Doesn’t look good, but it ended in the same result for Lee Chin.
If you skip to 1:07 from this footage of Wexford beating Kilkenny in the Leinster semi-final in Wexford Park in June, you will see Lee Chin in his natural element, firing a free over the bar from about 50 metres out.
Chin lifts the ball, keeps it on his hurl for a split second as his momentum brings him forward and gives him the power to slot the sliotar over the bar.
It looks natural, it’s a good motion.
WATCH!
What scenes in Wexford Park as @OfficialWexGAA beat @KilkennyCLG 1-20 to 3-11 to book their place in the Leinster Final! #GAAclips pic.twitter.com/qeMnCW5IUy— eir Sport (@eirSport) June 10, 2017
Fast forward to October, the depths of winter and Chin is in Inverness, Scotland, representing the Ireland shinty team.
Chin was Ireland’s designated free-taker for the day, and he didn’t fare too badly, scoring three of his free pucs.
This was despite coming up against a rule-book whereby the free-taker’s feet must stay grounded at all times, which means that all the power has to come from the wrists, arms and shoulders.
The rest of your body is as good as useless to you.
It’s a similar line-up for Chin, but he’s not able to use his momentum in the strike.
It looks so strange to see him standing still just as he’s about to meet hurl with sliotar.
And the follow through is nowhere near as threatening.
Pics: Via TG4 Seinnteoir.
It still ended up going over the bar, though, and it does beg the question, does a simpler motion like this, which reduces the risk of the sliotar being miscontrolled during the lift and preparation phase, offer more security to a free-taker?
It obviously wouldn’t work for long-range frees, where a player needs to use all their power to get the distance right, but for the close range ones, would a lob type effort like this be more accurate?
It’s definitely debatable.
On a day when John McGrath revolutionised the art of the sideline-cut, maybe Ireland’s loss to Scotland wasn’t the worst thing in the world.
A tutorial on how to perfect a sideline via the best wrists in hurling https://t.co/52psSrctHC
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) October 22, 2017
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