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The Journal
2 days ago
- Sport
- The Journal
Running men: The secrets of Donegal's superb conditioning
The 42 WHEN JIM MCGUINNESS accepted the Donegal senior manager job, he hadn't any time to lose. He hadn't anything sorted, simply because on the occasions he had gone for the job previously, he put the effort in and didn't get it. This time, he didn't need any effort, the board were calling him to say the job was his. When he was a student at University Ulster Jordanstown, he shared a classroom with the former Ulster Rugby player and now Down strength and conditioning coach, Jonny Davis. In coaching terms, he had put the reps in. He understood physiology. One week after the first team meeting, the panel reported to Dunfanaghy for training on a Saturday morning. McGuinness tells the story in his autobiography; 'That morning, we did a very simple fist-passing and kicking drill, but for one minute flat out. The whistle went after ten seconds. 'Where are we at? Where are we at?' 'Not one player said one hundred percent. So we went back at it and the ball was flying about and there were mistakes galore and they were cursing and getting frustrated and complaining that they couldn't control the ball at that speed. Mistakes were good. After sixty seconds they were doubled over, red-faced, sucking in air. 'That's good,' I told them. 'All we need to do now is replicate that for another seventy.' Then, he brought them for afters after an hour of football. They took off their boots and jogged the two kilometres to the beach. He announced they would be doing two sets of six sprints, that would last 400 metres. 'There were no complaints,' he would write. 'But you could see it in the looks they exchanged: This guy is off his fucking rocker.' By then, he had Letterkenny man Adam Speer as his Strength and Conditioning Coach. Speer is a gym owner in his home town and has competed in Triathlons, while he has also completed Iron Man events. When Donegal were playing games in Clones, Speer would head off from his home sometimes before first light, and make his way there by his road bike. In time, McGuinness would add other expertise to help his squad reach optimum fitness, such as Joe Gallanagh, formerly of Munster Rugby who was there for 2014. It's an element of Donegal that a great number of people seize on. Their aerobic capacity under McGuinness just appears to be on a different plane altogether. The All-Ireland semi-final mauling of Meath was a case in point. You sense the Royals slightly threw their cap at the season once Oisin Gallen's goal went in at the start of the second half. But sending on a series of athletes looking to put in the perfect audition for an All-Ireland final place made them look – on a day of a heatwave – in peak physical condition. When the Football Review Committee mentioned in public that they would be requesting the GPS data of county teams to make comparisons under the new rules introduced for 2025, they never had a chance of Donegal giving that information up. At the heart of all they do is a level of secrecy. Promises of anonymity didn't interest Donegal, and, why should they? What we do know is what people are prepared to share. Jim McGuinness. Cathal Noonan / INPHO Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO In 2011, after they had beaten Derry in the Ulster final, Kevin Cassidy said this about the sessions that followed, 'Jim's warmups are unbelievable. You feel like dying in the middle of them. We might have warmed up with the ball for half an hour. Then we go into our sprints, eighty-metre sprints, 100 metre sprints, shuttle runs, cones on twenty yards either side of you and you have to sprint there and back. 