Paudie Kissane wants to help athletes reach top speed and unlock their potential

PAUDIE Kissane believes there is a need for more speed – and he wants to help athletes unlock their full potential.

The former All-Ireland winning Cork footballer is now well established as an athlete development and performance coach, and has worked with a number of club and inter-county set-ups in recent years.

When it comes to speed, he feels there is room for improvement. It can add that extra one percent to an athlete. Looking at the GAA, Kissane explains, being faster can help a player get to the ball first, evade the defender, win possession in the air and cover longer distances easier.

‘As I am involved in athlete development and strength and conditioning, the subject of speed is something I am interested in,’ Kissane says.

‘I can see, from being involved with individuals and preparing teams, everyone wants to be fit and everyone wants to get stronger or bigger, but there is not an appreciation or an understanding of what needs to be done to get faster.

‘Maybe it’s a situation of people thinking I am what I am and I can’t improve, but from my point of view, okay we all can’t be as quick as Usain Bolt, but we all have our physical potential. It’s like any skill, if you are not going to practice it then you are not going to get better at it. But it’s something that if you put the practice in, specific to your ability right now, then certainly it can be improved.’

Kissane believes speed – and being athletic and fast – can be the game changer in any sport, and that’s why he is running the Paudie Kissane Speed Academy. It is a six-week course in Clonakilty GAA Club that starts on Sunday, January 23rd and will be held on Sunday mornings from 10am to 11am. This is open to all players, girls or boys, irrespective of their sport or club. Players must be born between 2007 and 2009 (U13 to U15). Bookings are only taken online so check out www.pkperformance.ie for further details.

These are busy times for the Clyda Rovers footballer who is also developing his own coaching mentorship programme, The Jigsaw Approach, which he feels can help teams reach their full potential. There are many pieces to the jigsaw, he says. There are the players, the backroom team, the physical preparation, the systems, the tactics and the environment they operate in, and joining those pieces together can help a team improve.

‘I look back on my own experiences in sport and from the different roles I have held with teams, and for me the jigsaw is a good analogy of how you bring it all together,’ explains Kissane.

‘The way things are now, and with social media and all of that, we can all be guilty of the copycat culture. Someone hears of one group doing this and feels that’s the way it should be done, whereas they might not understand what they have to implement and it also might not be suitable for their group.

‘Many pieces feed into the jigsaw. I feel it provides clarity to my thoughts on what is important to improve performance.’

Former Cork footballer Paudie Kissane is now a highly-regarded athlete development coach.

Through his Jigsaw Approach, clubs, coaches and players can tap into Kissane’s knowledge and he will provide guidance on the process needed to help teams on their journey and put them on the road to improvement.

‘It is about gathering information regarding a person's coaching knowledge, experience, situation and the environment they are presently working in,’ he says.

‘Then we work together in identifying a problem and then creating a performance solution. Fundamentally it is about supporting the coach, or manager, or trainer in handling certain situations and becoming a better decision-maker. The people who ultimately have the greatest impact on our players.’

See www.pkperformance.ie for more information.