MOTION: Hurling isn’t a game where you just stand around. You need to be on the move through the entire game. (Photo courtesy of Columbia Red Branch Hurling)

In my previous posts responding to the questions from new-hurler Mike, I talked about enhancing game awareness in hurling and some helpful hurling videos for new players.

This time I want to sum up a few things that are key development points for every person playing hurling or its sister sport, camogie.

• STAMINA — Hurling is a sport where you are in constant motion if the sliotar is within half-a-field of you. That means that you’re easily moving 70 percent of the time. As you’re on the field you can’t just stand there, you have to constantly be ducking around other players, avoiding your mark and keeping the ball in sight. All that hustling means that you have to have some some fuel in the tank at all the right times.  Since I’m in my late-late 30s, this is clearly my biggest fault — I just get winded way too quickly. Boosting your stamina comes in two forms — diet and exercise. Diet wise, you need to be eating a high fruit and high veggie diet and keep your hydration levels at their peak. For exercise, it’s all about practicing ahead of time to keep moving. Running is the best exercise for sure to develop stamina, but suicide sprints are even better.
• FOOT SPEED — While I talk about movement in the section above, a totally separate focus needs to be placed on maximizing your top speed. You can impress your coach two ways: (a) Having a sensational blow-them-out-of-water sprint or (b) Having a high-speed cruising run. Either is fine. Increasing foot speed is a remarkably difficult feat, though. My suggestion is to work on increasing the speed of the “chop” in your run — you know the quickness of your foot hitting the ground. In particular, the best way to do this is speeding through “tire” or ladder drills.  You can do these at home on your own simply by laying a ladder on the ground and running through the openings as fast as possible — making sure not to trip.
• ONE-TOUCH POSSESSION — Over in Ireland, the one-touch possession is taught at the earliest levels of learning the sport of hurling. The theory of the one-touch is that you need to gain possession of the ball in one attempt. You can’t drop it or bobble it. You need to gain immediate possession. This buys you time on the field because the other players are still reacting from their own attempt to gain control of the sliotar for themselves. Increasing your one-touch performance is best with the assistance of another player, or at least a person willing to throw the ball to you. To practice have the other player throw or hit the ball toward you. Your job is to scramble for the catch or, if you don’t make it, pop it up from the ground and gain immediate possession. Once you do, take three steps and fire it back to your helper.
• ACCURATE PASSING — One of the key skills of the game, passing helps teams keep control of the ball, which means more scoring opportunities. When you practice passing, you must practice at both short distances and long distances, and while you are in motion. The exercise in the section above transitions into the exercise you can do to improve your passing. Once you have the ball, you must get it within three yards of the your target.  If you haven’t recruited a helper, that’s fine — just fire your passes at a tree trunk or other vertical target. Remember, your passes shouldn’t necessarily be powerhouse hits. A more gentle strike will help your teammate catch the sliotar.
• ACCURATE STRIKING — This skill is key for everyone, not just midfielders and full forwards. You need to practice hitting the ball into a goal or a goal-like structure. Most of all, practice making points because “racking up points” is the scoring style that can be entirely in your control — the opposing team can rarely take a point from you once it gets over their heads. Scoring goals, on the other hand, requires being close and betting on the fact that the goalkeeper is off his game.  To work on point-scoring, strike from a variety of distances and, most importantly, angles with the intent to hit a high-up zone in the point-scoring area. Don’t have any hurling goals around? Never fear. I’ve substituted batting cages, baseball backstops, football goal posts and even trees for my practice goal.  Further, remember that you need to be making these strikes while on the run. Nobody in hurling will let you stand around and take a shot at the goal.

Visit the Columbia Red Branch Hurling Club in the Portland, Wash., area.

LEARNING CURVE: Playing hurling is a different from many team sports since it’s difficult, if not impossible, to truly set up plays that outwit your opponents.

We return to my conversation with Mike, a guy working out with the St. Louis hurling clubs, as he worked to learn more about the national sport of Ireland.

Mike continues on in his letter (which I’ve edited a bit):

This weekend in the rookie’s practice I had a very good run on goal, soloed it with people hacking away at me, juked the heck out of one guy… and then completely messed up at the mouth of the goal … I didn’t even think about looking for teammates or even just attempting the point. On the other hand it was my first legit attempt on goal, and actually the first time I ever possessed the ball in a game-like setting.

Besides working on fundamentals, and working on looking for teammates with a better position, is there any way I can improve my situational awareness? I’m not sure how I got so close to the goal because the only thing I was thinking was “Oh crap you have the ball!” Is this something that comes naturally by just scrimmaging?

Basically I am asking, how do I become a sound offensive (or all around player) and actually be productive with the ball?

• Practice your basic skills at a decent clip.
• Learn to listen to your teammates.

Good luck out there, newbies!

ON THE MAP: If your hurling club isn’t listed on Hurley to Rise’s “U.S. Clubs” page, please get in touch!

In the last year or two, the number of hurling teams here in the U.S. has exploded. Here at Hurley to Rise, I’m doing my best to keep track of those clubs. I do so on this list of U.S. hurling teams, but I need your help!

If you have an active club here in the U.S. and it isn’t listed there, then send me a message or leave a comment here or on the list page. If you play a team not listed, then send me a message too.

