Contact Preparation for GAA Athletes
For all the wrong reasons, 2020 was a year like none other. Going by social media, the vast majority were more than happy to see the back of it as we currently find ourselves in a similar position of what fingers crossed, is the last of the lockdowns. I know I’m not alone in saying that sport is something that I had taken for granted as news broke that all training and games would be postponed. Little did we know that even after a full trip around the sun, returning to training remains a long way off with recent reports suggesting it would be April at the earliest before inter county GAA resumes.
An integral part of many peoples lives all over the globe, sport offers a multitude of benefits vital from a physical and psychological standpoint. Outside of an elite environment where the majority of us exist, the excitement, sense of purpose and stress relief that playing sport on a weekly basis can provide us is unrivalled in my opinion. However like anything else, downsides exist - with injury probably topping the list! As the old saying goes, ‘sport is cruel’ and anyone who has suffered an injury at any level of the game can lay testament to that. Accompanying the physical pain, one might argue that the frustration and mental turmoil of missing out on training, game time and doing what one loves is by far the worst part of suffering a set back.
The following article takes a brief look at the current injury profile of GAA and how players and coaches could potentially benefit by including contact preparation methods in their session plans to ensure that no stone is left unturned before training and games return. Applicable not just to times like the present when restrictions are in place, I hope to provide some ideas you can integrate into your current sessions and pre seasons going forward to help you prepare optimally for stepping back onto the pitch.
GAA is a hugely demanding sport where at the highest level, players cover over 9km per game (1). Intermittent in nature, players are exposed to sprinting, rapid changes of direction and explosive actions examples being accelerating, jumping, kicking, blocking and shouldering from any direction (2). The research shows that injuries suffered in GAA occur more frequently in match play when compared with training sessions, perhaps due to an increase in competitiveness, intensity, and added physicality (3). The most commonly injured area includes the lower limb with the hamstring being the main culprit accounting over 20% of all injuries suffered and resulting in an average time loss of over 3 weeks (4). A total of 75% of injuries suffered in GAA will include the hamstring, ankle complex, adductor, groin or quad. During matches, upper limb injuries account for 14.2% of injuries, with 1 from every 10 injuries being shoulder related (3). It has been reported in other research that 17-19% affect the shoulder, hence the upper body should certainly not be overlooked throughout preparation (5).
Another common phrase thrown around in sport is ‘availability is the best ability’. Covering all bases and prioritising injury risk is imperative for both maximising squads and optimising performance (6). Even though 73% of injuries are deemed non contact, in such a taxing sport with high levels of collisions, players need to be robust enough to deal with high impact situations they will be inevitably exposed to. Of course it would be foolish to think injury is entirely preventable, but there is no doubt that along with covering the non negotiable’s for example athlete readiness, appropriate load management and solid recovery protocols, coaches and athletes can do their best to prepare optimally by including movements, drills and live situations such as the options in this article that could further build resiliency against the dominant areas of injuries listed above. By doing so, it is possible the severity of some injuries could be reduced by keeping all potential game scenarios in mind and in turn leading to a quicker return to action.
My background is predominately in rugby where both individual and partner contact preparation have served both myself and the players I work with well in preparing for the return to training and competitive matches that come thick and fast once pre season is underway. I have experimented with many different movements particularly over the last two years after spending time in America where I first met Andy Ryland (@usafootballmt) who is a contact area specialist in USA. For the purposes of this article and the fact we are currently in a situation where options are hugely limited, I’ll include on a number of individual and partner options that could be of use with a family member, housemate or training partner if safe to do so. Below are my thoughts on the primary reasons I believe why specific contact preparation benefits GAA athletes.
Deformation Prevention
We are quick to turn to a barbell in the hope it prepares us adequately from a strength point of view for field sport.Yes, of course a base of strength is vital to enhance force production capabilities, boost stability and improve resiliency but from what I’ve seen in rugby, it’s amazing how basic physical literacy skills can be a massive challenge for many players in the club game. It is imperative from a foundational standpoint to possess control of your own body, move fluidly through multiple planes and have the ability to self organise by finding positions of strength across a broad spectrum of positions. Being unable to do so means players will have an extremely tough time attempting to handle any opponent who can, when it matters most. A low hanging fruit perhaps? I find ground based options such as these great training options to improve mobility, stability and postural strength but also as effective screening tools to highlight asymmetries that could prove costly if left unaddressed. Better yet, they can be completed anywhere, be it in the gym during warm ups, as ‘fillers’ between working sets or on the field as robustness circuits where the only requirement is space. I believe that we need to get comfortable in as many positions and scenarios as possible to fully maximise our athletic potential. A simple test; ask an athlete or team mate to bear crawl 15 meters and come back in reverse, chances are high a number of them will struggle. Crawling variations will challenge total body strength, coordination, mobility, stability along with offering an excellent conditioning option.
With individual variations such as holds, crawls or movements such as a bear twist, there is huge demand on the trunk and musculature surrounding the shoulder complex in this instance. Improving movement quality and efficiency will slow down the onset fatigue leading to improved performance. There is an abundance of ways to progress and regress these movements. A broad foundation sets athletes up to further build upon. Here is a system that can be used to determine if an athlete has earned the right to progress.
Can the athlete get into a specific position
Can the athlete hold a position maintaining tension for an acceptable duration
Can the athlete maintain that position while increasing the complexity of movement
Can the athlete move in and out of that position maintaining control
Can the athlete add further range of motion, maintaining tension and add speed
Applying the above, here is an example taking the simple bear position.
