Simple Recovery Ideas
A small snippet from my book "Strength and Conditioning For Gaelic Games".
Playing Gaelic Games is tough on the body. The collisions, knocks, cuts, and bruises all take their toll. Add to that a long, arduous season with multiple games and intense training sessions, and fatigue becomes inevitable.
No coach wants to lead a team without energy on the big day. No coach wants a squad plagued by soft tissue injuries. Implementing simple yet effective recovery systems is essential for any serious team. Establishing a strong recovery culture within your club will lead to fewer injuries, fresher athletes, and overall fitter players.
A key principle to remember is: "Training makes you worse; recovery is what actually improves you." While this concept is well understood in Strength & Conditioning (S&C) circles, many people involved in sports—both within and beyond the GAA—would find it surprising.
Recovery after hard training sessions and games is an essential component of modern S&C programs. However, like everything in this book, it comes down to culture. If you don’t create a culture where players are encouraged and rewarded for prioritizing recovery, your efforts will be wasted. Old habits will resurface, and progress will stall. For real success, the head coach must fully support this approach.
The 100-Point System
When coaching a team, I introduce athletes to a structured recovery system known as the 100 Points System, inspired by AFL teams and other elite sports organizations.
This system identifies practical and effective recovery methods, assigning point values to each based on their impact (e.g., a massage scores higher than a protein shake). By implementing this framework, you can ask your players simple yet powerful questions: “Are you recovering?” and “How many points did you hit today?” These questions allow players to track their recovery without detailing every small action.
Recovery Activities & Point Values:
50 points – 20-minute swim in the sea or pool
50 points – 30-minute massage
50 points – Epsom salt bath
30 points – 15-minute cold immersion
30 points – 15-minute stretch session
30 points – 1 hour wearing SKINS compression gear
30 points – 3 cycles of 3-minute cold, 1.5-minute hot contrast therapy
20 points – Protein shake
20 points – 20-minute spin bike session
10 points – 15-minute walk
10 points – 15-minute foam roller session
10 points – Sauna session
10 points – Post-workout shake after training
Deductions for Negative Activities:
-20 points – Drinking session (could be as high as -100 depending on volume and intensity)
-10 points per meal – Skipped meal
-10 points – Late-night study session
-10 points – Working late
With this chart, you can adjust or expand based on available resources. Educate players on the importance of hitting their “100 Points” and consider using a weekly tracking sheet or an online questionnaire to monitor adherence.
Players who fail to embrace recovery will struggle as the season progresses—their lack of energy and drive will become evident compared to those who commit to proper recovery habits.
Story from the Trenches – The Evolution of Load Monitoring Tools
With the rise of tools like Smartabase and Metrifit, several high-tech solutions exist to track athlete workload. However, these tools often prove ineffective at the club level. They can be cumbersome and time-consuming, and players quickly lose motivation if they feel their input isn't being reviewed or valued. By season’s end, only the most dedicated players remain engaged with these systems—the very athletes who likely need them the least.
For the average GAA club, resources are often better spent elsewhere. A simple Google spreadsheet can achieve similar results without the hefty price tag.
A Real-World Experience:
In my last coaching role, we invested in a top-of-the-range monitoring tool—it was useful, but for the cost, a straightforward spreadsheet would have been just as effective. Ultimately, monitoring tools are only valuable if:
A) The coach has control over the training schedule. B) The players are committed to following the training and recovery plan.
Without these factors in place, even the best technology will not improve team performance. Stick to simple, practical, and coach-driven solutions that players will buy into.