Why should you do so? Because people are looking for you, and this list is another way to find your club.

What I need: Club name, base city, state and website URL.

Let’s hear from you!

SEE IT PLAYED: Finding hurling videos on YouTube can be somewhat challenging. One tip is to look up videos featuring some of the game’s best players, such as D.J. Carey.

Mike, a reader from St. Louis, chimed in with a few questions and comments about hurling. First up, he mentioned his efforts to find hurling clips on YouTube.

I’m brand new to hurling, just picked it up two weeks ago for a local club. I am in love with the game already, I have been watching clips on Youtube almost nonstop, and I can’t wait for the season to start.

• “Hurling skills” -- There’s a series of Gaelic Athletic Association videos on developing basic skills of the game. These mostly feature kids learning, but in truth most Americans are at this level.
• “Hurling drills” — Here you will find a few ideas for team drills you can run.
• “GAA” followed by an Irish county name, “Kilkenny,” “Galway” “Cork” and “Tipperary” will generally get you the best clips.
• “All-Ireland” will help you find some high-skill matches.
• “Christy Ring,” “Eoin Kelly,” “Henry Shefflin” “D.J. Carey” and “Joe Canning” are some of the great athletes of the sport, all worth searching.
• “RTE” coupled with hurling will find you plenty of great commentary on the sport. RTE is one of the broadcasters that carries the sport on Irish television.
• “Hurling” coupled with “goal,” “free,” “puck,” “tackle,” “solo” or “sideline” will dig up some skill videos as well as some great game clips.

I’ll get to more of Mike’s letter next time, where he asks about offense, speed and on-the-field jitters.

Have you got a hurling-related question for Hurley to Rise? Even if I can’t answer it, I’ll find someone who can. Just send me an e-mail at john@johnsimcoe.com

Hurling is catching on in America, and clubs are eager to show you more about the sport. Don’t hesitate to contact your local GAA.

St. Patrick’s Day is almost upon us, and that (according to my blog statistics) means that there’s a sudden, huge upswing in the interest in the sport of hurling here in America.

Well then, I’m glad you found Hurley to Rise. Since I started writing this blog in 2009, I’ve watched as this sport has grown exponentially across the United States.

Clubs are popping up in more and more cities here in the U.S., and not just the big, name-brand cities, but the smaller cities too. Likewise, there’s similar growth in colleges.

But if you’re looking into hurling for the first time, I figured you might be interested in learning the basics of the sport before you venture out to join your local club.

SOME TERMS: Over on this page, I have slowly been adding a list of hurling and gaelic football-related terms to help newcomers to the game. No need to be completely ignorant on the sport, right? (Seasoned American hurlers, please suggest terms to add!)

A QUICK OVERVIEW: The extreme basics of hurling are covered here. Most importantly, watch the video, which is the best explanation you’ll find of the sport.  You can also learn more in this section of the Hurley to Rise blog: The basics of hurling

ATHLETIC LEVEL: The best hurling players in the world are in spectacular shape. In fact, many of the hurlers here in America look pretty good too. If you play, you might soon find yourself fit as a fiddle as well. But to start out in the game, you don’t need to be an amazing athlete — or any sort of athlete at all (which was/is my case). This is a sport that is easy to learn, but difficult to master. If you can accept the fact that you may never be a master at it, you can play. My advice, just give it a try and have fun.

PHYSICAL CHALLENGES: In hurling, you do a lot of running — usually in the form of stop-and-go sprinting. You also might get bumped around by other players. That being said, I’m a horrible sprinter. Slow as molasses, in fact.  To me, it doesn’t matter. I just like to get out there and my teammates seem to be accepting of that.

SKILLS: Aside from running around a lot, there’s a few other skills (hitting and catching the ball) you’ll develop as a hurler. I have offered tutorials of these skills in a variety of blog posts. I suggest you check out some of them by visiting the “Skill Development” section.

WHAT TO BRING:Aside from enthusiasm and a willingness to try something new, you should:

• Wear shorts and a t-shirt.
• Bring a water bottle.
• Bring a spare t-shirt, too. One of your shirts should be light colored (white or yellow), the other should be dark (Navy, black, dark green or dark brown). The spare is so you can be split into teams for a scrimmage.
• If you have them, bring cleats, otherwise sneakers are fine.
• If you’re of drinking age, many clubs have drinks after their practice, so bring some money for that.
• If you have some sort of sports helmet (Lacrosse helmets being the best), bring it.
• A towel to wipe down is also a good thing.

EQUIPMENT: Most clubs will have spare equipment available. You won’t have to bring your own hurley (the stick) or sliotar (the ball). Helmets are usually at a  premium, but many clubs do have spares. Once you decide whether or not you like the sport, you can order your own later on.

COST: Hurling isn’t a very expensive sport despite the unique nature of it. Here’s a rundown:

• Stick ($35-$75)
• Ball ($10 per ball. We’d suggest you get at least 3 of your own)
• Helmet ($110. Often provided by the club.)
• Membership fee (Varies. My club’s yearly fee is less than $100)
• Traveling (Varies. Many clubs travel to other cities for games. This isn’t a requirement, but it’s a lot of fun)

WHAT ELSE? Quite simply, prepare to have a lot of fun. Prepare for some exciting challenges. Hurling is a great game, and we welcome you to it.