The Engine Room

Brave catches, break balls and the repeat runs nobody claps for — a whole night in your midfield's boots.

Gaelic football
U16
60 min
12–20 players
2 coaches
Effort 5/5
Half pitch minimum
midfield
aerial
work-rate
conditioning

The PitchPlans coaching teamGAA Award 1 & 2 coaches

Kit: 10 footballs, 22 cones, 12 bibs

Warm-up10 min

Box to Box

Setup: Two 10×10m cone boxes 40m apart. Groups of four, one ball per group, half the groups starting at each box.

How it works: Groups travel between the boxes together, ball moving by hand the whole way. At each box, a task before you turn: five sharp hand-passes around the group, then three solos each on the next visit, then five passes off the weak hand. Pace rises every length — walk the first, jog two, three-quarters after that. Last two lengths are strides with the ball still moving. The habit being planted: in the middle of the field you are never done, there is always another length in you.

What to say

“Turn and go together — the group waits for nobody and leaves nobody.”
“Ball never stops moving, even at the boxes.”
“Breathe through the stride lengths — smooth is fast.”

Easier

30m apart, tasks halved, pace capped at a jog.

Harder

Any dropped ball means that length restarts; final length is a race between groups.

Activity14 min

Throw-Up Wars

Setup: Coach in the centre of a 25×25m square with all the balls. Cone gate on the left edge, cone gate on the right. Pairs matched by height and honesty; two pairs active at a time, rest rotating.

How it works: Coach throws the ball up between two pairs, exactly like a throw-in. Win it in the air or on the break, and your pair attacks either gate while the losing pair defends both — carry or hand-pass through a gate for a point. Fifteen seconds max per contest, then the next ball goes straight up for the next two pairs. Everyone contests eight throws. Keep a running score per pair and read the table out between rounds; midfielders are made competitive or not at all.

Rounds: 8 throw-ups per pair, 15s each — running score kept aloud

What to say

“Attack the ball on the way up — the catch at the top beats the wait at the bottom.”
“Lost the catch? Win the break — first reaction, first to grass.”
“Won it? Land facing a gate and go — hesitation invites the swarm.”

Easier

One pair contests alone against the clock — catch and score inside ten seconds.

Harder

Winning pair must use both gates alternately across their throws; defenders may shepherd the gates the moment the ball is thrown.

Activity14 min

Link and Go Again

Setup: A channel the length of the half pitch: keeper zone (or coach with balls) at one end, a target player inside a cone box at the far 45. A turn cone 10m from the keeper zone. Work in pairs — one works, one rests and counts.

How it works: The working midfielder shows for the keeper's throw or kick, takes it side-on, then moves it to the far target — carry and kick, or give-and-take a wall pass with the resting partner if you add one. The instant the target catches, sprint back around the turn cone and show again for the next ball. Ninety seconds of continuous links, then swap with your partner. Count clean links per shift; quality of the LAST link is the number that matters, so post it loudly.

Rounds: 4 × 90s per player, 90s rest while your partner works

What to say

“Take the catch side-on so you land already facing upfield.”
“Kick early when the target shows — carrying costs seconds you don't have.”
“The last twenty seconds is where engines are built — same standards, tireder legs.”

Easier

60-second shifts; hand-pass chains allowed instead of the kick.

Harder

A defender shadows the midfielder from shift three onward; any spilled link costs two.

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

PitchPlans coaching team

Free on PitchPlans — new sessions weekly.