Solan: New training techniques protecting players

Strength and conditioning training is improving the quality of life GAA players will enjoy during and particularly after their careers, according to Barry Solan, one of the country’s leading physical trainers.

In recent seasons “strength and conditioning” has become one of the buzz terms in Gaelic games, much to the suspicion of some traditionalists who doubt the value of sport science and that it is superseding the primacy of skill.

However, Solan, who this year has been a coach to Katie Taylor, the Polish national soccer team, the Laois footballers and his Ballaghaderreen team who contest Sunday’s Connacht SFC club final, maintains the growth in his field in Gaelic games has not been at the cost of skill, while the traditionalists are overlooking just how dangerous and outdated previous training regimes for players were.