'You have four men in a line and if there is more than a second or two seconds difference between the four men, you go again. There is no slacking off, there is no way out. It's the hardest I've ever trained in my life.' Donegal would also adopt the latest gadgetry. When they went training, they wore GPS trackers. Nowadays, GPS chips are worn in vests or in pouches sewn on players' jerseys. They have been known to appear even in a club reserve championship fixture. But in 2011, they were revolutionary. None of that is to detract from the deeply held belief in Gaelic Games that hard training bonds a team and is the best shortcut to confidence. When McGuinness first came into the Donegal team for the 1992 season, they beat Fermanagh in the semi-final, but the players weren't happy with their fitness levels. In 'Sam's For The Hills', the definitive book on Donegal football up to the mid-90s, James McHugh noted that his brother Martin said he had no intention of turning up to disgrace himself in another Ulster final. Advertisement 'We trained like dogs for a month,' said Martin Shovlin. 'Horses wouldn't have done the training we did,' said Anthony Molloy. Trainings soon looked different. A 15-minute run would be a warm up. Four 800 metre runs, four 400 metre runs and six 200 metre runs would follow. Occasionally, Martin McHugh himself would take a session that was dreaded by the others. Even he had his limits though. 'We did so much running I was fucked and I cut inside a cone,' the Wee Man said in the same book. 'Barry Cunningham was coming after me. He told me it was my fault that we were doing this training and that I'd have to run around those cones the same as everybody else! We didn't see a football for weeks.' Martin McHugh. James Meehan / INPHO James Meehan / INPHO / INPHO The value of hard work was an early lesson for McGuinness, but none of it was without method. The thing is, that most strength and conditioning coaches all do similar courses of study. They intern at professional environments and soak up the lessons. There is a culture of information sharing and they migrate through various jobs with frequency. As a result, there are few avenues left unexplored in this area. Perhaps what makes Donegal a little different, and this has been referenced by Eamonn McGee recently, is McGuinness' ability to convince players that even though they feel they have nothing left to give, they have more in them. Nobody needs insider information for this. You only have to look at Karl Lacey, staggering around, out on his feet after Donegal's extra-time win over Kildare in the 2011. 'From 2014 to 2020 or 2018 when I stopped playing, there wasn't much change in the drilling, but it's the way Jim can speak,' says Darrach O'Connor, who played under McGuinness, Rory Gallagher and Declan Bonner. 'It's just different. It just removes nearly all doubt from your mind. 'I just think to myself, my own story, the injuries I had, I went from loving Gaelic, and then feeling like, 'Just get through the session and don't get hurt.' 'I know rightly, if Jim was involved with the management, he would have just eradicated that. He does it in a way that you don't know he's pushing you, if you know what I mean. It's just, every run matters, every single drill matters, and there's no slacking,' he continues. 'Whereas I think sometimes other managers will sit back and they'll watch the drill for what they're looking for, and they might forget about certain things, whereas he always just demanded 100%, and that's not easy. 'But when you see him deliver it, it's doing the simple things at an unbelievably high level.' This year, Donegal's conditioning has stood out. In the ten games they have played so far, it's notable that they took and eventually overcame Armagh in extra-time. Rather than settle for a draw against Mayo, they pushed on for Ciaran Moore to shoot the winner. In wins over Louth, the second half of Monaghan and against Meath, they appeared to be growing stronger throughout the game. Is it something for Kerry to be spooked about? Maybe not. They themselves will certainly test just how fit Michael Murphy is, especially now that the noise around his physical challenges have been amplified. But if the game ticks into the wee small minutes and doubts cross your mind, you just never know. * Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here Written by Declan Bogue and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won't find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women's sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here .
