ABSTRACT
When comparing the intermittent nature of Gaelic football with that of soccer, the average burst of 5.7 s performed by the Gaelic footballers is greater than the 3.2 s average bursts performed in FA Premier League soccer (O’Donoghue, 2002). Furthermore, 68% of the high intensity bursts performed by soccer players are under 4 s in duration compared with 46% of the bursts performed by the Gaelic footballers in the current study. O’Donoghue (2002) found that only 4% of high intensity bursts performed by FA Premier League soccer players were 8 s or more in duration compared with 34% of the bursts performed by the Gaelic footballers in the current study. The percentage of recovery periods of under 20 s, 20-45 s and over 45 s was 51%, 25% and 24% for the Gaelic footballers in the current study compared with 57%, 23% and 20% for the FA Premier League soccer players analysed by O’Donoghue (2002). This shows that despite being a 15-a-side game with more players contributing to a team performance, Gaelic football requires players to perform longer bursts with shorter recovery than in soccer.
