Making hurling better

Pixel Eater

Okay hurling is a great sport; fast, action packed and exciting but I've been wondering recently if it could be improved with a few minor alterations.
The modern game is played almost entirely in the air and games usually have very high point totals. Players are able to propel the sliotar over a massive portion of the pitch with the resulting slew of points and glut of wides.
Two causes of this is the wide bás on modern hurls and the relative lightness of the sliotar. Most bás these days are huge, far larger than they were even 12 or 15 years ago. In fact most are wider than the maximum stipulated in the rules.
The sliotar is lighter then most similar balls from other sports. The average weight of a sliotar is appox. 115g compared to a baseball (145g), cricket (160g) or even hockey (160g).

So thinner hurl and heavier ball to stimulate more ground based action, more build-up play and generally keep more activity on the pitch. Just my thoughts, what do people think?

Davys Fits

I think the handpass is an 'easy option' for a hurler. Im convinced that reducing the number of consecutive handpasses to 2 or even 1 would promote more stick work either on the ground or in the air. It would also make the defensive system less effective which might be a good thing. Football has been destroyed by hand passing and its accepted now as part of the game. Please dont let the same happen to hurling.

Water John

Do most of them qualify as handpasses any way, look more like throws most of the time.
Hope teams don't start using sweeper and extra back the same as football.

tomwaterford

Pixel Eater wrote: »

So thinner hurl and heavier ball to stimulate more ground based action, more build-up play and generally keep more activity on the pitch. Just my thoughts, what do people think?

Think this will slow the game down and cause a development of more rucks/mauls type hurling

Like a kind of rugby cross hurling mess of a game...and who wants that

g6fdyotp5nj2l7

It ain't broke don't fix it

Dirty Dingus McGee

I would say the ball is a little light.Hurls are better quality and players are stronger now and so scoring from distance is no great skill anymore.

It's far too easy to score scoring from outside the 45 should be reasonably difficult whereas anything from midfield in is piss easy these days.

I think the sliothar should be made a little heavier as I think it would increase the skill level in the game, scoring should be the most difficult skill in any sport however in hurling it isn't the most difficult thing to do and there isn't enough of a premium for a player being able to score.

Deskjockey

Can we bring back players wearing flat caps, subs and managers chewing fags, terriers on pitches, fans wearing furry hats, the bishop throwing in the ball, full backs swinging wildly knocking lumps out of full forwards...

Anything I missed?

Water John

Goalkeepers getting buried.

Xenophile

Pixel Eater wrote: »

Okay hurling is a great sport; fast, action packed and exciting but I've been wondering recently if it could be improved with a few minor alterations.

The sliotar is lighter then most similar balls from other sports. The average weight of a sliotar is appox. 115g compared to a baseball (145g), cricket (160g) or even hockey (160g).

No improvement needed, catching a ball in the air with both ball and man going at a tremendous speed is a great skill.

A heavier ball could result in more injuries.

The team who have the most wides normally end up on the losing side. Now that's a skill that could be improved.

The All Ireland Final only involving two counties is one of the most viewed programmes in the whole calendar year !

Water John

It is one of the great sports in the world, without a doubt. I think the OP in fairness was just looking for tweaks to make it better.
Fierce pressure now a half back line. Teams now thinking of adding the extra defender there. That will disimprove the spectacle IMO. The very long puck outs cause much of this.

Pixel Eater

Davys Fits wrote: »

I think the handpass is an 'easy option' for a hurler. Im convinced that reducing the number of consecutive handpasses to 2 or even 1 would promote more stick work either on the ground or in the air. It would also make the defensive system less effective which might be a good thing. Football has been destroyed by hand passing and its accepted now as part of the game. Please dont let the same happen to hurling.

Don't think that handpassing will have that detrimental effect; hurling and football are very different sports. At the end of the day hurling uses a stick to move the (quite small) ball as opposed to just hand and feet.

Pixel Eater

tomwaterford wrote: »

Think this will slow the game down and cause a development of more rucks/mauls type hurling

Like a kind of rugby cross hurling mess of a game...and who wants that

Well I wouldn't envisage a complete departure away from the current game. A slightly heavier ball may result in a little more of some maul like action but some of that can be quite exciting in it's own right, and it's no where near like the static, melees you see in rugby sometimes.

