Keep It On the Grass

Ground hurling is not a lost art — tonight it wins every game

Hurling
U10
60 min
12–24 players
2 coaches
Effort 3/5
Quarter pitch
ground-hurling
striking
first-touch
fun-games

The PitchPlans coaching teamGAA Award 1 & 2 coaches

Kit: Hurleys and helmets (players' own, spares in the bag), a sliotar between two plus a bucket of spares, 24 cones, 8 bibs

Warm-up8 min

Snake Dribbles

Setup: 25×25m square scattered with cones, groups of four in a line, one ball each, helmets on before the first touch.

How it works: Each snake follows its leader anywhere in the square, everyone dribbling their own ball along the ground with little taps of the bas. Calls change the game: STOP — bas flat on top of the ball, dead still. TURN — roll the ball back with the bas and dribble the other way, so the snake reverses and the tail becomes the head. WEAVE — leader must go around three cones before the next call. New leader every minute.

What to say

“Tell them: 'tap, tap, tap — keep the ball a boot's length in front where you can see it and the traffic.'”
“Tell them: 'bas behind the ball, not on top of it — topping it kills it.'”
“Tell them: 'when I call STOP, trap it dead — that trap is a match skill.'”

Easier

Walking pace; hands apart on the hurley for control; fewer cones in the square.

Harder

Weak side taps only for thirty seconds; two snakes share a lane so they must dodge each other.

Activity12 min

Swing Gates

Setup: Pairs 10m apart, a two-cone gate (2m wide) halfway between each pair, one ball per pair. All pairs striking in the same direction, three big steps between neighbouring pairs.

How it works: Groove the ground strike. The ball sits still to start: strike it through the gate to your partner, who traps it with the bas, sets it and strikes it back. After a few minutes, no setting allowed — trap it and strike it from where it stops. Then the game: sixty seconds, count strikes that pass clean through the gate, rest, race your own score. Finish with first-time flicks for the brave: no trap at all, meet the rolling ball and return it in one swing.

The technique, step by step

Feet to the ball — get your body behind it, never reach sideways.
Front foot beside the ball, pointing at the target.
Low backswing, brush the grass through the strike.
Follow through to the target — the ball obeys the finish.

Common mistakes

Topping the ball so it hops weakly — eyes are coming up early; watch the strike happen.
Swinging across the body like a golf slice — check the front foot points at the gate.

What to say

“Tell them: 'step to the ball with your front foot, then swing from the shoulder.'”
“Tell them: 'eye on the back of the ball until the hurley finds it.'”
“Tell them: 'finish the swing pointing at your partner — that's where the ball follows.'”

Easier

Move to 6m apart and widen the gate to 3m; trap and set every ball before striking.

Harder

STEPR: shrink the gate to 1m; strike off the weak side every second ball; partner rolls the ball in so every strike is on a moving ball.

Activity12 min

Ground Tennis

Setup: Courts of 16×10m marked with cones, a centre line of flat cones as the net, 2v2 on each court, one ball per court.

How it works: Tennis, hurling style, everything on the grass. Serve by striking a ground ball over the centre line from behind your own end line. The other pair must stop it before it crosses their end line, then return it within three seconds — one trap and one strike, or a first-time flick if they fancy it. Ball crosses your end line: point against you. Ball stopped dead and returned: play on. First to seven, rotate courts so winners meet winners. Partners take turns — the person who did not play the last ball plays the next one.

What to say

“Tell them: 'get your body behind it like a goalkeeper — block first, play second.'”
“Tell them: 'aim for the corners, not the person.'”
“Tell them: 'talk — MINE, YOURS, loud and early.'”

Easier

Bigger court, no three-second rule; any stop counts even if the ball squirts away.

Harder

STEPR: first-time returns only in the last two minutes; shrink the court; singles instead of doubles so everyone plays every ball.

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

PitchPlans coaching team

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