"It's what you have to do away from the pitch. You have to talk to the other conditioning coaches, particularly at minor level, and talk to the manager and physios. The physio and conditioning coach must work hand in hand because the physio dictates when a guy comes back on the pitch and what he can do. If you leave a player come back on his own, he will bust himself."

© Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved

[Jinxy]

'Doomsday scenario'.
Good to see nobody's losing the run of themselves anyway.