Touch and Breathe

First touch when someone is flying at you — control, protect, and pick your pass

Camogie
U12
60 min
12–24 girls
2 coaches
Effort 4/5
Half pitch
u12
first-touch
control
pressure

The PitchPlans coaching teamGAA Award 1 & 2 coaches

Kit: Sized hurleys, helmets on for every ball, size 4 sliotars one each plus spares, 24 cones, 12 bibs (2 colours)

Warm-up8 min

Busy Hands, Busy Bas

Setup: 25×25m square, a size 4 ball each, helmets on from the first minute. Mentors on opposite corners calling and playing along.

How it works: Every girl moves through the square working the ball to the calls: DRIBBLE tap it along the ground with the bas; CARRY balance it on the bas on the move; CATCH jab-lift it to the hand and carry two steps; SWAP leave your ball dead and take over someone else's. Every ninety seconds shrink the square a metre or two so the traffic thickens and the touches have to tighten with it. The whole warm-up is about a busy bas and a head that stays up in a crowd.

What to say

“Tell them: 'ball out in front where your eyes can see it and the traffic too.'”
“Tell them: 'soft wrists — guide the ball, do not batter it.'”
“Tell them: 'head up on every carry — know who is around you before they arrive.'”

Easier

Bigger square, walking pace; carries with a spare hand steadying the ball on the bas.

Harder

Weak side only on DRIBBLE; two-ball SWAP so there are loose balls in the square to look up for.

Activity13 min

Beat the Chaser

Setup: Groups of three at a cone triangle, 8m sides, one ball per group. One feeder, one receiver, one chaser starting at the third cone. Triangles spread so nobody collides.

How it works: First touch under a closing defender. The feeder rolls or strikes a ground ball to the receiver; the instant the feed leaves, the chaser sprints from her cone. The receiver has to control it with one clean first touch out of her feet, then get a pass back to the feeder before the chaser arrives. A clean control and pass is the receiver's point; a touch or a block from the chaser is the chaser's. Rotate every four feeds. It teaches the whole lesson: a good first touch buys the time, a bad one gives it away.

The technique, step by step

Read the feed early and get the feet moving to it.
First touch out in front, into space away from the chaser.
Lift the head the instant it is controlled.
Pass firm and clean before the chaser closes.

Common mistakes

Letting the ball come under the feet — it dies there and the chaser wins it.
Looking for the pass before controlling — control first, then decide.

What to say

“Tell them: 'meet the ball out in front, bas angled so it dies at your feet, not off them.'”
“Tell them: 'first touch into space, away from where the chaser is coming — touch, then look.'”
“Tell them: 'the chaser means nothing if your touch is clean — trust it and stay calm.'”

Easier

Chaser walks; receiver may take two touches to settle it before the pass.

Harder

STEPR: feeder varies the pace and bounce without warning; chaser starts two metres closer each round; the pass must be struck, not hand-passed.

Activity13 min

Protect and Pass

Setup: Pairs in a 6m circle of cones, one ball, one girl in possession and one gentle presser, plus a target partner outside the circle. Groups spread across the grid.

How it works: Shielding the ball and buying the pass. The girl in possession controls a fed ball and keeps her body between the ball and the presser — turning, using the shoulder and the reach of the hurley to protect it — until she can find the target partner outside with a controlled pass. The presser works at half pace, hurley down, hunting only the loose ball, never the body. Ten seconds to protect and deliver, then swap the presser in. The skill is staying calm on the ball with someone close: settle it, shield it, then pick the pass rather than panicking it away.

What to say

“Tell them: 'body between the ball and the trouble — turn your back on the pressure, not on the pass.'”
“Tell them: 'first touch to your safe side, away from her hurley.'”
“Tell them: 'protect, then pick — a calm head finds the free girl, a panicked one finds nobody.'”

Easier

Presser stays an arm's length off and only shadows; bigger circle; no time limit at first.

Harder

STEPR: two pressers hunting the loose ball; the pass must reach a moving target partner; a five-second delivery clock.

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

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