How to play as a defender?? (Hurling)

leestone

Evening all,

I just went back to my first hurling training session tonight after a gap of three years due to illness. Playing Junior C on my clubs second team so the standard and knowledge is not of the highest level.

I was placed in the backs even though I used to be a forward for most of my "career". Thing is I haven't in the slightest idea how to play the position. I was of the idea follow your marker everywhere? I am fitter than most but get caught for pace for the first few yards but my size and strength are my strongest attributes.

if someone can guide me on what i should be focusing on to be a defender let me know.
thanks all.

HatchetMan7

It really depends on what position in the backs you are playing. 
If your centre back then you have to play the position more so than the man. At centre back you must also cover in behind both wing backs to some degree especially from a puck out or clearance from the oppositions defence. 
Generally if your a corner back you mark the man but you shouldn't let yourself get dragged too far out the field following him either although that's a decision for your manager to make. 
Fullback is the toughest position to play on the field and as a fullback your main goal is to "mind the house" as they say.
Wingback in my opinion is probably the easiest position to play, at least at club level anyway. You generally stand beside your man and play him from the front basically trying to make your run in front of him if you think the ball is coming your way.

leestone

HatchetMan7 wrote: »

It really depends on what position in the backs you are playing. 
If your centre back then you have to play the position more so than the man. At centre back you must also cover in behind both wing backs to some degree especially from a puck out or clearance from the oppositions defence. 
Generally if your a corner back you mark the man but you shouldn't let yourself get dragged too far out the field following him either although that's a decision for your manager to make. 
Fullback is the toughest position to play on the field and as a fullback your main goal is to "mind the house" as they say.
Wingback in my opinion is probably the easiest position to play, at least at club level anyway. You generally stand beside your man and play him from the front basically trying to make your run in front of him if you think the ball is coming your way.

Great stuff i think I'm better suited to sticking tight to my marker as the play just seemed to by pass me when I marked space just need to work on my pace.

robbiezero

leestone wrote: »

Great stuff i think I'm better suited to sticking tight to my marker as the play just seemed to by pass me when I marked space just need to work on my pace.

Is the reason you are caught for pace, because the forward has gotten the jump on you?
If you are just reacting to the forwards movement you are going to struggle to beat him for pace as that initial yard gained before you cop his movement is hard to make up.
You might need to work on anticipating the forwards movement and using your body to make it awkward for him to run into dangerous areas.

leestone

robbiezero wrote: »

Is the reason you are caught for pace, because the forward has gotten the jump on you?
If you are just reacting to the forwards movement you are going to struggle to beat him for pace as that initial yard gained before you cop his movement is hard to make up.
You might need to work on anticipating the forwards movement and using your body to make it awkward for him to run into dangerous areas.

So basically say tight but move before he does ?
I can actually say I never once received any formal training on how to defend since I started playing yet I played rugby for the same amount of time and know exactly what to do.

robbiezero

leestone wrote: »

So basically say tight but move before he does ?
I can actually say I never once received any formal training on how to defend since I started playing yet I played rugby for the same amount of time and know exactly what to do.

Something like that. You can anticipate where the ball is going to come.
Some defenders at that level only react after the ball is struck which is too late and they have lost yards to the forward.
Example, if you are left corner back and the opposition right wing back gets it and moves towards the sideline to strike on his right side, it is probably coming down your wing. You should be out right beside your man, slightly ahead of him on the goal side of him and leaning across him a little, maybe putting your left hand across his body to prevent him getting a run on you, you should be poised to sprint out towards the ball striker for a low ball, but also you have a cross field run covered.
High balls as a defender are all about using your body also and getting positioned under the pitch of the ball, to catch it or bat it. The main thing as a defender is not to let the ball go through, either catch it or knock it down in front of you.
I'm not a fan of defenders attempting to bat the ball with a forward in front of them. If they miss the ball or strike the opponents protecting hurley, all of their momentum is going forward and they are very vulnerable to being turned if the forward catches it clean (See James Barry vs O'Donnell for Clares second goal).

