First Week Back

Touch comes back, lungs come back, and nobody runs a single lap

Camogie
Adult
75 min
14–28 players (expect the numbers to wobble in January)
2 coaches
Effort 4/5
Half pitch or a floodlit astro
preseason
conditioning
first-touch
team-play

The PitchPlans coaching teamGAA Award 1 & 2 coaches

Kit: Hurleys and helmets, size 4 sliotars (a ball between two plus spares), 30 cones, 14 bibs (2 colours), cone goals, floodlights or the lit corner of the astro

Warm-up10 min

Back in the Swing

Setup: Pods of four, one ball per pod, 20×20m areas. Mix the pods on purpose — the county girl back late, the newcomer, the veteran — first night back sets the room.

How it works: Start kinder than midsummer: two minutes of walking hand-passes while the catching hands remember the size 4. Build to jogging give-and-gos, then short strikes once shoulders say yes. Weave the prep into the ball work on calls — LUNGE (walking lunge with a twist, ball resting), OPEN (hip openers on the move), STRIDE (two half-pace runs across the area). Last three minutes: pod keep-ball, one presser, first spice of the year. Nobody has struck a ball further than 20m yet and nobody needs to.

What to say

“Say it straight: 'first week back — we build the engine, we don't blow the head gasket.'”
“Tell them: 'hands remember faster than legs — volume of touches tonight, not heroics.'”
“Watch for the December-fit and the December-rested — same pod, different throttle, both fine.”

Easier

All hand-passing, no strikes; strides at jog pace.

Harder

Second ball into each pod for the last two minutes.

Activity15 min

The Touch Bank

Setup: Four stations in the corners of the half pitch, groups rotate on ninety seconds, two full rounds. Station kit set before training: wall or partner-feed lane, a cone slalom, a hand-pass square, a strike-catch channel.

How it works: Deposit touches after the winter — hundreds of them, counted. Station one: wall or partner feeds, strike-control-strike, count clean controls. Station two: jab-lift slalom — dribble to each cone, lift on the move, carry two steps, place it, on to the next. Station three: hand-pass square, four players, two balls, always moving. Station four: strike-catch channel — pairs 25m apart, strike and catch or control, count completed round trips. Shout your station count as ye rotate; second round, beat your first-round number. The maths does the motivating.

The technique, step by step

Station 1 — wall/partner feeds: strike, control, strike. Count controls.
Station 2 — jab-lift slalom: lift on the move at every cone.
Station 3 — hand-pass square: two balls, four players, nobody still.
Station 4 — strike-catch channel: 25m round trips, count them.

What to say

“Tell them: 'first touch out in front — winter puts it under your feet, we're moving it back out.'”
“Tell them: 'jab lift at jogging pace beats a perfect lift standing still — this game happens moving.'”
“Tell them: 'count honest — the number is for you, and January numbers are meant to be beatable.'”

Easier

Two-minute stations at lower pace; catches allowed everywhere; slalom walked.

Harder

STEPR: weak-side strikes at station four in round two; slalom lifts alternate jab and roll; hand-pass square goes three-ball.

Activity16 min

Engine Rounds

Setup: Two 30×20m pitches side by side with cone goals, four teams of 4–6 in bibs. A shuttle lane of two cones, 20m apart, along the side of each pitch.

How it works: Conditioning hidden inside games, the only place it belongs in week one. Two-minute 4v4 (or 5v5) games on both pitches — normal camogie to cone goals, mentors feeding dead balls fast. The two resting teams are not resting: they work the shuttle lane, ball in hand — carry down, jab-lift turn, carry back, steady tempo, counting lengths as a team. On the horn, players swap: games become shuttles, shuttles become games. Four full cycles. The work-to-game rhythm is honest interval training and nobody has run a lap; keep the shuttle tempo brisk but never a race — the race is on the pitch.

Rounds: 4 cycles × (2-minute game + 2-minute ball shuttle). Teams alternate. Score carries across the night.

What to say

“Tell them: 'the shuttle is your engine, the game is your reward — earn it, spend it.'”
“Tell them: 'legs get heavy in cycle three — that's the training arriving, welcome it.'”
“Keep score across all four cycles per team — January table, announced with theatre.”

Easier

Ninety-second games; shuttles walked every second length; three cycles for a heavy first night.

Harder

STEPR: shuttle carries on the bas for a length each cycle; games go two-touch in cycle four; winning team of each cycle nominates the next rule.

The rest of this session is free — along with 3 more this week.

PitchPlans coaching team

Free on PitchPlans — new sessions weekly.