Pixel Eater

Xenophile wrote: »

No improvement needed, catching a ball in the air with both ball and man going at a tremendous speed is a great skill.

A heavier ball could result in more injuries.

The team who have the most wides normally end up on the losing side. Now that's a skill that could be improved.

The All Ireland Final only involving two counties is one of the most viewed programmes in the whole calendar year !

I agree it's a great skill but make the ball only slightly heavier so wouldn't cause any injuries. All these players taking potshots form the halfway line that inevitably go miles wide: just more time the ball is out of play. If it dropped short and cause a bit of tension in the opponents box...

HatchetMan7

Sideline cut = 2 points and maybe your 1st goal = 3 points, your 2nd goal = 4 points, third goal = 5 points and so on. If that doesn't promote attacking play i don't know what would.

Bonniedog

Hurling is an infinitely superior game to what it was even 30 years ago. Some of it has to do with better sticks, a lighter ball, and fitness. Skill levels are also higher. Just look at some of the games from the 70s they show and they were finals!

I remember league games that would make junior B club matches now seem like classics. Of course there were great players and given modern conditions they would no doubt thrive, but a lot of it was barely watchable. Same applies to football of course.

Curiously the only team sport I think was more enjoyable watching in the 70s than now was soccer!

Dyr

Water John wrote: »

Goalkeepers getting buried.

God be with the days when keepers knew that if stopping the sliotar didn't kill them the full forward that was coming behind it would.

nice_guy80

Just implement the feckin rules!!

Handpasses have to have clear daylight. Most are now illegal. I saw a lad in a club game last Sunday get away with at least 5 of them

This craic of 'taking on yer man' is just charging by another name. If a player runs straight into another player then he deserves to be penalised.

Stoner

The lighter ball was a health and safety change no ?
If it was as heavy as a cricket ball it would do serious damage

Pixel Eater

nice_guy80 wrote: »

Just implement the feckin rules!!

Handpasses have to have clear daylight. Most are now illegal. I saw a lad in a club game last Sunday get away with at least 5 of them

This craic of 'taking on yer man' is just charging by another name. If a player runs straight into another player then he deserves to be penalised.

Also include the implication of the proper bas size while they're at it.

Stoner wrote: »

The lighter ball was a health and safety change no ?
If it was as heavy as a cricket ball it would do serious damage

Well (according to Wiki anyhow) the current sliotar replaced the poorer quality and inconsistent one; so not so much health and safety but to improve the game: exactly what I propose.
A cricket ball is both significantly heavier and harder than a sliotar, and it's the latter trait that makes them so lethal. Just make the sliotar a bit heavier but not near as weighty as a cricket ball.

Xenophile

Pixel Eater wrote: »

Okay hurling is a great sport; fast, action packed and exciting but I've been wondering recently if it could be improved with a few minor alterations.
The modern game is played almost entirely in the air and games usually have very high point totals. Players are able to propel the sliotar over a massive portion of the pitch with the resulting slew of points and glut of wides.
Two causes of this is the wide bás on modern hurls and the relative lightness of the sliotar. Most bás these days are huge, far larger than they were even 12 or 15 years ago. In fact most are wider than the maximum stipulated in the rules.
The sliotar is lighter then most similar balls from other sports. The average weight of a sliotar is appox. 115g compared to a baseball (145g), cricket (160g) or even hockey (160g).

So thinner hurl and heavier ball to stimulate more ground based action, more build-up play and generally keep more activity on the pitch. Just my thoughts, what do people think?

You deserve to be complemented on your bringing issues you feel strongly about into the public arena. However, it is obvious that most people are happy with the game as it stands.

Your courage in speaking your mind is to be commended.

Pixel Eater

Xenophile wrote: »

You deserve to be complemented on your bringing issues you feel strongly about into the public arena. However, it is obvious that most people are happy with the game as it stands.

Your courage in speaking your mind is to be commended.

Are they though? There has been a lot of debate recently on the current state of the game and there has been undoubtedly a lot of poor matches recently. Coupled with the fact that there has been some poorly attended games in recent years maybe hurling needs to look at something.

