Hurling takes dedication and disciprine.
Soccerdive is for those who rack disciprine and enjoy the girly pursuits of rife.
so your saying that the Irish people dont have the dedication and discipline for bogstick?>
maybe we have better things to be doing?
Not sure if its been mentioned yet but bot making the All Ireland Final has cost tipperary gaa 50k, 20 from Croker and 30 fron Skoda. Arent they in a bit of debt? That wont help.
Not enough of us anyway mate, not enough of us.
The easy road is a well trampled one in our fair isle.
thats interesting. Have you some stats to verify this or are you simply using your all talking asshole
that will be his recovery angle alright i imagine
Somebody brought up the point about too much emphasis on catching the ball…
I played in a few underage ground hurling tournaments and this was one area where the skillful guys would be separated from the mullickors. Unbelievable fast free flowing games which placed the emphasis on the actual skill of controlling and striking with the hurl only.
Often at underage training our coaches would have played 20 minutes where we had to play ground hurling and a free would be given against you if you caught the ball.
Way too much emphasis on catching the ball these days. A few simple rule changes could change this dramatically if the powers that be were brave enough.
No I am quite serious. Hurling has gone to shit particularly in the last 5 years but has been in serious decline since the turn of the millennium. Instinctive skill coached out of the game. I’ll resurrect this thread in a few years and we will see where things have got to.
yes -there was a report done on it by one of the leading professors in Ireland- it was discussed here and even the gahliban on here held up there hands and said that LOI were fitter
if its such a good sport why dont hurling fans watch it en masse?
[quote=“The All Seeing Eye, post: 703576”]
if its such a good sport why dont hurling fans watch it en masse?[/quote]
Probably something to do with the abuse.
think WTB or Turenne asked already, but have you any first hand account of this actually happening in development squads, or is it just your gut instinct from sitting on your hole watching it on telly?
Times is tough. Games on telly. Any of the stock reasons.
Or the abuse.
So to summarize some of Fagan’s views on hurling:
- Hurlers these days are less skillful
- Hurling these days is not as fast as it used to be
- Development squads are bad for hurling
- The full-back line should consist of 5 players - 3 full backs and 2 sweepers
- Physical conditioning is bad for hurling
- Training should mainly consist of hitting a ball against a wall
- Any player who catches the ball over the head of his taller opponent is obviously fouling his opponent
I would ask some of the younger lads like Puke, WTB, Turenne etc to watch the above match. It may be good for some of the older lads to do so aswell.
A few observations:
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The game was more instinctive back then where there was a greater emphasis on skills such as ground hurling, batting, overhead pulling, lift and striking etc.
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The game was quicker as a result with the ball moving much quicker.
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This was largely due to the way the game was reffed back then (as Cusack points out in his excellent article). Any pulling, dragging etc was automatically penalised unlike today. There was still tackling but it was of the flicking the ball away type.
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It seems to me that evolution as come about due to changes in the way the game is reffed. The game is now more focused on keeping possession which favours a certain skill set.
you left out his punchline, he’ll be proven right in “a few years”
the only piece we are missing here is for fagan to pin all of this horrific metamorphosis on the loughnane/colin lynch axis of evil
I should add that the more modern game is still fantastic in my view but it is a different game to the one played in the era highlighted above. The 2010 and 2011 all irelands are two of the best games you are ever likely to see.
Today’s game revolves around possession (winning, maintaining and maximising thereof), it still encompasses a very high skill set. Its just a different skill set.
It would be pointless teams looking to play a more traditional type of game in trying beat Kilkenny as a game like that would not succeed the way the game is reffed today. Instead teams need to evolve further (different formations etc, as Cusack alluded to previously) in an effort to beat them.
FP,
you are using one of the best games of a particular era to derive a generalist position on that time.
You should compare this to the Tipp v KK game of 2002, or the recent trilogy, any of the Waterford Cork games etc.The Offaly of Clare sides of the mid 90s.
Forward play in particular, bears no comparison. You rarely see players now hit points from a static position like you did back then, adding movement to striking in itself is a huge skill. The reasons for abandoning the ground stroke are pretty obvious is you think about them. Mind you, had Colin Fennellys shot v Clare in the league semi final gone 4 inches lower he would have executed a magnificent score. The Galway minor goal last weekend was another notable recent effort.
The game was more instintive, but the ball did not move quicker, it moves quicker in the air. What i believe you meant to say is that players took less time on the ball…whether this is good or bad, i dont know, but any ball game is about use of possesion. Final point, avg scores per game has, and is on the rise in championship, field, ball, goal posts have remained static. This surely lends itself to entertainment and indicates improvements
surely all this “ground hurling” lark is only necessary because players of yesteryear lacked the requisite fitness?
they were incapable of covering the necessary distance to play the possession game?
Fenners, you seem to be the voice of reason for the traditionalists, any thoughts?