Steven Poacher – underage training has become ‘absurd’

Overtraining can only lead to injury

In his Gaelic Life coaching column this week Steven Poacher has raised the alarm about the level of coaching for minor and u-21 players.

Poacher believes that the quantity of training is too great, and something needs to be done to address what he calls a situation that has become ‘absurd’.

“We have a serious issue in our games particularly with the above age groups, but I also think that we have a serious issue across the board with our coaching and training of teams from underage level up to senior.

“The volume of training has got to absurd levels.

“Okay, having no competitive games to taper your training around presents a real challenge for a coach as many will fear losing the benefits of conditioning work and challenge games don’t really carry the same intensity or edge.

“However, we need to be careful. Do these lads really need this much training?”

Poacher goes on to reveal some scary research into the effect that over training has had on some Down players.

Read the full column in the current issue of Gaelic Life. Buy the online edition here.