The kickout that starts the attack — accuracy to a called zone, the short and long menu, reading the press and picking the free man under real pressure.
The Restart
- Gaelic football
- Goalkeepers · Any age
- 60 min
- 1–2 keepers + 4–8 outfield helpers
- 1 coach
- Effort 3/5
- One goal out to the 65m line
- goalkeeping
- kickouts
- distribution
- decision-making
- restarts
Kit: One goal, 14 footballs, a kicking tee, 12 flat cones, bibs for a press
Grooving the Strike
Setup: Balls on tees along the 13m line, a target partner 25m out. Kicking is a ballistic action, so the hips and groin get walked up in gears before a single ball is drilled at distance.
How it works: Mobilise first: leg swings front and back, open the hips, easy strides. Then strike in a ladder of range — short flat balls to a partner's chest at 20m, then 35m with a little more height, then a couple of longer ones only once the groin is loose. Alternate the plant and strike so the technique is grooved before any decision is added. The number one who can put it flat on a moving chest at 30m is worth two who can only boom it long and hope.
What to say
- “Plant foot pointing at the target — the ball goes where the standing foot aims.”
- “Strike through the middle of the ball for the flat, driven restart.”
- “Build the range in stages — long booming kicks only once the groin is warm.”
Easier
Everything off the tee to a static partner at 20m to groove the contact.
Harder
Partner calls a chest, a foot or a space to run onto just before each strike.
Hit the Zone
Setup: Mark three landing zones with cones across the 45–65m band — left, middle, right — and a short zone just outside each 20m corner. Helpers stand as targets in the zones; keeper works from the tee.
How it works: Pure accuracy under a number. The keeper calls a zone, then delivers to it — flat and fast into the short corners, higher and hung into the long zones where a target is arriving on the move. Ten kicks, count how many land clean into the called zone against a target to beat. Then mix the menu: the coach calls the zone a beat before the strike so the keeper must adjust range and height on demand. A kickout that a team-mate can catch without breaking stride is the whole aim, not distance for its own sake.
The technique, step by step
- Choose the zone and picture the flight before you place the ball.
- Set the plant foot at the target, eyes up to check the target's run.
- Strike the ball through the line you want — flat for short, under it for long.
- Follow through towards the zone, do not pull across the ball.
- Watch it land and read the outcome — a coach who scores it improves faster.
Rounds: 10 called kicks, then 10 coach-called on demand — count clean landings
What to say
- “Call it, then hit it — a kickout with a plan beats a big kick with none.”
- “Short and flat to the corners, hung and higher to the long zones — different tools.”
- “Kick to where the target is running, not to where they stand.”
Easier
STEPR: static targets and the keeper's own choice of zone, building clean contact and confidence.
Harder
STEPR: coach calls the zone late and varies it every ball, so range and height are set under time pressure.
Read the Press
Setup: Set two receivers wide and one central inside the 45, each marked by a helper in bibs. Keeper on the tee. This is a picture-reading drill, so it starts walked-through and quiet.
How it works: The markers set up in a shape and the keeper's job is to read it before the ball is placed: which receiver is free, which is being shown inside, where the space actually is. Call the free man, then deliver. Rotate the markers to hand off different pictures — press one wing, sit off the other, crowd the middle. The keeper who scans and picks the genuinely free option, rather than kicking to a favourite, is the one who turns a restart into an attack. Ten reads each, talking the decision out loud so the coach can hear the thinking.
What to say
- “Scan before you place the ball — the picture is there to be read.”
- “Kick to the free man, not the favourite man — the markers are telling you where to go.”
- “Say the plan out loud — if you can call it, you can see it.”
Easier
STEPR: markers hold a fixed shape so the same free man appears each time and the read is clean.
Harder
STEPR: markers shift on a coach's signal as the keeper places the ball, forcing a late change of plan.
Beat the Press
Setup: Now make it live. Two pressers come inside the 20m line to hunt the short kickout; three receivers try to get free beyond them. Full posts, real distances, a supply of balls behind the goal.
How it works: A genuine restart under pressure: the press tries to force the mistake, the receivers work to break their marks, the keeper stays calm and picks the winning option — a quick short one into the space the press has left, or the confident long ball over the top when they squeeze up. If the short is not on, going long is a decision, not a panic. Play it as a rolling drill: kickout, first pass completed out of trouble, reset. Count restarts kept against restarts lost, and keep the tempo of a real game where the referee will not wait for you.
Rounds: Rolling restarts to a completed first pass — count kept versus lost
What to say
- “Calm hands, quick eyes — the press wants you rushed, so slow your own head down.”
- “They squeeze up, you go over — a pressed short ball is the one goal against you cannot give.”
- “Quick restart beats a tidy one — the free man now is worth more than a better man late.”
Easier
STEPR: one presser only and the receivers start with a step on their marks, making the short option reliable.
Harder
STEPR: add a third presser and a five-second clock on the restart, so hesitation is punished like a real press.
Groin, Hips and the Menu
Setup: Balls back into the net, tee away. Then stretch the kicking engine long and slow — groin, hip flexors, hamstrings and lower back, thirty seconds a side.
How it works: A big kicking night bills the groin tomorrow, so give it real time now. While you stretch, get the keeper to name their restart menu back to you — my short ball, my flat 40, my long over the top — because a keeper who can name their options stays calm when the press arrives. Finish on the reflection question and remind them the restart is now their attack to start, not just a way to get rid of the ball.
What to say
- “Groin and hip flexors get the longest hold — they did every kick tonight.”
- “Name your menu aloud — short, flat, long — options calm the head under a press.”
- “Slow long stretches, no bouncing — the kicking muscles are tired, mind them.”
Ask the players: Ask: under a press, what is your safe restart — the one you can hit blindfolded when the short ball is not on? Every keeper needs one certainty.
Next week builds on this: The sweeper-keeper — using that same calm distribution as a spare defender behind the last line.
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