HEADLINE – Basics more important than ever

By Michael McMullan

DONEGAL coach Luke Barrett feels the new-look rules will put more emphasis back on the basic skills.

In an interview with Gaelic Life, Barrett gave his take on how coaching might look after the introduction of the FRC’s rule enhancements.

After four years managing the county minors, after serving on management teams under his father Shaun Paul, Barrett was enlisted by Jim McGuinness on his return as Donegal senior manager.

Barrett has also completed a masters from University of Limerick with a focus on game-based coaching. He also delivered a talk on the topic at the recent Leinster GAA Club Development Conference earlier.

Barrett feels the basic skills can be overlooked with coaches getting caught up on a “shiny new fad”.

“I would say now it’s going to cement the principles of the basic skills and being able to execute the basic skills really well at a high level,” he told Gaelic Life.

“I think it’s going to put more emphasis back on the basic skills. The art of high fielding is coming back in, so now you’re developing breaking ball, kicking with both feet and man marking.

“Particularly at underage level, it’s about developing players and developing their skill set, developing being part of the team and how to be a good teammate.”

Barrett stresses simplicity. Complicated isn’t where it needs to be. Be backs up manager Jim McGuiness in his comments on Michael Murphy making three simple fist passes to create three goal chance in their win over Derry.

“I’m not big on quotes but I remember listening to the High Performance podcast and Phil Neville said high performance is the repetition of simplicity,” Barrett said.

“I really like that quote. I thought that’s really on the money. It’s that repetition of simplicity.
Michael, obviously he was brilliant but, as Jim said, it’s because he does the simple things really well.

“If you look at, any performer at the top of their game, in any sport around the world, they do the simple things really well. Often, they do the simple things better than everybody else.”

What should underage coaching look like when pondering a plan for the future? Barrett ponders.

“It’s about developing the skills as much as you can and you keep developing them,” came his response.

“The better your basic skills are, the more adaptable you can be to any type of game that you’re going to play.

“The new rules, for underage coaches and club coaches, maybe it’s about stepping back to say ‘let’s actually coach the basic skills here, let’s become really good at that’. Then, they can build tactical elements towards that.”

He agrees on the freshness of coaching sessions now. A focus on receiving a kick pass and creating space. Man marking is on its way back too.

It’s important for coaches to appreciate that not everything is high performance. Inter-county is as close to professional as it comes.

At club level, especially at underage, the training and game week can be enveloped in enjoyment. While winning is important, it can’t be everything. The big picture is bigger for a reason.

“If you’re down coaching the basic skills and doing it really well and they (players) become more competent, even at underage level, they’ll get a buzz out of being able to use both feet,” Barrett points out.

“It’ll make them better players and ultimately, then, it’ll be common place to kick the ball inside or catch the ball above your head or all those things.”

Read the full interview with Luke Barrett on his coaching career. Click here…