The Closer

Frees and sideline cuts drilled until they hold up with the championship on the line

Camogie
Adult
75 min
16–28 women
2 coaches
Effort 3/5
Half pitch with goals
adult
dead-ball
frees
sideline-cuts
set-pieces

The PitchPlans coaching teamGAA Award 1 & 2 coaches

Kit: Hurleys and helmets, a bag of 16+ size 4 sliotars, 24 cones, 2 poles or tall cones for target uprights, a notebook or phone for the numbers

Warm-up10 min

The Routine

Setup: Pairs spread across the pitch, one ball per pair, striking over a growing distance. Poles set as a target upright at one end for later.

How it works: Warm the striking muscles and set the routine every dead ball will share. Start close, striking from the hand, and stretch the distance every minute. Then the routine drilled dry, no target yet, all together on a count: place or settle the ball, two steps back, one breath, eyes to the target, then a smooth lift-and-strike or ground strike with a full finish. The whole point tonight is that every free and every cut uses the same unhurried routine, so groove it now while there is no pressure. Finish with five long strikes each toward the pole to wake the range.

What to say

“Tell them: 'the routine is the skill under pressure — same steps, same breath, every single time.'”
“Tell them: 'the strike does not get harder for distance, it gets later and cleaner.'”
“Tell them: 'pick the target before you strike, never during — decide, then swing.'”

Easier

Shorter maximum distance; the routine walked slowly with no strike for the first two rounds.

Harder

Alternate strong and weak-side strikes on the range; a five-second clock on the dry routine so it stays smooth at speed.

Activity17 min

Frees, Ground and Hand

Setup: Two striking spots at 30m and 45m from the target uprights, a group at each, fetchers beyond the target returning balls in a loop. Notebook ready to log makes.

How it works: Both dead-ball frees, the same routine under each. First the lift-and-strike free from the hand: the two-step routine, jab-lift, strike through it with a high finish between the poles. Then the ground free struck straight off the deck with a low, driving swing when the range is long. Six of each per striker, rotate, two rounds. A point for anything between the poles, and the watching partner calls where every miss went — left, right, short — so the striker adjusts the feet and the shoulder, never the swing. Log each striker's makes; that number is tonight's baseline, not tonight's verdict.

The technique, step by step

Place the ball, step the same two steps back, one breath.
Eyes to the target, pick your spot between the poles.
Lift-and-strike for height, or drive it off the ground for range.
Aim with the feet and shoulder, finish high, hold the pose.

Common mistakes

Swinging harder for distance — it drags the ball; swing later and cleaner instead.
Rushing the routine on a long free — the long one needs the routine most, not least.

What to say

“Tell them: 'aim comes from the feet and the shoulder turn — the swing itself stays sacred.'”
“Tell them: 'lift-and-strike for the close free and the height, drive it off the ground for the long one.'”
“Tell them: 'finish high at the target for a long free — a short follow-through is a short free.'”

Easier

Bands at 20m and 30m; uprights widened; lift-and-strike free only until it is grooved.

Harder

STEPR: a defender's hurley held up in the flight line 20m out; alternate the 30 and 45 each shot so the routine resets under a range change; weak-side frees in round two.

Activity16 min

The Sideline Cut

Setup: Two cutting spots on a sideline, 30–40m from the goal, groups at each, fetchers spread in the target area. Cones marking a scoring corridor into the goalmouth.

How it works: The most technical strike in camogie, and the crowd-pleaser. Set the ball on the line, address it low with the bas flat behind and slightly under it, and cut through the bottom of the ball with a fast, low-to-high swing so it lifts off the grass, curls, and travels toward the goalmouth corridor. Height comes from getting under it, curl from the wrists rolling through, distance from swing speed rather than muscle. Six cuts each, rotate, two rounds — first for clean contact and lift, then for the corridor. Celebrate a ball that simply gets up and travels before ye chase perfect placement, because the lift is the hard part.

Common mistakes

Striking the side of the ball — it squirts low along the ground; get the bas under the belly.
A slow, heaving swing for distance — the cut needs a fast swing through the bottom, not a big one.

What to say

“Tell them: 'get the bas under the belly of the ball — you are lifting it off the deck, not smashing its side.'”
“Tell them: 'low to high and fast through the bottom — swing speed lifts it, not brute force.'”
“Tell them: 'let the wrists roll through at contact — that is where the curl comes from.'”

Easier

Cut from 20m with no corridor, just get it up and travelling; a slight tuft of grass under the ball to build contact.

Harder

STEPR: narrow the scoring corridor; cut under a five-second clock; from the far side so the natural curl works against the striker and has to be shaped.

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

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