Kerry’s simple warm-up is an example to coaches who love to confuse the game

Why does it have to be so complicated?

Modern coaches love to put their own imprint on the game. They love to have their own style, and they love to keep their players guessing. Many of them take it too far, especially in warm-ups. They will lay out loads and loads of cones, they will offer instruction and they will organise a drill that looks well but one that is unnecessarily confusing. Prior to Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final clash with Mayo, Eamonn Fitzmaurice wasn't confusing his men, he organised some basic drills, and that's all that a player needs. Hone these basic skills, because that's what a game will come down to in the end, which side has nailed the basic skills most. The men of the Kingdom eased themselves into the warm-up. They weren't busting a gut, they were relaxed. They just went out onto the field and kicked a few points at their leisure. https://twitter.com/Woolberto/status/899272392584941568 After a few minutes of kicking points, they faced off and performed the most basic drill in the book whereby players run at each other and lay off a hand pass during their run. This was obviously important given the wet day and the importance that handling of the ball would have in the game. https://twitter.com/Woolberto/status/899273521616089088 Then they moved onto some basic attacking movements. There was nothing fancy, nothing out of the ordinary. https://twitter.com/Woolberto/status/899274209721036800 Players don't want to be stifled by a drill in a warm-up, they want to be at their ease and they want to be confident in what they are doing. We've seen it so many times in the past with the Kilkenny hurlers where they would spend almost twenty minutes of their warm-up pucking the ball back and forth, that's all a player needs.