The 42
3 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
Running men: The secrets of Donegal's superb conditioning
WHEN JIM MCGUINNESS accepted the Donegal senior manager job, he hadn't any time to lose. He hadn't anything sorted, simply because on the occasions he had gone for the job previously, he put the effort in and didn't get it. This time, he didn't need any effort, the board were calling him to say the job was his. When he was a student at University Ulster Jordanstown, he shared a classroom with the former Ulster Rugby player and now Down strength and conditioning coach, Jonny Davis. In coaching terms, he had put the reps in. He understood physiology. One week after the first team meeting, the panel reported to Dunfanaghy for training on a Saturday morning. McGuinness tells the story in his autobiography; 'That morning, we did a very simple fist-passing and kicking drill, but for one minute flat out. The whistle went after ten seconds. 'Where are we at? Where are we at?' 'Not one player said one hundred percent. So we went back at it and the ball was flying about and there were mistakes galore and they were cursing and getting frustrated and complaining that they couldn't control the ball at that speed. Mistakes were good. After sixty seconds they were doubled over, red-faced, sucking in air. 'That's good,' I told them. 'All we need to do now is replicate that for another seventy.' Then, he brought them for afters after an hour of football. They took off their boots and jogged the two kilometres to the beach. He announced they would be doing two sets of six sprints, that would last 400 metres. 'There were no complaints,' he would write. 'But you could see it in the looks they exchanged: This guy is off his fucking rocker.' By then, he had Letterkenny man Adam Speer as his Strength and Conditioning Coach. Speer is a gym owner in his home town and has competed in Triathlons, while he has also completed Iron Man events. When Donegal were playing games in Clones, Speer would head off from his home sometimes before first light, and make his way there by his road bike. Advertisement In time, McGuinness would add other expertise to help his squad reach optimum fitness, such as Joe Gallanagh, formerly of Munster Rugby who was there for 2014. It's an element of Donegal that a great number of people seize on. Their aerobic capacity under McGuinness just appears to be on a different plane altogether. The All-Ireland semi-final mauling of Meath was a case in point. You sense the Royals slightly threw their cap at the season once Oisin Gallen's goal went in at the start of the second half. But sending on a series of athletes looking to put in the perfect audition for an All-Ireland final place made them look – on a day of a heatwave – in peak physical condition. When the Football Review Committee mentioned in public that they would be requesting the GPS data of county teams to make comparisons under the new rules introduced for 2025, they never had a chance of Donegal giving that information up. At the heart of all they do is a level of secrecy. Promises of anonymity didn't interest Donegal, and, why should they? What we do know is what people are prepared to share. Jim McGuinness. Cathal Noonan / INPHO Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO In 2011, after they had beaten Derry in the Ulster final, Kevin Cassidy said this about the sessions that followed, 'Jim's warmups are unbelievable. You feel like dying in the middle of them. We might have warmed up with the ball for half an hour. Then we go into our sprints, eighty-metre sprints, 100 metre sprints, shuttle runs, cones on twenty yards either side of you and you have to sprint there and back. 'You have four men in a line and if there is more than a second or two seconds difference between the four men, you go again. There is no slacking off, there is no way out. It's the hardest I've ever trained in my life.' Donegal would also adopt the latest gadgetry. When they went training, they wore GPS trackers. Nowadays, GPS chips are worn in vests or in pouches sewn on players' jerseys. They have been known to appear even in a club reserve championship fixture. But in 2011, they were revolutionary. None of that is to detract from the deeply held belief in Gaelic Games that hard training bonds a team and is the best shortcut to confidence. When McGuinness first came into the Donegal team for the 1992 season, they beat Fermanagh in the semi-final, but the players weren't happy with their fitness levels. In 'Sam's For The Hills', the definitive book on Donegal football up to the mid-90s, James McHugh noted that his brother Martin said he had no intention of turning up to disgrace himself in another Ulster final. 'We trained like dogs for a month,' said Martin Shovlin. 'Horses wouldn't have done the training we did,' said Anthony Molloy. Trainings soon looked different. A 15-minute run would be a warm up. Four 800 metre runs, four 400 metre runs and six 200 metre runs would follow. Occasionally, Martin McHugh himself would take a session that was dreaded by the others. Even he had his limits though. 