Shake Hands with the Hurley

First grips, first swings, and falling in love with the small ball

Hurling
U6
45 min
10–24 kids (groups of 4, never queues)
3 coaches
Effort 2/5
Quarter pitch or indoor hall
grip
striking
fun-games
nursery
fundamentals

The PitchPlans coaching teamGAA Award 1 & 2 coaches

Kit: Shortest hurleys ye have (18–24 inch), first-touch sliotars (one each), helmets on for every striking game, 20 cones, 8 spot markers or hoops, a few big cones for castles

Warm-up6 min

Sleeping Sliotars

Setup: 20×20m cone square, a sliotar resting on a spot marker for every child, hurleys stay in a pile outside the square for now. One mentor calls, the others play along in the square.

How it works: Kids move around the square to your calls: JOG, HOP, SIDEWAYS, TINY STEPS. The sliotars are asleep on their markers — nobody may touch them. On SLEEPING SLIOTARS everyone tiptoes to the nearest ball, crouches over it and freezes like a statue guarding it. Hold three seconds, then off again. Last round: on WAKE UP they pick their ball up, hold it high, and walk it to the hurley pile.

What to say

“Tell them: 'quiet feet — don't wake the sliotars.'”
“Tell them: 'find a ball nobody else is guarding — look for space.'”
“Praise the freeze, not the speed — stillness on command is your whistle for the whole year.”

Easier

Walk-pace calls only; every child guards the same ball each time.

Harder

Add ROBBERS — on that call they must guard a different ball than last time, so heads come up.

Activity8 min

Shake Hands & Helicopters

Setup: Big circle, every child two hurley-lengths from the next — walk the circle first and make them check the gap with an arm and a hurley. Ball on the ground in front of each child. Mentors stand in the middle where they can see every grip.

How it works: Grip school as a game. One: the hurley lies flat, bas pointing away — 'shake hands with the very top of the handle with your strong hand'. Two: 'your helper hand holds on just below — and the top hand never lets go'. Now play: PAINT THE GRASS — sweep the bas along the ground side to side like a big brush. HELICOPTER — slow swings around the body at knee height, everyone checks their gap first. ROCK THE BABY — balance the ball on the bas and rock it gently without dropping it. Call the games in any order, thirty seconds each, grip check between every one.

Common mistakes

Hands swapped or split wide apart — reset with the shake-hands game, never a lecture.
Death grip with both hands — the helper hand stays soft so the bas can turn.

What to say

“Tell them: 'shake hands with the hurley — now squeeze, that hand never moves.'”
“Walk the circle and check thumbs: strong hand on top, hands touching, not split like a sweeping brush.”
“Tell them: 'soft helper hand — the top hand is the boss.'”

Easier

Kneel for Paint the Grass so the bas reaches easily; ball balanced on the bas while kneeling.

Harder

Rock the Baby on the move — walk to a cone and back without the ball falling; swap hands for one round and laugh about how odd it feels.

Activity8 min

Wake the Sliotar

Setup: Groups of 4 spread along one line of spot markers, a ball sitting up on each marker, everyone striking the same direction into open space. Mentors behind the strikers, never out in front.

How it works: First real swings, all together on your call. READY — feet either side of a pretend puddle, ball beside the front foot. SWING — big slow swing that brushes the grass and wakes the sliotar. The ball goes wherever it goes and that is grand. On COLLECT the whole line walks out together, picks up one ball each, carries it back and sets it on the marker. Strike on the call only, collect on the call only — that rhythm is the safety and the game. Finish with a quiet round: 'whisper strikes', the softest tap that still moves the ball, so they feel the bas.

What to say

“Tell them: 'eyes on the ball the whole way — watch the hurley wake it up.'”
“Tell them: 'brush the grass — a low swing, not a chop.'”
“Only strike on the call, only collect on the call — say it every round, cheerfully.”

Easier

Push the ball along the ground with the bas instead of swinging; kneel beside the ball for the first taps.

Harder

Sit the ball on a flat cone like a tee for a cleaner strike; aim at a giant target (the fence, a goal, a mentor's cone tower).

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

PitchPlans coaching team

Free on PitchPlans — new sessions weekly.