Replying To saorkick: "As the late great Fr Tommy Maher said - the ball travels faster than any player. If you're happy with the modern game that's fine but so many of the skills are not seen anymore like ground hurling and overhead striking. There was nothing more thrilling than a spate of back and forth ground hurling. Nowadays some players choose extra short hurls for fear of being hooked. What next - tennis rackets ? I'd love to see the sliotar revert to the specifications used in the 70s and 80s to reduce the ping pong scoring. Give me the wristy hurlers any day over the hand-passing super-athletes."
Yes the ball travels faster than any hurler and always did. But it still has to be won. If you pull on it forwards often times its lost. At best you are passing the buck as regards the winning of it onto a team-mate. If you are good at it like Adrian Fenlon was and pass it off the ground to a team-mate then that's fair enough. I agree it's sad it's not being coached as a skill at underage much past u8 any more. There are a good few more rucks these days on account of it, as a player tries to get the ball up but can't as he's instantly surrounded by opponents. Overhead striking seems to be reffed as dangerous play these days. Again the problem also with it is the sliotar can go anywhere afterwards. Not the best way to get a score, whatever the weight of the ball.
Replying To WanPintWin: "The hurlers of today are as wristy as any there have ever been. Some of the skills shown by the top players in tight situations and under pressure are remarkable. Because they choose not to pull on the ball and give it straight back to the opposition, doesn't mean they can't strike it off the ground. The modern game isn't perfect, but if I saw two teams hitting the ball back and forth to each other on the ground, thrilling wouldn't be what I'd be thinking. Players try to win and keep possession these days. You can't score if you don't have the sliotar. I'll always maintain it's up to the other team to try to win it back. That's when you'll see contests."
Spot on. Any player who ever played any game played it to win.