“They are going to change the sliotar in some capacity but we need to be very careful”

“If you tamper with it too much, the touch will start getting bad, the scores won’t be as easy and the skill level will probably go down.”

One of the most consistent things about the GAA that never changes – is that they will always be trying to introduce new changes to the game.

Last week, we saw some very high scoring games of hurling, with some teams racking up ridiculous score lines by the half-time stage; tallies that years ago would have been the score at full-time.

Limerick beat Cork 0-33 to 2-19, while Galway beat Waterford 4-28 to 3-23, in games where if you left the room to go to the toilet, you were guaranteed to have missed a couple of scores. But, is this a negative thing?

Speaking on the GAA Hour, Colm Parkinson explains some of the suggested changes to the sliotar that are being discussed: “They are going to mess with the sliotar, it’s too light and the scores are too high.

“There was a 108 second period in the Galway and Waterford game where there were five scores – that’s a minute and a half, like that’s a lot of scores. Is it the sliotar’s fault or is it a tactical issue?”

Also on the show was former Dublin hurler, Conal Keaney and he believes the GAA need to be cautious when deciding what sort of change they are going to make.

“Maybe we make the edges a bit bigger, the ball a bit heavier, but then what are we going to get?” asked the former dual star. “We’re going to get less skilful moments that we’re seeing at the minute, the ball won’t be travelling as far so we won’t be getting the long-range scores, and you certainly won’t be getting the sidelines that Joe Canning is hitting.

“They may be just about dropping over the bar from inside the 45, but you won’t be getting what he’s doing – he’s putting them over the net from behind that.

“I think that we have to embrace it now at the minute. They’re going to change the sliotar going forward in some capacity.”

Is the weight of the ball to blame for the high scoring games? Just as a defensive mindset swept Gaelic football a few years ago, it’s perhaps just a tactical thing with modern hurling. It could even be a generational thing; players are simply more confident in their long range efforts and see it as a more viable option than it would have been a few years ago.

“Are we making too much out of it?” Parkinson continued. “Are players just going for it more or is it the sliotar’s fault?

“Was it possible 10 years ago to do that?”

“It was possible, but you want to be hitting it absolutely on the sweet spot,” replied Keaney. “The sweet spot is probably much bigger now, the rims are smaller, the hurls are bigger, so obviously the sweet spot is easier to hit and you’re hitting it further.

“I think we need to be very careful. If you tamper with it too much, the touch will start getting bad, the scores won’t be as easy and the skill level will probably go down a little, if we start messing with the ball.

“But there will be some changes the GAA will bring in, but I think we should just be careful that it’s not too much.”

Listen to the full discussion on the GAA Hour now