Identifying and Defining Kickout Strategies in Senior Inter-County Ladies Gaelic Football

The kickout has become a key source of possession in Ladies Gaelic Football (LGF), with successful teams winning 80% of their own and 29% of the opposition kickouts (KO). Several investigators have alluded to the role of strategy in Gaelic games; however, none have successfully identified, defined, or measured the impact of these strategies on the game. This novel study aims to identify and define the strategies used by Senior Inter-County LGF teams to win their own and opposition KOs, developing a valid and reliable analysis system to analyse KO performance in LGF. Eighty-nine games (2172 kickouts) from the 2019–2023 TG4 All-Ireland Senior LGF Championship were analysed using NacSport Scout. Four offensive and three defensive strategies have been newly identified, defined and analysed. A generalised linear mixed model was employed to model the key predictors of successful possession from the kickout. Numbers committed and both offensive and defensive strategies used were found to have significant influences on KO outcome, with a zonal press with 11+ players and the Flat 4 strategy being the most effective for winning the kickout. The findings of the current study provide a novel insight for coaches, players, pundits and analysts for kickout strategies employed by LGF teams.