THE WEST OF Ireland Championship teed off in Rosses Point earlier today without three-time amateur major winner Robbie Cannon in the field.
Cannon balances his golf career with his work in the fitness industry, where his role as strength and conditioning coach with the Laois footballers takes up a decent chunk of his time.
When it became evident that the West of Ireland competition would clash with the O’Moore County’s re-fixed Division 3 final against Westmeath this weekend, there was only going to be one winner in his mind.
With silverware at stake for Laois in Croke Park on Saturday afternoon, Cannon had a pretty good reason for skipping the golf tournament.
“I’m missing the West of Ireland this weekend which is a bit disappointing but it’s a good excuse to be missing it because the lads are in a final – so it’s great,” he tells The42.
I had a think about it and there was no way I was going to miss the final. It wouldn’t feel right.
“I wouldn’t say I was the only one who had plans, I’m sure with both teams this weekend there were plans, but it is what it is and you deal with the hand you’ve been dealt.
“I’m looking forward to the game on Saturday and it’s not every day you get involved in a final and a chance to lift some silverware,” he adds.
Number 3! Very proud to be Irish champion again. Many thanks for all the messages and kind words. pic.twitter.com/i8vrEAOII2
— Robbie Cannon (@RobbieCannon) August 8, 2018
When John Sugrue was appointed as Laois boss in late 2017, he brought Cannon on board to oversee the team’s physical preparations.
Things have gone smoothly to date, with back-to-back league promotions already in the bag, in addition to last summer’s Leinster final appearance. The clash against Westmeath will mark their fifth trip to Jones’ Road in the past 12 months.
“The guys are looking forward to it. They’d love to be playing in Croke Park every game. I think there was talk of it not being in Croke Park, there was talk of it being in Tullamore. When guys then found out it was Croker you could see they were delighted
“They’ve worked really, really hard. They’ve done everything I’ve asked them and everything John’s asked them and they’re getting the rewards.
“There’s a saying in sport that you get out of it what you put into it and the lads have secured back-to-back promotions so it’s been a very pleasing year and a half for these players and management.
“We’ve pretty much followed the same programme this year as we have last year. Certain players will have little bit more individual things that they’ll have to do but it’s pretty similar.
The majority of players are all a lot stronger now for sure, they’re a lot leaner. We’re just going to try and keep getting them fitter. Gaelic football is a running game and the leaner these guys are the more efficient they are going to be.
“That’s what we’ve been focusing on. They’re going well at the minute and we have a good team spirit in there.”
As well as working with Laois, Cannon has some high-profile clients in the golfing world including Shane Lowry.
Lowry’s invitation to the Masters was confirmed earlier this week after his bright start to the year which featured an early season win in the prestigious Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
“I was out with Shane in Dubai the week before his win,” he says. “We did a great week’s work and he was moving great.
“He was in a composed state of mind and he just worked really, really hard the whole of January so it wasn’t a surprise to see him go out and get the win. He had a good week the week after that too.
“He’s obviously playing Augusta next week so we’ve been in touch this week. He’s been working away on his program in the gym and on his game on the course.
“He’s happy where his game is at the minute and he’s excited for next week.
“When Shane plays near to his potential he’s one of the best players in the world. He knows that.
“I’m expecting a big year from him this year and he’s had a great start. I’m excited to see him drive on now.”
Balancing his own golf game around a busy work schedule can be tricky at times for the Balbriggan native.
His victory at the Irish Close Championship last August delivered his third major following previous wins in the South of Ireland Championship in 2009 and the Irish Amateur Open in 2013.
He’s now halfway to his stated goal which is to win all six majors on the amateur scene in Ireland.
“That was my third championship. I missed a couple of championships last year because we had football games.
“I missed the West of Ireland last year because of the Division 4 final and I missed the North of Ireland because we played Monaghan. But after championship was over I just had a bit more time to practice and actually played really nicely in the South of Ireland the week before the Irish Close.
I put a lot of work into it and the more work you put into it you tend to get rewarded. It’s always a good mindset to have.
“I’m missing this weekend but there’s a lot of golf to be played this year for me. I’ve been able to balance it pretty well over the last 18 months or so. That’s the thing, I’m an amateur golfer, I’m not a professional golfer so I have to work and put bread on the table.”
