The most overdone thing in the GAA.
For some reason, managers and many players alike think that a player has to feel like they’ve played a game before their game.
It all looks good, doesn’t it? Coaches set up a load of cones, poles and drills. It looks professional, fancy and is a sure sign that your team means business.
Press-ups, sprints, squats and planks, lung bursting runs over and over again. Players are pushed to the limit, they’re out on their feet and they’re blowing hard.
What’s the point in having a player gassed right before they enter the game? There’s no point in having a pair breathing heavy, with a sweaty face and a broken down psyche just before the ball game gets going.
You’d have to wonder, do managers actually feel that ordering their players to do 20 press-ups flat out will benefit them when the game starts? All it does is gives you a sore chest and an excuse.
All a player needs is a jog, a few kicks of the ball, a few touches to get the eye in and a sprint or two. Nothing more, nothing less. In fairness, a few stretches are probably handy too.
Is it all an ego-trip from managers? Some players fall for it anyway, but the majority, the canny ones, like Kieran Donaghy, take it easy, do it at their own pace. They do what works for them.
The Austin Stacks club man was speaking on SportsJOE Live on Wednesday night, and he revealed his relaxed routine when he’s a sub, and before a game.
“I’d go out to the sideline, do a few little jogs a few stretches. The thing is, though, when you come on you’re out on your feet after ten minutes anyway,” he said.
“The second wind is always a hard one to get, I find anyway. When you’re doing your warm-up, I’m always thinking, do you go flat to the mat so you can get your second wind when you come on? But there’s always a part of you thinking, ‘Jesus I don’t want to be gassed coming on here either.'”
Colm Parkinson agreed with Donaghy, and argued that the last thing a sub wants to do is sprint up and down like a yoyo. We’ve all been there, taking it easy when we’re ordered to sprint.
“It’s very hard to get over your first wind on the sideline,” he said.
“You have to be wrapped up, or else chasing some fella, and if you’re running that fast up and down the sideline, Jesus, you’ll look like an awful fool altogether. You usually just jog up and down.”
Don’t worry about it.
You can listen to the warm-up discussion here from 32″40′.
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