Are hurls massive these days?

OldMrBrennan83

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The Letheram

Yes, without doubt. I took down an old hurley I played with as a minor roughly 16-17 years ago and compared it to one I am playing with currently. The one now is almost twice as large. My striking is better with the larger hurley, pity I cant run like I did as a minor though.

nice_guy80

More surface area, but generally lighter.

purplepanda

Is there a size limit still? I thought the Hurl had to be maximum of 6" across the Bas? For an outfield player

Clareman

There's no difference between a goalies and an outfielders hurley, maximum size is 13cm (approx 6") at the widest point.

In regards to the size of them, generally they are a whole lot shorter now, I remember when your hurler came up to your hip bone, now it should be just resting on the ground when you hold it, the bas is a lot bigger now though than before, I put it down to the change in style of hurling, in the past ground hurling was a lot more important so you wanted a longer, thinner hurley to pull on the ball, now with more possession and striking from the hand/soloing length isn't important, you don't hear "shorten your grip" that much anymore

purplepanda

Watching the Shinty games on BBC Alba, some great striking of the ball on the ground by those lads.

In the old pictures of Hurlers & teams from 100 years ago the sticks are closer in style to Shinty sticks than to modern Hurls. A friend of mine has his old Kilkenny Dad's Hurl from the '40's, totally different to modern versions.

Hurling has changed a lot even since the '60's just watch the AIF's on youtube & you'll notice this. Suppose that's the same as most field sports during that time.