'We did so much running I was fucked and I cut inside a cone,' the Wee Man said in the same book. 'Barry Cunningham was coming after me. He told me it was my fault that we were doing this training and that I'd have to run around those cones the same as everybody else! We didn't see a football for weeks.' Martin McHugh. James Meehan / INPHO James Meehan / INPHO / INPHO The value of hard work was an early lesson for McGuinness, but none of it was without method. The thing is, that most strength and conditioning coaches all do similar courses of study. They intern at professional environments and soak up the lessons. There is a culture of information sharing and they migrate through various jobs with frequency. As a result, there are few avenues left unexplored in this area. Perhaps what makes Donegal a little different, and this has been referenced by Eamonn McGee recently, is McGuinness' ability to convince players that even though they feel they have nothing left to give, they have more in them. Nobody needs insider information for this. You only have to look at Karl Lacey, staggering around, out on his feet after Donegal's extra-time win over Kildare in the 2011. 'From 2014 to 2020 or 2018 when I stopped playing, there wasn't much change in the drilling, but it's the way Jim can speak,' says Darrach O'Connor, who played under McGuinness, Rory Gallagher and Declan Bonner. Related Reads 'At 18 years of age I would have done anything for football, at 21 I wanted an excuse to stop' 'One of my early years, I had the match played in my head a thousand times beforehand' David Clifford 'could be the best player that has ever played the game' - McGuinness 'It's just different. It just removes nearly all doubt from your mind. 'I just think to myself, my own story, the injuries I had, I went from loving Gaelic, and then feeling like, 'Just get through the session and don't get hurt.' 'I know rightly, if Jim was involved with the management, he would have just eradicated that. He does it in a way that you don't know he's pushing you, if you know what I mean. It's just, every run matters, every single drill matters, and there's no slacking,' he continues. 'Whereas I think sometimes other managers will sit back and they'll watch the drill for what they're looking for, and they might forget about certain things, whereas he always just demanded 100%, and that's not easy. 'But when you see him deliver it, it's doing the simple things at an unbelievably high level.' This year, Donegal's conditioning has stood out. In the ten games they have played so far, it's notable that they took and eventually overcame Armagh in extra-time. Rather than settle for a draw against Mayo, they pushed on for Ciaran Moore to shoot the winner. In wins over Louth, the second half of Monaghan and against Meath, they appeared to be growing stronger throughout the game. Is it something for Kerry to be spooked about? Maybe not. They themselves will certainly test just how fit Michael Murphy is, especially now that the noise around his physical challenges have been amplified. But if the game ticks into the wee small minutes and doubts cross your mind, you just never know. * Check out the latest episode of The42′s GAA Weekly podcast here
Belfast Telegraph
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Belfast Telegraph
The Open: Rory McIlroy looking to go low among early starters as player slates management of round one
3 minutes ago Four-way tie for the lead Overnight leader Christiaan Bezuidenhout nearly pushed his opening tee shot out of bounds on the first hole at Royal Portrush and that precedes an opening bogey for the South African, a thick lie in the rough off that tee shot meaning he can only hack it short of the green and then he fails to make up-and-down, leaving his putt both short and left. Bezuidenhout drops to -3. And then there were four. At four. Under, that is. 8 minutes ago Adam McKendry Rory is here He's just been spotted entering the premises with his manager Niall O'Connor, formerly of Ulster Rugby fame, and he greets coach Michael Bannon with a warm handshake before entering the Players' Clubhouse beside the main Royal Portrush clubhouse. 32 minutes ago Gareth Hanna The fifth green is on Rickie Fowler and amateur Ethan Fang, who's -2 for his opening four and +2 for the week - have both smashed their drives onto the middle of the green at the 382-yard, downhill par four. The breeze is behind again there today - making it an exciting place to watch. 42 minutes ago Gareth Hanna Who to watch early on Friday If you're just arriving at the course for Friday's play, there are plenty of big names out there. Rickie Fowler is out playing the picturesque fifth. He's one over par for the day - one under for the week - after bogey on the par three third. And Garcia is in the group behind on four, having returned to level par for the week with a bounce back birdie at the second. Following them is Matt Wallace, Matt Wallace, opening his day with two pars to stay +2. 