Coaches get left behind if they are stuck in their ways

A LIMERICK hurling guru giving a coaching pep talk to the brightest minds in Tyrone football – that’s how far Gaelic games has come in embracing best practice. Paul Kinnerk (below) brought the teaching philosophy and tactical nous that has made him an integral part of the Limerick hurling success story to a recent Tyrone coaching webinar.

‘Damien Harvey is our coaching officer in Tyrone, doing a great job. In normal circumstances you would have guest coaches coming in to coach the coaches,’ explains Canavan.

‘He sensed that there was an appetite for online learning amongst the clubs.

‘The highlight of that – and I was on it myself – was the webinar Paul Kinnerk gave. It was enlightening, from real life experiences, things that we should be doing, not only with senior teams but underage teams.

‘There are a lot of great speakers who come out with great lingo or waffle – Paul is devoid of all of that. It’s easy to see how he could relate to players and how they’d respond to him.

‘If you believe as a coach that you know everything about the game, then you’re not destined for a great career. The better players that I have played with, they developed a mentality that you never stop learning.

‘A number of players that I won All-Ireland medals with weren’t good enough at the time to make the Tyrone minor team, yet they were good enough later to make the senior team, win AllIrelands, win All-Stars. Because they had the right mentality that you never stop learning. ‘Look at Gaelic football this past 10 or 15 years. If you were stuck in your ways, I think you’d be left behind. Modern thinking is always important. It’s an ever-changing game, an ever-evolving world.’