Performance Update 3 May 9th, 2019 | Coaching and Development, Development Squads, News Check out our Latest Performance update all about Speed training with our young players. View this post on Instagram Proper sprinting form for young Hurlers and Footballers is hard to coach but the juice is worth the squeeze in my opinion. We are currently experimenting with acceleration ladders (old ladders we’ve repurposed actually) to aid in proper mechanics, so far it’s helping a bit. When it comes to speed mechanics we focus on 3 things initially, posture, leg action and then arm action. They all bleed into one another but the main point is just to make your players move better. If they can’t lift their knees up unrestricted or move their upper torso properly all the sprint drills in the world are probably not going to do a whole lot. We try to work on some form of sprint drills and sprints every session (not always logistically possible). It’s also worth noting we are not athletics coaches, we simply use these modalities in small doses to hopefully illicit a positive response for their chosen sport of Gaelic Games. The last photo is a simple illustration of some plyos we do with the squads, this helps the contractile properties of the muscles (makes you more springy) which is also hugely important for young athletes. This may all look a bit fancy but the main message for a GAA club may be as simple as add proper sprinting to your training regime and plyos (done safely and stepped up gradually). The kids are great and are coming on a tonne. #strengthandconditioning #gym #acceleration #sprint #sprinting #fitness #fitfam #speed #offaly #faithful #hurling #football #gaelicgames #celticchallenge #gaa @officialoffalygaa #coachhare #ukfitfam #leinstergaa A post shared by Coach Dave Hare (@functionalt) on May 8, 2019 at 1:11am PDT