Paul Durcan is an All-Ireland winning goalkeeper with his native Donegal but his latest success came from coaching the Mayo goalkeepers to glory. He spoke with Michael McMullan… It’s Friday, five days after Mayo’s All-Ireland success sparked the week of all weeks out west. Life is good. Insanely brilliant. It’s Paul Durcan’s second day back […]
Whenever a goalkeeper is performing during competition and performing during training sessions, they do so with two completely different approaches. The mindset a goalkeeper will have when they are performing during competition will greatly differ to the mindset they will apply when they are training. During competition the goalkeeper has a greater need to have […]
“The area of immense interest to me was the importance of detail, not just any kind of detail but the development of things that would and could set us apart from any other team in the world. We had to assume that our main competitors would also have the same quality of players, the same […]
WHENEVER I am coaching goalkeepers around the country, there are eight main goalkeeping areas that I will coach them in. These eight areas are, in my opinion, the main areas involved within the goalkeeping position and incorporate every possibility that a goalkeeper may face during competitive games. My eight goalkeeping areas are technical, activation, goalkeeping conditioning, […]
MY Levelled Progression Model is an excellent framework to use when looking to know what skills to introduce and when to introduce them. It deals with the different developmental stages of a goalkeeper in the context of their age and used correctly can massively improve the performances of any goalkeeper. In the sixth level of my progression model, it […]
Darren Devine is a GAA Analyst and has looked back over round one of the Sam Maguire race. Michael McMullan outlines some of his key numbers. POSSESSION is nine tenths of the law. How often have we heard it? The way football is now, it’s even more important than that. There are two main ways […]
“This compass does not point north… It points to the thing you want most in this world.” – Captain Jack Sparrow THIS is a quote from Hollywood blockbuster movie ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ starring Johnny Depp as the flamboyant and estranged pirate Captain Jack Sparrow. The film follows the serendipitous antihero as he bumbles his way […]
OVER my football career I have played in many positions. From defence to forwards I have experienced playing in every position possible on the field. In later years, from U16 up to senior I played at midfield until I was 24 at which time a took a four-year sabbatical from football. When I returned to […]
IN a previous article, I have focused on how teams need to put more concerted efforts into providing adequate structures in place in regard to their goalkeepers and more specifically their youth goalkeepers. I have outlined the importance of getting the correct training methods specific to the position while also stressing the importance they have to […]
AT the weekend, my old Armagh teammate produced a kickout masterclass in their Ulster Championship semi-final against rivals Down. The level of consistency and efficiency in execution resulted in a ninety-five percentage kickout retention, 21 of 22 to be exact, on their own kickout. Kicking to this level is something that does not come with […]