56 minutes ago Sure Portrush is easy There's a whopping FIVE players under-par this morning in the nine groups on the course (for those struggling with the maths, that's 27 players). Amateur champion Ethan Fang is the best on the course right now as he's put together back-to-back birdies at the second and third to reach two-under for the day and back to two-over for the tournament. 59 minutes ago Player slates opening round time management Scottish player Daniel Young finished late last night in front of a handful of fans left in the grandstand, watching on in the dusk. There was even a Scottish flag draped over the edge of the stand for his arrival at the green. But it all coming almost six hours after he teed off at the first, left him ticked off as he signed for a four over 75. He said: "There was another group behind us as well. I think it's one of those where they just want your round. When it's taking six hours as well, it's pretty rough. I don't know, there was no refs talking to anybody I think about pace of play and stuff, which is probably disappointing, why it's taking six hours I guess. It's one of those things. I don't know what to say. None of us saw any of the tee shots on 18 there. Yeah, there was nobody. Yeah, pretty disappointed, a bit deflated at the minute, to be honest." Today 06:54 AM Friday weather forecast Bring your umbrellas folks, it's going to be another wet one. Fortunately the weather is due to improve on Saturday and Sunday. Gareth Hanna Tough start for Sergio The Spaniard had got in and one under par yesterday but it's a nightmare opening hole as he cards a double bogey six to plunge the wrong side of par for the tournament. Again the problem was missing the fairway to the left. Then he found the troublesome front pot bunker and with the flag back left, it's a long shot out of the sand. He couldn't find the green from there, or get up and down with his chip. Half a dozen. Today 06:45 AM Gareth Hanna The one for the nerds: Friday's pin positions Today 06:41 AM Some breaking news... How about this for exciting new golf course plans! Northern Ireland set for first new links golf course in a century as Galgorm reveals £30m development plans Northern Ireland is in line for the creation of its first new links golf course in over a century after the Galgorm Collection announced plans to develop a new site in Bellarena. Today 06:33 AM Adam McKendry First bogey of the day For Johnson, I mean. There have been bogeys elsewhere. The two-time Major winner drops a shot on the par-five second and returns to one-under-par. It's the hope that kills ye. Quoted message Today 06:17 AM Adam McKendry First birdie of the day It goes to former American Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson, who picks up a shot on the par-four first and moves to -2, two back of the lead. We always see someone go low in the first couple of groups in any golf tournament - could the 2015 Open champion be that guy today? Today 06:17 AM Adam McKendry First birdie of the day It goes to former American Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson, who picks up a shot on the par-four first and moves to -2, two back of the lead. We always see someone go low in the first couple of groups in any golf tournament - could the 2015 Open champion be that guy today? Today 05:55 AM Tom McKibbin pup-date It's not an on-course update for the Newtownabbey man, who opened with a one-over 72 in the first group on the course on Thursday and doesn't tee off until 11.26am today, but rather an off-the-course one as he did something rather special with Dogs Trust in Ballymena - check this out! NI golfer offers home to abandoned pup named after him Northern Ireland golfer and Open player Tom McKibbin has offered to take in an abandoned pup named after him. Today 05:44 AM Adam McKendry What does the cut line look like? It's only the top-70 and ties who make it into the weekend at Royal Portrush and at the end of play on Thursday the 70th-placed player in the field was at +2. The pin positions don't look to be as tricky today, so if I was to hazard a guess I would say the cut line will be around that mark or might creep up to +3. But we'll get a much better sense once we see how the course is playing. Today 05:36 AM We are under way! Our first group are out on the course already, 2009 champion Stewart Cink hitting the first tee shot of the second round to officially begin day two at The Open Championship! Good drive it was, too. Right down the middle. Today 05:31 AM Good morning! Ready for some more? We are back at Royal Portrush for the second round of The Open Championship with plenty of action to bring you over the course of the next 15 hours, with plenty of storylines to follow on the Dunluce Links in this morning wave! Can Rory McIlroy (10.09am) go low and move up the leaderboard? Can Bryson