Waterford are one of many inter-county teams availing of a warm weather training camp ahead of championship, and Shane McGrath says it is invaluable time for both management and players.
The Deise signed off their league campaign with a two-point defeat to Kilkenny at the weekend.
A second successive loss in Division 1B means they fail to make the semi-finals, with manager Davy Fitzgerald taking the panel on a warm weather training camp to Portugal tomorrow ahead of their Munster SHC opener against All-Ireland champions Limerick, which is just a month away.
The Treaty are only recently back from a training stint in Portugal – the panel returned just before the league win over Westmeath – and a number of teams are expected to travel to warmer shores to gear up for championship.
Speaking in 2020 after a Portuguese training camp, Limerick manager John Kiely said it was a huge benefit to preparations.
"We got five pitch sessions in - you can't get that done here in two and a half weeks," he insisted at the time.
Discussing the topic further on this week's RTÉ GAA podcast, former Tipperary hurler Shane McGrath outlined what the likely schedule for foreign training camp.
"You get a month’s worth of work between meetings and training sessions," he outlined.
"You’ll do a tough morning session, usually a pitch session. The afternoon might be a collective gym session and then lunch, and you will be eating well for the week.
"In the evening you are probably back doing a pitch session, playing an internal game, working on something.
"You’ll have something to eat and then maybe at 7, 8 o’clock and going through video stuff in groups. That’s what it is, three group sessions and video/tactical work
The 2010 All-Ireland winner said there while there is down time and the chance to bond – golf can be popular with some players – it is the efficiency of the time together that makes it so beneficial.
"When you write it all down, that would take a month to do at home to get together that much and train that much.
"It’s massive what you can get out of it."
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
Listen to the RTÉ GAA Podcast on the RTÉ Radio Player, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
