Match Pace

Eighteen months from adult football — everything tonight happens at the speed the game will actually ask of them.

Gaelic football
Minor
60 min
16–26 players
2 coaches
Effort 5/5
Full pitch
game-speed
decision-making
match-prep
intensity

The PitchPlans coaching teamGAA Award 1 & 2 coaches

Kit: 12 footballs, 24 cones, 20 bibs (2 colours), goals with keepers if possible

Warm-up10 min

Up Through the Gears

Setup: 30×30m square. Dynamic work first, then balls in — one between three.

How it works: Four minutes of moving prep: open and close the gates, lunges with rotation, leg swings on the jog, then fast feet through a scatter of cones. Balls in for threes: two touch-tight hand-passers and one worker sprinting between them, taking and giving at full stretch — thirty seconds on, rotate. Last round, the worker takes every ball at absolute match pace with a defender's arm (held bib) waving in their eyeline. Nobody walks into a session like tonight cold; this is the ramp, and it should end with everyone honestly breathing.

What to say

“The warm-up ends at the speed the first drill starts — no gap.”
“Take the ball at full stretch, moving — static catches die tonight.”
“Thirty honest seconds beats two soft minutes.”

Easier

Twenty-second work shifts, no bib distraction.

Harder

Worker must call the next receiver's name before their own catch.

Activity15 min

Quick Release

Setup: 35×35m square, 6v6 in bibs plus one neutral who always plays with possession. Spare balls at two corners.

How it works: Keep-ball where the ball leaves your hands within two seconds of arriving — the sideline counts any dawdler down aloud, and a held ball is a turnover. Eight passes is a point. A static catch is also a turnover: you must be moving onto the ball when you take it. Play three-minute games, rotate the neutral, and keep the standard brutal; the drill only works if the two seconds are real. This is the pace adult club football moves at, and the sooner it feels normal, the sooner they belong there.

Rounds: 3 × 3min games with 60s between — rotate the neutral each game

What to say

“Know your next pass before this one arrives.”
“Move onto the ball — receiving is a run, not a wait.”
“Fake with purpose only — every dummy spends half your two seconds.”

Easier

Three seconds on the ball, six passes for a point.

Harder

Weak hand only in the final minute of each game; the neutral is removed so it's honest numbers.

Activity15 min

Chasing Waves

Setup: Half pitch to a goal with a keeper. Four attackers start at halfway, three defenders set inside. A chaser waits at a cone 10m behind the halfway line. Next wave queued and ready.

How it works: On the coach's ball, the four attack 4v3 — but the chaser is released the moment the first pass is made and hunts the play down from behind. The attack must finish before the door closes: a rushed shot into the keeper's chest is a win for the chaser, so the real skill is attacking fast without panicking. Rotate a new wave immediately; attackers become defenders, chaser joins the attack next time. Track goals, points, wides and 'caught' outcomes on the sideline.

What to say

“Speed of decision beats speed of legs — attack the space before it shuts.”
“A rushed wide is the chaser winning — composure at pace is the drill.”
“Defenders, talk the chaser onto the danger runner as they arrive.”

Easier

Release the chaser on the second pass; 4v2 inside.

Harder

Two chasers released in sequence; a goal must come from inside the 13m line or a point from a set position.

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

PitchPlans coaching team

Free on PitchPlans — new sessions weekly.