Interview with Noel Richardson:Despite their status as reigning All-Ireland hurling champions, Kilkenny's physical trainer tells Ian O'Riordanhe is always looking for ways to improve the condition of the county's players

Like many county teams - All-Ireland contenders or otherwise - the Kilkenny hurlers are currently enjoying the now standard team holiday, their choice of destination this year being New Zealand. The first instruction was to leave the hurls and helmets at home and it will be several more weeks at least before the hard training of 2007 begins.

That's exactly the way it should be, according to Kilkenny's physical trainer Noel Richardson. In keeping with modern trends Richardson has identified the importance of rest and recovery as much as effort and exertion in the training of any team, and despite their reputation for "savage" practice matches, Kilkenny are no different.

"I think the break at this time of the year is important mentally as much as physically," says Richardson. "Mainly in keeping the players fresh. I think that's the one thing Kilkenny really took seriously last year, making sure the players were kept fresh as much as possible.

"Even during the season I think it's more important to be aiming at say 85 to 90 per cent fitness, especially in a team game like hurling, rather than trying to be doing too much work and ending up with two or three players injured. You want as much intensity as possible and then still be pulling back a little."

Richardson was added to the Kilkenny backroom team last year, working closely with Brian Cody and selectors Martin Fogarty and Michael Dempsey - with Dempsey also acting as hurling trainer. As former national champion over 5,000 and 10,000 metres and four-time Irish representative at the world cross-country, Richardson is one of a growing number of physical trainers with an athletics background working within the GAA.

Former national sprint champion Pat Flanagan worked closely with Jack O'Connor in Kerry's All-Ireland football wins of 2004 and last year. Derval O'Rourke's coach Jim Kilty is now working with the Mayo footballers, while Tipperary hurling trainer Brian Murray and Armagh football trainer John McCloskey also come from an athletics background.

Yet Richardson, who lectures in exercise physiology at Carlow IT, is constantly expanding his approach to training, and is already trying out something a little different with the Kilkenny hurlers in preparation for the 2007 season. Just before Christmas the team were presented with a new brand of training shoes made by Springboost, which they agreed to try out over the coming weeks.

The shoes are designed to promote better posture and improve muscle function, mainly by positioning the heel below the toes, unlike conventional shoes that use raised heels to support the feet - and also by offering three different insole positions.

"We only got them a week before Christmas and haven't given them the full test just yet," explains Richardson. "But a lot of the literature surrounding the shoe was very positive and certainly worth experimenting with. We will be cautious initially as the players get used to whatever changes, so it's a question of observing and monitoring some of the benefits.

"But given the way the training is going at this level it is important to look at as many areas as possible, and anything that will help maximise the recovery process and minimise the risk of injury is definitely worth examining. Of course a different shoe is not the whole answer by any means. It's about bringing together as many different parts as possible. And in a way it's about offering the players something new.

"Every other team out there is looking for that small little edge in 2007, and it's the same with Kilkenny. Last year is history now, and every team out there right now is looking for that couple of extra per cent in their game that could, and usually does, make the difference."

For now, however, Richardson is happy with the thought that the Kilkenny hurlers are on the other side of the world, as far away as possible from the training sessions in Nowlan Park: "They won't be returning for two weeks, which means it will be the third or fourth week in January before they're back training as a group. But it has to be that way. Even during the year we worked on different macro-cycles, breaking the season up into different periods. That happens naturally when club games come around, so the intensity wouldn't be the same all the time.

"If then there was two-week gap in the championship it was important not to simply cram that period with as much hard training as possible. The intensity of the practice matches in Kilkenny is well known anyway, so when you're trying to fit extra physical work in with that you need to be as specific as possible, and not just cram everything in.

"And then a player like James "Cha" Fitzpatrick is an example of the huge demands being put on players, between college, club and various county levels. But I do think there is good communication now with the different team managers - that has improved a lot and has certainly helped here in Kilkenny."

One group certain to be doing precious little training in the next week are the Mayo footballers, who on Saturday head off on a Caribbean cruise - their reward for reaching the All-Ireland final last September. New manager John O'Mahony won't be part of the travelling partly, though he has already put the team through their first demanding training session over the new year.