Beat Your Best

A measured skills night — wall-ball, a pentathlon, scorecards, and a number to beat

Camogie
U13 · Skills night
60 min
12–24 girls
3 coaches
Effort 3/5
Half pitch and a wall
u13
skills-challenge
wall-ball
personal-best
fun-games

The PitchPlans coaching teamGAA Award 1 & 2 coaches

Kit: Hurleys and helmets, size 4 sliotars one each plus spares, a ball wall or a solid gable/handball alley, 30 cones, 6 hoops, 2 poles, a scorecard per girl and a pen

Warm-up8 min

Warm Hands, Warm Bas

Setup: Pairs across a 25m area, one ball per pair, helmets on. Scorecards handed out with a name on each before the whistle.

How it works: Wake the hands and the bas for a night of measured skills. Two minutes of hand-passing on the move, both girls always moving, then short strikes from the hand as the shoulders warm, then jab-lifts on the jog to a partner. Keep it flowing and light — tonight the work is in the challenges, so the warm-up just gets the touch switched on. Last two minutes, each girl writes her name on her scorecard and the mentors explain the one rule of the night: every number you set, you are trying to beat in round two.

What to say

“Tell them: 'busy hands, busy feet — nobody stands still in a warm-up.'”
“Tell them: 'soft touches to switch the hands on — the big numbers come later.'”
“Tell them: 'your card is your own — the only girl you are racing tonight is you.'”

Easier

All hand-passing and gentle strikes; walk the movement for a group new to it.

Harder

Add a weak-side round to the strikes and lifts; the pair must keep the ball off the ground for a full minute.

Activity12 min

The Wall

Setup: A ball wall, gable or handball alley, girls in small groups along it with plenty of space between each, size 4 ball each. A line marked 4–5m back from the wall. A mentor counting and encouraging.

How it works: Wall-ball, the oldest skills coach in the game, and the first counted challenge. From behind the line, strike the ball at the wall, control the rebound clean, and strike again — see how many clean strike-and-controls you can string together in ninety seconds. Ground strikes and strikes from the hand both count as long as the control is clean. A fumble just resets your streak, no drama, keep going. Everyone writes her best streak on the card. The wall never lies and never tires, so it is the perfect measure — and the girls who make friends with it now become the strikers of the group.

The technique, step by step

Strike the ball at the wall from behind the line.
Reset the bas immediately, ready for the rebound.
Control the return small and close.
Strike again — count your unbroken streak.

What to say

“Tell them: 'strike, then get your bas ready straight away — the rebound is coming faster than you think.'”
“Tell them: 'control it small and close before you strike again — a big wild control loses the rhythm.'”
“Tell them: 'the wall gives back exactly what you give it — a clean strike comes back clean.'”

Easier

Stand closer to the wall; allow a bounce before the control; count strikes rather than unbroken streaks.

Harder

STEPR: step back a metre; alternate a ground strike and a strike from the hand; a weak-side round for the confident.

Activity24 min

The Skills Pentathlon

Setup: Five stations around the half pitch, a mentor or a nominated senior girl at each with the challenge card rules, groups rotate on a whistle every two minutes. Run two full rounds — round one sets each girl's number, round two she tries to beat it.

How it works: Five measured skills, every girl's score her own. JAB-LIFT SLALOM: dribble and jab-lift through a cone line, count clean lifts in the time. TARGET STRIKING: strike from the hand at a hoop from a set line, count hits out of eight. THE LONG PUCK: three strikes for distance into scoring zones marked one to five, add your best two. FAST HANDS: with a partner, count clean hand-passes on the move in thirty seconds. CONTROL GATE: a partner rolls balls in, control clean and pass back through a gate, count clean controls. Round one, set the number and write it down. Round two, the whole point of the night — beat it. Team totals added at the end for a bit of noise, but the real prize is a personal best beaten.

The technique, step by step

Station 1 — Jab-lift slalom: count clean lifts on the move.
Station 2 — Target striking: hits out of eight at the hoop.
Station 3 — The long puck: three strikes, best two zones.
Station 4 — Fast hands: clean hand-passes in 30 seconds.
Station 5 — Control gate: clean first-touch controls and passes.

What to say

“Tell them: 'set an honest number in round one — an honest number is the one worth beating.'”
“Tell them: 'between rounds, ask the mentor the one thing to fix — a tip is worth points.'”
“Tell them: 'beating your own best is the whole game — that is how real players are built.'”

Easier

Distances and lines brought in; two minutes becomes ninety seconds; drop to four stations for a smaller group.

Harder

STEPR: weak-side rounds at the striking and lift stations; a five-second clock on the control gate; the long-puck zones move out five metres for round two.

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

PitchPlans coaching team

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