I'm not talking about a major overhaul of the rules that would alter it utterly; just a few tweaks that would improve it.

What are those?

Don't think any changes are needed with regards to new rules etc. but I do believe that a restructuring of the provincial championships (both hurling and football) are necessary and this will lead to better games id imagine i.e no Kilkenny vs Offaly in leinster hurling etc.

Rasputin11

The refs need to clamp down on the pulling and dragging on the player in possession, which is rampant in the game at present.

http://www.sportsfile.com/id/1134540/

http://www.sportsfile.com/id/1136286/

deadybai

The only problem I see with hurling is the lack of competive teams playing it. There's literally only 3 teams out of 32 that have quality players and That's Kilkenny, Tipp and Galway . The likes of Clare and Waterford just have very good systems to make up for their lack of quality individuals

I hate the way Waterford and Clare play the game but that's only two teams in the entire country .

I was at a junior b game in Kilkenny a while ago and it was one of the best games of hurling I've seen for excitement.

Pixel Eater

What are those? wrote: »

Don't think any changes are needed with regards to new rules etc. but I do believe that a restructuring of the provincial championships (both hurling and football) are necessary and this will lead to better games id imagine i.e no Kilkenny vs Offaly in leinster hurling etc.

deadybai wrote: »

The only problem I see with hurling is the lack of competive teams playing it. There's literally only 3 teams out of 32 that have quality players and That's Kilkenny, Tipp and Galway . The likes of Clare and Waterford just have very good systems to make up for their lack of quality individuals

I hate the way Waterford and Clare play the game but that's only two teams in the entire country .

I was at a junior b game in Kilkenny a while ago and it was one of the best games of hurling I've seen for excitement.

Agreed the Championship structures need to be looked at and it's quite uncompetitive, but I think the current form of hurling actually exacerbates the gulf between teams: it must be demoralising to a back from a weaker county to see an opponent take a puck from their own half and see the sliotar sail over between the posts with no defense possible.

Pixel Eater

Rasputin11 wrote: »

The refs need to clamp down on the pulling and dragging on the player in possession, which is rampant in the game at present.

http://www.sportsfile.com/id/1134540/

http://www.sportsfile.com/id/1136286/

Hnadpasses, pulling, steps, bas size; the GAA are pretty lax in enforcing rules in general.

Bonniedog

In fairness refs have been enforcing stuff that people were complaining about a few years ago. For example, you rarely now see a player charging with his stick held at opponent's throat level.

Unfortunately what has replaced that is the sort of thing you see in football where players are grabbing lads around the neck or just pushing their hands into throat. Not only is that something that is highly restrictive - which is why it is taught in martial arts self defence! - but is also potentially dangerous. Happened quite a lot in the Tipp/Limerick game with few being pulled up over it, as it is not as obvious as in football where it tends to be executed on players getting away from an opponent. Any contact with throat should be at least a free.

Xenophile

Xenophile wrote: »

A heavier ball could result in more injuries.

Agree completely.

I never got to play being a City boy and the lack of promotion that came with it(so was never hit with one)

But I have a Sliothar and just last night I was holding it and thinking its amazing more players don't get seriously injured being hit with it as it is(a football can hurt a fair bit and that's way softer and lower velocity).

Cant even imagine what would happen with a heavier ball being introduced because a few people want less action and distance.

Pixel Eater

gilberto_eire wrote: »

Agree completely.

I never got to play being a City boy and the lack of promotion that came with it(so was never hit with one)

But I have a Sliothar and just last night I was holding it and thinking its amazing more players don't get seriously injured being hit with it as it is(a football can hurt a fair bit and that's way softer and lower velocity).

Cant even imagine what would happen with a heavier ball being introduced because a few people want less action and distance.

Games like hockey, lacrosse and baseball seem to manage with a heavier ball.

Dyr

You see lads spend as much time holding the other teams hurls as they do their own

Would like to see that penalised more but theres only one ref on the pitch

Water John

Has been suggested before that hurling should have two refs. If somebody hits the ball 80 metres, where is the the ref?
May be apply it at intercounty level.