X-factor still key in equation for success

On Gaelic Games:Does everything break neatly into identifiable components that can be spread out, examined and reassembled? Can we analyse games in such a way that they amount to a series of empirical actions that can inform and predict patterns of play either for the purposes of negation or enhancement? writes Sean Moran

At last weekend's National Games Development Conference these questions and more were posed by a schedule of stimulating seminars, aiming to address aspects of Gaelic games for the benefit of coaches at all levels.

The GAA's director of games, Pat Daly, was justifiably pleased with the conference, which requires a lot of effort every year to keep it fresh and engaging throughout 20 separate presentations, including the optional or parallel sessions. At the heart of these sessions is for the most part a body of research and data that seeks to put the perspectives on a firm, verifiable basis. It makes a great deal of sense and has been in operation within the top teams in recent years: for instance the half-time statistical read-outs that give instant indicators of where a match is going wrong.

Of course if problems are abundantly clear no one needs read-outs but as former Down manager Peter McGrath said in the performance analysis module, it's not possible for managers to analyse matches adequately in real time and statistics can provide useful, accelerated diagnosis.

But in the same session journalist Christy O'Connor, whose work in the Sunday Times has established a benchmark in games analysis journalism, was careful to point out statistics have their limitations, They're not a substitute for talent or coaching or tactical acumen.

Still O'Connor's advocacy of research data as a means of assessing player contribution and as a tool in overall preparation was persuasive. One of the most striking examples came from soccer. Commenting on the success of Germany in penalty shoot-outs, O'Connor drew attention to the penalty analysis carried out by German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann's old coach at Schalke 04, Huub Stevens, who had compiled a database of 13,000 penalties. At the 2006 World Cup, the Germans' goalkeeping coach and former player Andreas Kopke gave Lehmann a note before the shoot-out with Argentina. It contained brief notes on the kicking styles of the opponents and accurately predicted how Esteban Cambiasso and Roberto Ayala would place their kicks, both of which Lehmann saved.

Prof Niall Moyna's whirlwind tour through some of the research theses carried out at DCU, during the Analysis of Gaelic Football 1970-2006 seminar, also showed how statistical data can challenge unthinking assumptions and provide clearer focus for coaching.

One of the shibboleths that went by the wayside was the decline in foot passing. The number of kicked passes in a match has virtually remained unchanged in over 35 years but the number of fist passes has leaped to the extent from a situation in the 1970s and '80s when there were as many fisted passes as kicked passes, football is now recording a ratio of 3:1 in favour of the fist. Given the accuracy of foot passes is considerably (more than 50 per cent) poorer this isn't surprising but in answer to the suggestion teams simply concentrate even further on hand passing Moyna pointed out the kicked pass remains the most potent means of attacking quickly and that targeted coaching is needed to remedy the errors in kicking technique.

Sharing this slot was Monaghan trainer Martin McElkennon whose bracingly iconoclastic address questioned everything from the effectiveness of certain popular training regimes to the need for supplements and ice baths. He based his conclusions on straightforward observation and stated his reservations simply. He did, however, preface everything by emphasising the pre-eminence of talent when assembling a successful panel. This to an extent echoed O'Connor's point earlier in the day. In other words, the empirical or evidence-based approach is a means to getting the best out of what you have and not a panacea.

For anyone feeling a bit baffled by all the science the closing keynote session would have been a tonic. Titled "Maintaining Peak Performance and Squad Cohesion During the Course of a Season", the module was presented by Louth football manager Eamonn McEneaney and Kilkenny's multiple All-Ireland winner Brian Cody.

McEneaney joked about the "squad cohesion" part of the brief, alluding to his difficulty in keeping players in the country last summer but gave a broad and interesting insight into a coaching career that has taken him from primary schools - at a time when he was racking up silverware as a player with Monaghan - through underage, club and county positions. His story was full of familiar reference points - keeping young players involved when their heads are spinning at the thoughts of becoming soccer billionaires, preventing bullying and maintaining discipline, interest and focus throughout the many distractions that life strews at the feet of young people.

At the end of a day so illuminated by academic data and professorial insight Cody appeared in conclusion like a high priest - actually referring at one point to the dressingroom as a "sacred place". Dispensing with PowerPoint and prepared scripts the Kilkenny manager spoke for 25 minutes. In some ways he's in a privileged position. Kilkenny is producing an assembly line of good hurlers, who are passionate about the county and its traditions. But those traditions are double edged. It's easy to forget Cody's immediate predecessors walked away from the job, unwilling to put up with the rancour. Since then he's won five All-Irelands in nine seasons.

His address emphasised the importance of the spirit within the panel both in the sense of buttressing the morale of the first 15 but also in making it clear there were committed replacements ready to come in for any player. You can't expect trade secrets to be bandied around at an occasion such as the weekend's but there was a real impression of the intensity Cody has been able to project over nearly a decade.

There was an amusing postscript when an audience inquiry sought suggestions for freshening up things when your players are gone a bit stale. McEneaney said he occasionally gave players some time off or took younger teams to adventure centres.

For the first time Cody appeared stumped, as if the challenge of players being fed up was uncharted terrain. Eventually he did allow sometimes they conducted training matches on a goals-only basis.

It was a fitting conclusion to a fascinating day, reminding us that amid the great technical advances in preparation there is and has to be an intangible, an x-factor, where the passion and mystique of the games have their say.