Will conditions dilute heat of Championship battles?: The science behind winter hurling

Could the timber in a hurley be affected if the temperature is low enough? 'Absolutely,' says John Eric Goff, Professor of Physics at the University of Lynchburg in Virginia

SNOW JOKE: Waterford’s Stephen Bennett at a media event at the Anner Hotel in Thurles in March 2017 when the country was in the midst of a deep freeze. Playing the summer championship in winter poses a whole new set of problems. Picture: Diarmuid Greene/Sportsfile

The summer game in wintertime. How significant are conditions in November when balmy July is the benchmark?

The man to ask? John Eric Goff, Professor of Physics at the University of Lynchburg in Virginia (US), author of Gold Medal Physics: The Science of Sports as well as The Physics of Krav Maga.