Range Of Motion, Robustness & Rehab
Moving on to commonly discussed qualities developed in the gym, firstly touching on flexibility & mobility by reminding ourselves that they are not the same. Flexibility is defined as the range of motion of a joint (7). What I am referring to in the instance of preparing for contact is how well one can control their range. Mobility is flexibility under tension. One of the main things I look for in the gym when using these options is for the athlete to create and maintain tension across multiple positions. For sure, flexibility is required to a point, but constant stretching in the hope it transfers to performance is a fools errand. It's not rare for athletes to spend 20 minutes each day rolling out, stretching ‘tight’ muscle groups in the hope it sticks. This is valuable training time which could be replaced with more effective training that will offer improved range of motion but also build strength throughout that range, leading to more resilient connective tissues. Keeping in mind that sport is played in unpredictable and chaotic environments, I recall speed specialist Jonas Dodoo mentioning in a seminar in 2019 that ‘sport will ask every angle of you’. It hit home. Injury often occurs in extreme ranges of motion, positions and instances athletes have not prepared for. The more movement options an athlete has available to them, the more equipped they will be able to deal with what the game serves up. On a foundational level, I think it is vital for an athlete to arm themselves adequately by exploring these ranges that could be experienced on the pitch. Just some movements that could be useful here without any equipment necessary include lunge, adductor and hamstring variations along with the ground based work shown above, can strengthen the musculature, tendons and ligaments throughout the body whilst improving awareness and potentially decreasing chances of tweaks strains and sprains. There is no worse feeling on the pitch than being hampered by a slight niggle. It can be completely distracting and greatly impact performance.
These movements and exercises can also be very helpful in a rehab setting as they are easily controlled and manipulated to match the athletes abilities. They provide an excellent low risk option to build work capacity. Additionally, they are simply added in to aerobic circuits and along with the upsides as mentioned earlier, offer a nice variety that can be so important to keep an athlete engaged with their training. Although no magic pill exists, if you are not already including these options in your training you could add them in with the view of improving your durability and movement efficiency resulting in an advantage over your opponent who will be waiting for you once the ball is rolling again.
Sensory Awareness
This is a hugely complex topic that runs far beyond the scope of this article however the importance of the sensory systems and the benefits derived from contact preparation need to be mentioned as they seem to be so often overlooked. Proprioception is probably a term you have heard before. Simply put, it refers to knowing where your body is in space. It is an unconscious quality that also provides us with essential information such as how much speed and force is required to complete a task (8). Both proprioception and kinaesthetic awareness share similarities, however they are not the same. Kinaesthetic awareness is our sense of movement (9). This quality allows us sense the motion of our limbs and includes the duration, direction, speed, amplitude and timing of joint movement (10). These senses integrate with vision to help athletes perceive, correct movement patterns, maintain balance and control overall movement (11). Athletes who can identify and exploit information derived from the senses most effectively are often the best performers leading to success on the field (12). Although no two situations that occur on a pitch will be the same, there are certain match scenarios familiar to all players that need to be prepared for, such as rolling to recover a loose ball, bumping off an opponent before attempting to evade a player on their outside or reaching overhead whilst under pressure from an opponent as an aerial ball comes their way. By gradually exposing players to situations as such will expand the athletes data base of problem solving capabilities and in turn could lead to buying themselves a vital second to self organise, recover, execute a pass, shot or block. Like any other skill, sensory awareness can be improved through practicing individual movements such as crawling, rolling and tumbling but by utilising partner options such as these grappling style activities, players are gradually exposed to challenging contact situations and numerous collisions that await them. I would consider the examples seen here Phase 2 of a training block after athletes have mastered their own bodyweight. Again, they can be included in both gym and field training sessions and progressed into more open game situations as the season edges closer. I encourage adding to them as you see fits.
Last but certainly not least, it is of utmost importance for athletes to get comfortable to the feeling of contact situations against their opponents. The kinaesthetic sense of ‘opponent feeling’ is an athletes ability to anticipate and feel an opponents movements, responding to them and additionally using an opponents force to their own advantage. Some features of athletes who possess high levels of this include rapid reactions to the movements of their opponent along along with proper body positioning, the ability to control and anticipate an opponents next step. On the other hand, for an athlete lacking in this skill, they may have a delayed response, be unable to ‘stick with’ their opposing player on the field and find themselves in poor positions throughout a contest (13).
This has been an overview of why coaches and athletes, if not already doing so should include contact preparation methods to help prepare optimally for common game situations.
I hope it offers some food for thought and adds an extra dimension to your current training programme. I’d also like to thank Greg for providing me with this opportunity to write this piece. Finally, I wish the coaches and players reading the very best with your preparation and season once the long awaited return to sport is upon us!
Billy O’Regan is a Strength & Conditioning from Cork, Ireland. He has been working in the fitness industry since 2012. Billy began his coaching journey in a local gym personal training and taking group sessions which fuelled his desire to become proficient and practice in the sports performance field. Sporting wise, Billy played rugby from a young age and continues to play today in Cork Constitution Rugby Club where he also coaches the U-16 team. Having graduated from UCC in 2016 where he studied Food Business, Billy returned to college in 2018 where he completed an MSc in Strength & Conditioning in Limerick Institute of Technology. This led him to Virginia, USA where he completed an internship in the College of William & Mary.Here he worked with the college's American Football team and Ladies soccer team. Billy launched his online coaching business and podcast called ‘Be Ready Training’ at the beginning of 2020 that focuses mainly on performance, potential and the process involved in what it takes to achieve highly across a number of areas in sport and business. Check him out on Instagram @billyorpt.
Many thanks to Billy for a fantastic and thought provoking article. Get in touch on social media with your views!
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