ChippingSodbury

robbiezero wrote: »

Something like that. You can anticipate where the ball is going to come.
Some defenders at that level only react after the ball is struck which is too late and they have lost yards to the forward.
Example, if you are left corner back and the opposition right wing back gets it and moves towards the sideline to strike on his right side, it is probably coming down your wing. You should be out right beside your man, slightly ahead of him on the goal side of him and leaning across him a little, maybe putting your left hand across his body to prevent him getting a run on you, you should be poised to sprint out towards the ball striker for a low ball, but also you have a cross field run covered.
High balls as a defender are all about using your body also and getting positioned under the pitch of the ball, to catch it or bat it. The main thing as a defender is not to let the ball go through, either catch it or knock it down in front of you.
I'm not a fan of defenders attempting to bat the ball with a forward in front of them. If they miss the ball or strike the opponents protecting hurley, all of their momentum is going forward and they are very vulnerable to being turned if the forward catches it clean (See James Barry vs O'Donnell for Clares second goal).

To add to the above, I always tell kids that if they're man-marking, they have to be in a position to see the ball and see/ touch their man at all times and be goal-side of him. It's easier said than done but comes with practice. You'll see plenty of "tough" (bad!) defenders who concentrate on the man and forget about where the ball is and more importantly where it will/ could be in the next couple of seconds.

blue note

Man and ball. In that order.

HatchetMan7

leestone wrote: »

HatchetMan7 wrote: »

It really depends on what position in the backs you are playing. 
If your centre back then you have to play the position more so than the man. At centre back you must also cover in behind both wing backs to some degree especially from a puck out or clearance from the oppositions defence. 
Generally if your a corner back you mark the man but you shouldn't let yourself get dragged too far out the field following him either although that's a decision for your manager to make. 
Fullback is the toughest position to play on the field and as a fullback your main goal is to "mind the house" as they say.
Wingback in my opinion is probably the easiest position to play, at least at club level anyway. You generally stand beside your man and play him from the front basically trying to make your run in front of him if you think the ball is coming your way.

Great stuff i think I'm better suited to sticking tight to my marker as the play just seemed to by pass me when I marked space just need to work on my pace.

I just want to clarify that if playing wingback, cornerback or fullback in general there's no problem man marking, the tighter the better usually although there are some exceptions to this rule. But if your playing centreback your number one responsibility is to holding that central position and marking your man is secondary. You should be standing about 10 yards behind both of your wingbacks so that you can see them easily in case they lose their men or drift too far out the field. For a centreback, dropping a little deeper also gives more protection for your fullback.

I also want to add one point about defending when your man has the ball and is running at you. For some reason you don't see it as much any more but in my opinion if your man dips his shoulder trying to take you on when the ball is in his hand you should hold the hurley in both hands similar to the "ready position" and push it against his midriff, pushing him away from you towards the wing. Sounds obvious and a little old school but still works really well and I think its better than using your arms out tactic as that can lead you into holding him or dragging him down.

As others have already mentioned the best way to defend is to read the game so that you are making your run towards the ball before your man makes his run and more importantly before the ball is struck towards you. So in a game you will be making plenty of runs in front of your man and the ball may not come your way but this is much easier than trying to win the ball back off your man because you didn't make the initial run in the first place.

Realt Dearg Sec

What did you hate backs doing when you were a forward?

Do that.

Realt Dearg Sec

https://youtu.be/fCk_efL50Z8

Excellent talk by the best in the business in the topic of defending. He's not a fan of the idea of following your man all the time. The focus needs to be the ball.

My opinion on this thing of staying tight is it's handing the forward the advantage, he chooses when you run and when you stay still so he can keep you off balance and chasing him, it's exactly how backs get dragged out of place and create space for the other forwards to score. You need to hold the line, always make it your business that the ball doesn't go by you. There's a place for minding a forward but I think if you're right beside him all the time he'll give you the slip when it really counts.

danganabu

Ollie Canning, Jackie Tyrell, Tommy Walsh, Paraic Maher, Noel Connors etc. we have had some of the best defenders even seen in the game over the last 10 years, like anything study the best, watch videos of them in action.