First Five Steps

Getting genuinely faster — clean acceleration mechanics, exposure to top speed, and the honest low volume and full recovery that build pace without tearing a hamstring.

Gaelic football
Adult
75 min
12–24 players
1 coach
Effort 4/5
Half pitch, a clear 40m run
s-and-c
speed
acceleration
sprint-mechanics
hamstring-care

The PitchPlans coaching teamGAA Award 1 & 2 coaches

Kit: 24 cones, 8 footballs, a few resistance bands if available

Warm-up15 min

The Warm-Up Is the Insurance

Setup: A 20m channel of cones with room to run out beyond it. Speed work is where hamstrings tear, and they tear cold, so this warm-up is the longest of any session in the plan — fifteen minutes, no negotiation. Do it fully or do not sprint.

How it works: Build in careful stages. Raise first: easy jogging, skipping and shuffling for three minutes. Mobilise: leg swings, lunges with rotation, hip openers, ankle work. Activate the sprint muscles: glute bridges, A-skips, high-knee marching, heel flicks, calf bounces. Then potentiate with build-up runs — four or five strides accelerating smoothly to around eighty per cent, never flat out yet, walking back full recovery between each. Only when a player has run several clean build-ups and feels loose and springy are they cleared for maximal work. Anyone tight in the hamstring or groin does the drills and skips the sprints tonight.

What to say

“No sprinting cold, ever — this is where hamstrings go, and the warm-up is the insurance.”
“Build the runs up smoothly to eighty per cent — feel springy before you go full.”
“Tight hamstring or groin tonight means drills only — no hero sprints on a warning sign.”

Easier

Add more build-up runs and cap them at seventy per cent for anyone returning from a lay-off.

Harder

Add a couple of resisted marches with a band to switch the drive muscles on before starts.

Activity14 min

Acceleration Starts

Setup: Start lines with cones at 5m, 10m and 20m. Optionally a partner with a band around the waist for light resistance. This is quality work, so lines are short and rest is long — one runner working, several recovering.

How it works: Acceleration is a skill of angles and patience. From a two-point start, the aim is a powerful, gradual rise — body leaning out over the front foot, shins and torso angled forward, arms driving hard, feet punching down and back into the ground. Six to eight starts over 10 to 20m, walking back full recovery between every one, so each rep is genuinely maximal rather than a tired jog. If a partner is holding a band, they give steady, moderate resistance for the first few steps then release. Alternate a clean start with a start onto a rolled ball to make it football, but keep the volume low and the quality sky-high.

The technique, step by step

Set a stable two-point start, weight forward over the front foot.
First step short and sharp, body leaning out ahead of the feet.
Drive the ground away down and back, arms punching from cheek to pocket.
Rise gradually over the first ten metres — do not pop upright early.
Ease off smoothly past the last cone, never a hard stop.

Common mistakes

Standing tall on the first step — no lean means no acceleration.
Rushing the reps with short rest — tired sprints build fatigue, not speed.

Rounds: 6–8 starts over 10–20m · full walk-back recovery, every rep maximal

What to say

“Lean out, do not stand up — the fast first steps come from a forward body angle.”
“Push the ground away behind you — drive down and back, arms working hard.”
“Full walk-back recovery — speed is trained fresh, a tired sprint is just conditioning.”

Easier

STEPR: drop the band, shorten to 10m and reduce to five reps while the mechanics settle.

Harder

STEPR: add a reactive start on a visual call and finish each start onto a ball to chase, keeping decisions in it.

Activity14 min

Max-Velocity Flys

Setup: A run-in zone of 20m leading into a 20m fly zone, marked clearly with cones. Long grass cleared, ground checked for dips. One runner at a time through the fly zone, everyone else recovering.

How it works: This block exposes players to near-top speed, which is both how you get faster and where the risk lives, so it is handled with respect. Runners accelerate smoothly through the run-in and hit relaxed top speed through the fly zone — tall posture, knees driving up and forward, ground contacts quick and light, face and shoulders loose. The cue is fast but relaxed, never straining. Four to six flys only, with two to three minutes of walking recovery between each, because true speed work is tiny volumes done perfectly. The moment posture breaks down or a runner feels a hamstring grab, they are finished for the night.

Rounds: 4–6 flys · 20m build-in, 20m fly · 2–3 min walking recovery between

What to say

“Tall and relaxed at top speed — a strained face slows you and snaps hamstrings.”
“Knees up and forward, contacts light and fast — float, do not pound.”
“Four to six only, long rests — top speed is trained in tiny perfect doses.”

Easier

STEPR: cap the effort at ninety per cent through the fly zone and reduce to three runs for those still building.

Harder

STEPR: add a rolling ball to run onto at the end of the fly zone, keeping top speed but adding a football finish.

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

PitchPlans coaching team

Free on PitchPlans — new sessions weekly.