The Cut Above

The rarest skill in club hurling, owned in one night of proper reps

Hurling
U14
60 min
12–24 players
2 coaches
Effort 2/5
Half pitch with a real sideline
sideline-cuts
striking
set-pieces
technique

The PitchPlans coaching teamGAA Award 1 & 2 coaches

Kit: Hurleys and helmets (players' own), 16+ sliotars kept dry in a bag, 30 cones, flat markers for the line, 8 bibs (2 colours)

Warm-up8 min

Lift & Loop

Setup: Pairs, one ball, spread along a 40m channel beside the sideline you'll use all night. Spare balls stay in the dry bag until needed — wet sliotars ruin a cuts night.

How it works: Continuous loop: player A jab-lifts on the move and strikes to B, then jogs a loop around the nearest cone while B controls, lifts and returns to where A arrives. Never static, never waiting. Every two minutes tighten one screw: strikes below head height, then lift with the weak hand guiding, then control-lift-strike inside three touches. Last minute: A rolls the ball to the line, B runs on and chips it up from the ground to themselves — a sneak preview of the wrist work coming.

What to say

“Tell them: 'run onto the lift — jab the bas under the back of the ball at speed, don't stop for it.'”
“Tell them: 'strike to the chest, not the sky — kind ball keeps the loop alive.'”
“Tell them: 'wrists loose from the start — tonight is a wrist night.'”

Easier

Static lifts to start; shorten the channel to 25m.

Harder

One-touch control into the lift; every second return off the weak side.

Activity14 min

The Cutting Bench

Setup: Four stations along the real sideline, three players and four balls per station, everyone cutting infield toward open grass. A 10m-wide landing zone of cones at 20m. Mentors float; nobody stands beyond the line of strikers.

How it works: Build the cut in slow motion first, then live. Sit the ball up proud on a tuft of grass right on the line — a sunken ball is a wasted rep, take the second to place it. Address it like golf: side-on, ball opposite the front foot, eyes down. Open the face of the bas so it points slightly skyward. Short, steep backswing, then chop down and under the bottom third of the ball — you are cutting the grass out from under it — and follow through up the line of flight. Four cuts each, count the ones that fly, rotate cutter to collector. Round two: cuts must land in the 20m zone. Round three: everyone cuts from their weaker line side once, just to feel it.

The technique, step by step

Place it proud on the line, seam sitting up.
Side-on stance, ball opposite the front foot.
Open the bas face a touch skyward.
Steep backswing, cut under the bottom third.
Follow through up and out — finish tall.

Common mistakes

Topping it so it dribbles five metres — the swing is too shallow or the head came up; go steeper and stay down.
Fresh-air swings — standing too far from the ball; the bas should hover over it at address.

What to say

“Tell them: 'sit it up proud — good players place the ball, panicked players hit the one they're given.'”
“Tell them: 'open the face and cut UNDER it — the grass should whisper, not the top of the ball.'”
“Tell them: 'head stays down until the ball is gone — look up early and you'll top it.'”

Easier

Cut off a small grass mound or a flat cone tee; move the landing zone to 12m.

Harder

STEPR: two balls each per round so the routine must repeat under mild time pressure; landing zone shrinks to 5m wide; add a 45-degree approach walk-in like a match cut.

Activity12 min

Cut for Distance, Cut for Keeps

Setup: Same sideline. Three scoring bands of cones at 15m, 25m and 35m infield — one, two and three points. A single flag cone at 25m dead centre for the finale.

How it works: Now the reps become a game. Two cuts per player per round, points by the band where the ball first lands, keepers of their own honest score. Three rounds, then the leaders read out the table. Finale is Nearest the Pin: one cut each at the flag cone, and the whole group walks out together to judge it — closest cut takes the title and the first sip of the water break. Between turns, players collect and place balls for the next cutter so the line never stalls.

Rounds: 3 rounds × 2 cuts, then Nearest the Pin. Keep the table on your phone — the same table reappears in six weeks to show the climb.

What to say

“Tell them: 'same routine every single cut — place, address, breathe, cut. Boring routines fly furthest.'”
“Tell them: 'distance comes from timing the chop, not from muscle — swing at eighty percent.'”
“Tell them: 'first bounce is what counts — flight, not roll.'”

Easier

Bands at 8, 15 and 22m; three cuts per round instead of two.

Harder

STEPR: call your band before you cut — land elsewhere and it's zero; finale cut taken with a ten-second shot clock counted out loud by the group.

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

PitchPlans coaching team

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