DeChambeau (9.47am) rebound from yesterday's 78 and potentially stick around for the weekend? Will either Christiaan Bezuidenhout (8.36am) or Harris English (10.20am), the only two overnight leaders out early, set a low target for the later starters to reach? Strap in, we're about to find out! Yesterday 08:32 PM Gareth Hanna Pick your fighter: Jason Day vs Barra Best Australian golfer competing at The Open brands NI climate 'craziest' he's seen, prompting response from Barra Best An Australian golfer competing at The Open in Portrush has expressed his surprise at the unpredictable climate in Northern Ireland, calling it the 'craziest' he's 'ever experienced.' Yesterday 08:25 PM Gareth Hanna Steven Beacom on day one: Rory's an emotional rollercoaster Rory McIlroy delivers an emotional rollercoaster on day one at The Open… and he's given himself a chance Rory McIlroy is on that emotional rollercoaster again. Yesterday 08:20 PM What Rory said after an opening one-under 70 On his round: "It was good. I had it going at three-under thru 10 and let a few slip there around the middle of the round. Steadied the ship and it was nice to shoot under par. Once we turned for home the wind picked up and it became more difficult. Tough enough day, so to shoot under par was great." The support:"Absolutely incredible. I feel the support of the entire country out there which is an incredible position to be in but you also don't want to let them down. It feels better than six years ago. I'm surprised four under is leading, I thought someone would go out and shoot five or six under." Difference on 1 tee this time:"I knew what to expect, it wasn't new to me but knowing what it was like was helpful. I didn't feel like I was walking into the unknown like last time, this time I had a better idea of what was coming to me." Importance of the putt on 15:"It was a big putt, especially having bogeyed three of the last four at that point. It was a huge putt to keep the momentum I had and then playing the last three holes under par was great." Load more Live Blog Software
BBC News
03-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Ulster's home ground to be renamed Affidea Stadium
Ulster Rugby's home ground has been renamed the Affidea Stadium after a "long-term" sponsorship agreement with the healthcare Belfast ground, originally known as Ravenhill, had been called Kingspan Stadium since Ulster statement said the new deal will provide "a strong platform to invest in the development of players, facilities and fan experience"."Together, we will continue to invest in elite and grassroots rugby, and we look forward to seeing the Affidea Stadium become a beacon for sport and community pride in Ulster," said the province's chief executive officer Hugh 11-year naming rights deal with construction firm Kingspan concluded at the end of last month, while the association went back to commercial relationship with the Cavan-based company had been questioned in the wake of the firm's links to the Grenfell Tower people died in the fire in London in 2017 and Kingspan's business practices were criticised during an company, however, said its products made up only 5% of the insulation at Grenfell and that they were used without its recommendation.
BBC News
01-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Ulster Rugby: Kingspan Stadium in Belfast will have a new name soon
The home of Ulster Rugby in Belfast will no longer be called the Kingspan 11-year deal with the Irish firm ran out at the end of June and a new sponsor has been Rugby say they will reveal the new name of the stadium "over the coming weeks".Ulster's commercial relationship with Cavan-based Kingspan was criticised by the government. They previously called for Ulster Rugby to reconsider its association with the firm over its link to the Grenfell Tower was announced last year that the long-running commercial relationship would end in June Rugby confirmed on Tuesday on its website that it had "started a removal process of the Kingspan branding within and around the stadium, having now concluded the sponsorship".It added: "In conjunction with our new partner, we will be making an announcement over the coming weeks."There is extensive Kingspan branding at the stadium, previously known as Tuesday evening, the name was still above the turnstiles and at the side of the main stand. Road signs showing directions to 'Kingspan Stadium' were also in place. Grenfell fire Seventy-two people died in the Grenfell Tower fire in west London in an inquiry, Kingspan's business practices were the company said its products made up only 5% of the insulation at Grenfell and were used without its has been a sponsor of Ulster for more than 20 years. The naming rights deal dates back to 2014. The firm has also had its name on the team a disappointing 2024-2025 season, Ulster are preparing for next season with their first league match at the newly-named stadium due to take place on 26 September against the Welsh side Dragons RFC.
