Gary Brennan: Only one non-negotiable ahead of Championship high noon...

Though match preparation has changed radically over time, some habits are hard to break

 Gary Brennan of Clare. ©INPHO/Tommy Dickson

When I was four years old, my father was managing a team locally that made it to the county intermediate final. 

As a reward for pestering them at many training sessions, I was given the honour of being team mascot – running out onto the field with the great Senan Culligan and standing in for the team photo. When my mother saw the picture in the paper the following week, she asked why I didn’t smile: “Mam, you’re not supposed to smile before the match."

At that impressionable age, I was developing very definite ideas about what should and should not be part of the pre-match routine!

A player’s mindset before a game has perhaps the greatest impact on their performance. Most players realise this and so will do whatever they deem necessary to get themselves in the best possible frame of mind. We often hear mention of ‘flow state’ or a player being ‘in the zone’. This is when an athlete feels completely engaged and can reach very high levels of performance. Things feel easy. Once a player experiences it, or even when they just have a very good day, they will do everything to try and recreate the circumstances that got them there. And so, if you were to observe any squad preparing for a big day, you will see a very interesting collection of tics and routines.

There was a time I believed there was only one way of getting in the zone, and when others weren’t following that method, it bothered me – why aren’t they tuning in over there? What are they laughing about? Do they not realise we’re playing in an hour? I’m no sports psychologist, but with time, I came around to the conclusion that everyone has their own way, and if their way isn’t interfering with anyone else – let them at it. For a manager, however, finding that balance can be a real challenge, because there are so many individuals and so many aspects to today’s preparation.

Take the bus journey. On longer trips, managing time is important. I’ll never forget how sick I felt on the way to Dungarvan before my debut in 2007, and it wasn’t pre-match nerves. I was a poor traveller, and the road from Clonmel through Ballymacarbry was enough to have my stomach turning. My solution was usually to sit in the front seat, but I wasn’t the only one who wanted that spot and as an 18-year-old newbie, I was too shy to ask whoever had gotten there before me to move. 

When I accumulated sufficient seniority, I took up the middle seat at the back of the bus where I could stretch my legs and play a friendly game of 45 to kill the time. I didn’t dare do this in my earlier days because I thought I needed to be fully focused from the second I stepped on the bus. I eventually realised I was burning mental energy far too early in the day and it was best for me to stay relaxed until closer to show-time. I always marvelled at lads who could read on the bus or put their head against the window and sleep.

Pre-match food is another thing that can affect the mindset. There came a time when the sight of a bowl of pasta, with a plain chicken breast and tomato sauce was enough to make me sick. It was all we had seen for a few years. Nowadays, there’s usually a far wider spread but even still, I got fussier about my food over the years and often took to bringing my own – just in case what we got at the hotel didn’t suit me. 

Though I never quite went as far as one of my Clare colleagues when we visited London to play a league match. The meal on the night before the game was served up but this man wasn’t impressed. Instead of the brown pasta he expected, we had potato. He asked the waiting staff for brown pasta and was told they didn’t have any. He disappeared looking less than pleased and arrived back a few minutes later with a bag of brown pasta he had sourced from a shop nearby for the hotel staff to cook. Nothing was going to get in the way of his normal routine. 

Was there much difference between the pasta and potato at that time? A nutritionist would answer that better, but I suspect the real satisfaction for that particular player came from knowing that he had fulfilled his routine as he had planned.

For away trips, getting the room and sleeping arrangements right is delicate. Again, everyone has something that works for them. David Tubridy was used to working late nights in the family bar and restaurant, so his routine rarely matched the morning schedule laid out for us. Eoin Cleary, a Garda, might be after coming off a night shift. They never looked for it, but there had to be allowances for such individual circumstances. When we made it to the All-Ireland quarter-finals in 2016, hotel rooms in Dublin were hard to come by, so we had to take whatever was available. When Pat Burke and I got up to the room, the first thing we had to do was separate the beds, or else Pat was going to be as close to me as Kieran Donaghy ended up being the following day! I don’t think either of us slept too well that night, and even though one poor night’s sleep is unlikely to have any major physical impact, it possibly affected our mindset. Good mental preparation can help players manage any of these small issues but that is a skill that takes time to develop.

When it comes to the dressing room, some like to be calm, maybe quietly listen to music, have a chat, or stroll the pitch. I remember seeing Jack Browne sitting down one day before a Ballyea game and he looked so calm I had to ask if he was togging at all. Others will be hyper-charged, togged out at the first opportunity, bouncing around the place and banging balls off walls, or maybe playing music so loud that the next door dressing room can hear it. These days, there are all sorts of stretching, mobility and foam rolling routines used to kill the time. In the warm-up, some love to go hammer and tongs and tear into the condition games. Others, you’d wonder if they plan on playing at all.

Of course, for most of these aspects of preparation, there are now clear recommendations from S&C, nutritionists, or sports psychology, but even within those, there is still room for individual variation. We sometimes think that being a team means everyone must do the same thing, but a good team will have enough understanding of one another to appreciate individuals, and the individuals will respect each other enough to prepare in a way that doesn’t bother others. The trick for anyone is to find what works best and be ready to change their routine over time if necessary as they grow themselves. There is no one way. 

The way might need to change from time to time. The only non-negotiable? No smiling for the team photo.