Carefully scheduling his time is vitally important as he juggles the various glass balls in his life.
“I just try to plan it well. I get my diary and try plan it out in advance when I can have practice sessions and stuff. This time of year it can be difficult because of the weather.
“Like, I tried to get a couple of hours done yesterday afternoon but it was pretty miserable out there with the wind, cold and the rain.
“You just try and work on other things then instead. If you plan it in advance you can get the work done. I have a motto – I try and do something every day.
“Whether it’s working on my wedge play or even if it’s a little bit of psychology work – if the weather is bad you can still get stuff like that done. It all adds up and if you’re just doing stuff every day, every day, every day it will add up over time.”
The psychology aspect is an interesting one. Cannon keeps a diary throughout the golf season which acts as a useful reference point when things are going well – and equally when they’re not.
“Normally my routine is very, very good. I played a tournament there at the start of the year and I felt my routine was a bit off. The thing about the psychology work I’ve done over the years is it’s made me very mindful of when something does go off, I can correct it quite quickly. I can correct it for the next tournament or even for the next day.
“Some of the stuff I learned from my last tournament was my routine wasn’t as good as it normally is so I’ve been working away on that,” he explains.
I’m a big believer in process. If you keep doing your process and keep doing stuff that you’re doing even before you hit the shot, the work that you do off the golf course, like your practice, the results tend to take care of themselves over time.
“I learned a little bit from the first tournament I played earlier in the year and I’ve just been working on things like that.
“The important thing that all sportsmen and women can learn from this is that, after a tournament or a game or event, it’s important to write down a couple of notes. Things that you learned, things that you could have done better, things that went well. If you have all this in your diary you can go over it.
“For example, if you were playing well say last July, you can go over your diary back then and see what was working well then. Sometimes you can forget about things that you did well.
“There can always be a new fad or a new thing that could be interesting you at the minute. Whereas that’s maybe not what makes you perform at your best.”
It’s something he feels works well for athletes in any code, although he understands some players may not see the value in it. Cannon’s experience in high-level sport means he can help Laois players in areas other than their gym sessions or fitness work on the field.
“The thing is, everyone is an individual. Me writing in a diary is very individual to me and I like doing it. But the next guy, that might not be what they like to do. They might like to do something else.
“The key is to find what works for you and do it. What works for me might not work for the next guy. But I’m in with the group and you’d have conversations with some players about what works, what you do and what you’re working on.
Some of the guys would definitely write diaries and some guys may not. Everyone is individual and it’s all about trying to get better, trying to put in as much work and trying to get a little bit of an edge to perform on the weekends.”
A particularly pleasing aspect of his job with Cannon Performance is helping athletes make comebacks from injury – whether it’s a local golfer or a veteran inter-county player like Brendan Quigley who made his long-awaited return to the field against Carlow a couple of weeks ago.
“A lot of my clients, especially the last couple of weeks, I have a lot of people coming into me who’ve been suffering with back pain or shoulder pain from playing golf. I’ve a pretty good record at getting them back to playing and getting their body pretty healthy.
“I get as much enjoyment out of getting people back playing golf or other sports than I do with winning matches and stuff like that.
“It was great to get Brendan Quigley back. He came on against Carlow and that was his first game in almost two years. He was injured when I first went into the camp and he had a hip operation.
“So I was absolutely over the moon, I think the whole camp were, to get him back. He came on and he was absolutely outstanding. His fielding was next level stuff and he was inspirational for the lads and he was a big part of that win against Carlow.
“I got as much joy out of him getting on the pitch as us getting promoted. I’m like that with a lot of my clients.”
Another long-term injury victim in Laois was captain Stephen Attride, who suffered a fractured skull in last year’s Leinster semi-final win over Carlow.
The defender made a successful return to the field this year and played a key role in their second successive promotion.
“Stephen is a naturally gifted athlete,” he says. “He was a really good track and field runner before he started playing football. He has natural athleticism so there was never a worry on his fitness.
“Because of the nature of his head injury he just had to monitor that and be careful, even getting back driving a car and stuff like that. His fitness was always very good, he looks after himself very well so there was never a worry about him losing any fitness coming back.
“He’s a great captain for the lads and I’ve seen him grow into that role the last year and a half, he’s doing fantastic.”
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