Steven Poacher – Transferring from attack to defence

Teams must be both mentally and physically ready to transfer from attack to defence

Steven Poacher says that there is a high percentage of turnover ball in the modern game of Gaelic Football.

In his column in this week’s issue of Gaelic life he focuses on talking about how teams can quickly transfer from attack to defence, when they lose the ball.

“When your team turns possession over you immediately want to pressure the ball and not allow the oppositon to build an attack. At intercounty level the top teams such as Mayo and Dublin will do this very effectively.

“It is performed best by closing down the opposition quickly through mental and physical speed and shutting down the player in possesssion and also closing off his passing lanes and options

“This certainly won’t happen overnight and like any aspect of team play you try to coach it must be constantly reinforcered and requires lots of training time, co-ordination tackling and clear communication.

“Physically your players will need to have the sufficent levels of conditioining in order to allow them to play this high pressure style.”

Poacher goes on to illustrate a good game to play in training to help develop these skills.

Read the full article in the current issue of Gaelic Life.