'GET HIT AND IT'S YOUR OWN FAULT'

When I was growing up, the mantra was 'if you get hit, it's your own fault'.



Go in hard, go in close and let your man know you're there. Hang back and you will get clobbered.

The art of blocking - and by that I mean good, effective blocking, is a dying one.

Even at premier level, players are jumping into the air in front of opponents striking the ball - in the hope the ball might deflect off them - rather than going in and blocking the swing.

I often think that the team that learns to block properly in the premiership will steal a march on the opposition.

There is a school of thought that shinty has changed since the summer season was initiated; that the faster nature of the game means that the tackle is no longer so necessary as close-quarter combat becomes less common.

But there will be occasions when a challenge needs to be won.

Going back to blocking - it was a good means of avoiding injury; to eyes, knuckles and faces.

And does the old-fashioned attitude of shrugging off any injury still prevail?

Spectators note an unpleasant tendency among a few a few premier players to (in football parlance) 'go down easily' when there doesn't seem a need to. In the past, play would have carried on around them until they decided to get up and carry on.

Injuries are part and parcel of any contact sport, but there is, quite rightly, a growing awareness of the dangers of head injuries in sport - as witnessed in rugby union's six nations championship.

But in the end, is shinty a 'softer' sport than it used to be, and is this simply a reflection of society?

Note: This is an updated version of an article first published on Shintyfan in March 2012.