Clare GAA Using PlayerTek To Improve Performance In Gaelic Football

Clare Senior Football are one of a growing number of GAA teams using PlayerTek to quantify and improve performance in Gaelic games.

Playing in the Allianz Football League Division 2, Clare use PlayerTek to monitor athlete load and inform the planning of training sessions for the senior team.

Coach Alan Flynn had previous experience of PlayerTek before joining Clare and believes the technology to be insightful, reliable and cost effective.

“I have previously used PlayerTek GPS before with other teams that I have been involved with over the past 2 or 3 years and I had a very good experience with it,” said Flynn. “When I spoke to the management team, we sat down and looked at what it offered and we felt it was something we could go with, and to cap it off it was very cost effective and something we could really rely on.”

Clare football’s head of strength and conditioning, Rob Mulcahy, uses the technology to develop training sessions that help players prepare for the specific demands of their individual positions.

“The research [in GAA] is relatively sparse, so [PlayerTek] allows us to develop a framework and identify what the main needs and performance determinants are for the sport,” said Mulcahy. “It really helps you quantify what you can focus on, so you’re able to identify how much distance a player needs to cover depending on position. So a full back will need to cover a different set distance to a midfielder, and that will allow me to program for my sessions what one player covers compared to the next player.”

Mulcahy also finds PlayerTek to be a powerful means to engage Clare’s players with performance data and monitor improvement over time.  

“The metrics that I use when trying to relate to my players are the ones that they are most relevant; things like distance per minute, overall distance and top speed,” Mulcahy said. “These metrics the players understand, so I’m able to relay that to them. It also allows me to look at previous performances and compare from game to game so they can see if they are improving and able to identify have they got better from game to game.”

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