Analysis: both counties will be aiming for a 70% conversion rate if they want to win Sam Maguire, so how can they do this?
In Éamonn Fitzmaurice's recent post-match analysis of Kerry's defeat to Armagh in the All-Ireland semi-final, he referenced Kerry’s conversion percentages. From half-time on, Armagh's shooting accuracy was 62%, Kerry's was 30%. In the other semi-final, Donegal's conversion rate was 76% in the first half but dropped to 36% in the second half, while Galway's second half conversion was 64%.
As much as pundits and coaches can complicate matters, those percentages alone show the winning and losing of both games (skill execution under pressure as Lee Keegan called it). Next Sunday, Galway and Armagh will be aiming for a 70% conversion rate if they are to expect to bring Sam back to their respective counties. How can they do this?
Here's the problem...
Previous qualitative of high performance intercounty footballers and coaches detailed how the increased culture of strength and conditioning has resulted in "a metaphorical tug of war between skills development and physical preparation". One current household name spoke wistfully of the purity in being a county minor and "rocking up to training, putting on the boots and kicking points." He compared it to senior football training where players are arriving earlier and earlier to do foam rolling, activation work and gym work, but not extra ball work.
The increased S&C culture in many inter-county set-ups has led to a move away from skills development because managers have a perception that players should already be skilful and that priorities should lay elsewhere. However, as Bryan Sheehan alluded to a couple of months ago, "I think we're training athletes to play football rather than footballers to play football."
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The other, more traditional, GAA problem with regards to shooting practice is often the lack of a contextualised aspect to it. We have all seen GAA sessions on Tuesday and Thursday nights up and down the country. The formal session begins at 7.30pm, but players start arriving onto the pitch at 7.10pm. Like moths to a flame they collect a ball, regardless of their usual position on the team (corner back to corner forward), and saunter over to their favoured angle for a free kick on their dominant foot.
Unless the player in question is the designated free taker, one should justifiably question the efficacy of a corner back taking stationary kicks in front of goal for "practice". The same could be said for unopposed shooting drills, with more cones on the pitch than a set of roadworks. The problem here is that these examples (stationary kicking and unopposed shooting drills) lack game specificity and will do little to build skill execution and decision making under pressure. For instance, how will the player react when they receive the ball ten feet away from where the cone has been placed in previous sessions?
When we do not replicate opposition proximity, or game specific contexts, we will inevitably end up with a reduced shooting success percentage when proximity and pressure is increased. This is precisely what our own research has shown in Male Tier one intercounty teams - as opposition proximity increased, shot success decreased.
These findings were mirrored in other Gaelic football research and sports where it was found that the addition of a defender in basketball skills tests reduced shooting accuracy by 20%. One may think this is self-evident, but players are often creatures of habit and refer back to the comfortable/familiar, while coaches will often refer back to the traditional "hand me down" unopposed drills.
So what's the solution?
Everything in the game is coachable. You can set up situations for everything in the game. The reality is, are you giving enough time for skills to be developed? And the answer for most coaches: "of course I'm not." (Former intercounty coach)
The key for Galway and Armagh shooters is the use of game specific practice and contextualised interference due to the principle that increased contextualised interference in shooting practice (defender proximity) leads to improved skill retention. The reason contextual interference effects are beneficial to skill acquisition is that the individual is required to develop a broader memory representation than if only one version of a skill is presented during acquisition (as seen so often in unopposed shooting drills).
The players who shoot successfully under pressure next Sunday will be the ones who have prepared according to the game demands and not taken the "comfortable" approach to practice
In essence, the player is trained to adapt to different situations and execute accordingly, as they would need to do in a match. This type of practice is more mentally draining than drills based work, but the retention rates of the skill being practiced are far higher.
As it's high performance intercounty players taking the field next Sunday, the test for both sets of management teams is to increase challenge difficulty according to player ability. A Challenge Point Framework for motor learning, previously terms "desirable difficulties" has been proposed for these situations.
The Challenge Point Framework suggests that learning is optimal when the performer is appropriately challenged – too difficult or too easy and the player will disengage. For efficient skill learning such as shooting, the individual must be appropriately challenged (Optimal challenge point) during practice and this challenge must change as the learner becomes more skilled. Fast gains in practice (seen in isolated unopposed drills) give the impression that learning is taking place, but when there is little to no challenge, then there is little to no learning.
In essence, the task demands in practice assigned to Shane Walsh or Conor Turbett should deviate from many of their teammates.
How to implement this
A key method in implementing contextualised practice is through the use of a Game-Based Approach, a methodology that has become more well known in Gaelic games in recent times due to the PhD research of Dr. Paul Kinnerk, coach of the Limerick senior hurlers. In essence, the most effective way to contextualise skill execution and decision making under pressure is through playing conditioned and small sided games within sessions to allow players to then bring these principles back into a full game later in the session.
These games tend to have a laser sharp objective each night and, despite what some may believe, are not simply a case of throwing in a ball and blowing the whistle. However, to underline the traditionalist approach evident in GAA coaching, Kinnerk in his research found that the majority of coaches did not implement this approach in their training. One would imagine this is changing ever so slowly with the success of the Limerick hurlers in recent years.
As both Armagh and Galway wind down their preparations ahead of the big day, it is wise to be cognisant of the line that "comfort is a beautiful place but nothing ever grows there". Many see that line as being synonymous with the grind of fitness work, but it's also more than appropriate for skill development and shooting practice. The Armagh and Galway players who shoot successfully under pressure next Sunday will be the ones who have prepared according to the game demands and not taken the "comfortable" approach to practice.
This research was supported by the Irish Research Council Postgraduate Award Scheme.
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
