The Puckout Clinic

One hour that fixes the strike nobody ever coaches the keeper on

Hurling
Goalkeepers · Any age
60 min
2–6 keepers plus a mentor
1 coach
Effort 2/5
Half pitch (goal to the 65)
goalkeeping
puckouts
striking
set-pieces

The PitchPlans coaching teamGAA Award 1 & 2 coaches

Kit: A goal, a bag of 12+ sliotars, hurleys and helmets, 20 cones, 2 poles or tall cones, a notebook or phone for the numbers

Warm-up8 min

Hands First

Setup: Goalmouth, five cones in a small arc across the goal area, keepers in pairs — odd keeper works with the mentor. One ball per pair.

How it works: Keepers warm up as keepers, not as outfielders. Partner rolls balls left and right along the arc: shuffle, get the body behind it, scoop, return. Then chest-high strikes from 10m at half pace: catch, protect, roll away. Then five high lobs each: attack the drop at full reach, hurley guarding the catching hand. Between sets, quick feet through the cone arc — two runs each. Shoulders and wrists get big slow circles with the hurley held wide before the striking starts.

What to say

“Tell them: 'feet take you there, hands finish it — never dive what a shuffle reaches.'”
“Tell them: 'high ball at full reach — meet it at the top, not at your chest.'”
“Tell them: 'every gather finishes ready to strike — tonight the save is only half the job.'”

Easier

All service rolled or lobbed soft; skip the high-ball set for young keepers.

Harder

Server mixes heights without warning; every gather must flow into a jab lift and carry.

Activity14 min

Rebuild the Strike

Setup: Puckout spot at the edge of the goal area, cones marking distance bands downfield at 40m, 55m and 70m. One keeper strikes, one stands beside watching the toss, the rest fetch and return balls in a loop. Prop a phone against the post if you want slow-motion — club analysis at its finest.

How it works: Technique before targets. Six reps each, rotate, three rounds, and the watching keeper has one job: call where the toss went. The routine, identical every time: place the ball and step back the same two steps; pick your target BEFORE the toss and say it out loud tonight; toss flat and low from the open palm at arm's length; step and turn the shoulder into it; strike through the ball and finish high with the bas chasing the target. Distance is the by-product — do not swing harder, swing later and cleaner. Log each keeper's best band in the notebook; that number is tonight's baseline, not tonight's verdict.

The technique, step by step

Same spot, same two steps back — build a routine your team can time runs off.
Pick the target before the toss, out loud tonight.
Toss flat and low from the open palm, arm's length.
Step, turn the shoulder, strike through it.
Finish high, bas pointing where the ball went.

Common mistakes

Toss drifting over the head — everything after it is rescue; the watching partner calls every drift.
Eyes lifting to the field mid-swing — the field was decided before the toss; watch the ball.

What to say

“Tell them: 'the toss is the puckout — a drifting toss turns the world's best swing into rescue work.'”
“Tell them: 'target first, toss second — deciding mid-swing is how the ball finds the one man you didn't want.'”
“Tell them: 'finish high at the target — a short follow-through is a short puckout.'”

Easier

Strike off a cone tee to remove the toss entirely for a round; bands at 25, 35 and 45m for young keepers.

Harder

Alternate strong and weak-side strikes; watching keeper calls a band late — after the ball is placed — and the striker adjusts.

Activity14 min

Corridors

Setup: Three cone corridors laid out downfield, 8m wide and about 15m long, starting near the 45: LEFT wing, CENTRE, RIGHT wing. Poles or tall cones make the mouths visible from the goal. Fetchers stand beyond them.

How it works: Accuracy under a called target. The resting keeper calls a corridor — LEFT, CENTRE or RIGHT — just as the striking keeper places the ball, so the routine must absorb a late decision the way a match press forces one. Ball landing in the called corridor scores two, landing in a neighbouring corridor scores one, anything else is zero. Ten strikes each, rotate, two rounds. Write every keeper's score per corridor — by round two the notebook already shows the weak line, and the weak line gets the last five strikes of the block, no debate.

What to say

“Tell them: 'adjust with the feet and shoulder, never the swing — the swing is sacred, the aim comes from the turn.'”
“Tell them: 'pick a blade of grass in the corridor mouth — aim small, miss small.'”
“Tell them: 'same tempo on every call — the moment your routine speeds up, the press has already won.'”

Easier

Corridor called before the keeper collects the ball; corridors widened to 12m and brought 10m closer.

Harder

STEPR: call comes at the top of the toss; corridors narrow to 5m; misses into the wrong wing cost a point.

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

PitchPlans coaching team

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