Hurling

Overview

An Irish field game played with a wooden stick, the hurley, and a small, hard ball, the sliotar. Fast, skilful and physical.

Checked against the GAA's Official Guide, Part 2, effective from 27 March 2026. Rule numbers below refer to its hurling chapter unless marked otherwise. Camogie, the women's game, has its own association and rules, which aren't covered here.

1. The basics

Fifteen a side: a goalkeeper and fourteen outfield players (Specification 2.1). The pitch is 130–145 m long and 80–90 m wide (Specification 1.1).

Two halves of 30 minutes, or 35 minutes in inter-county senior championship and league games (Specification 3.2).

2. Equipment

A helmet with a face guard is mandatory in all hurling games and practice sessions, to the Irish standard IS:355 (Specification 4.2).

The sliotar is 69–72 mm across, not counting its raised rim, and weighs 110–116 g (Specification 4.4). Hurleys must meet GAA standards (4.5).

3. Scoring

Where the ball goes	Value
Under the crossbar	Goal: 3 points
Over the crossbar	Point: 1 point

A player in possession can't score with the hand or carry the ball over the goal line, but you can score by striking the ball in flight with your hand (3.1–3.2).

Written goals-points: 2-14 is two goals and fourteen points, 20 in all.

4. Handling the ball

• You may strike the ball with the hurley on the ground, in the air, from your hand, or after lifting it with the hurley (1.2).
• You may run with it balanced on or hopping on the hurley (1.3): the solo.
• Catching: if you catch the ball, you may put it on your hurley and bring it back into your hand once. If you didn't catch it, you may play it from the hurley into your hand twice (1.4).
• Four steps: you may carry it in your hand for four steps, or hold it for as long as four steps take (1.7).
• Hand pass: released and struck with a definite striking action. No throwing (1.7).
• You can't touch the ball on the ground with your hand (1.6). Lift it with the hurley, or with your feet: you may kick it, too (1.5).

5. Tackling

You may tackle for the ball (1.8), and make a shoulder-to-shoulder charge with at least one foot on the ground, on a player who has or is playing the ball, or when you're both going for it (1.9). The goalkeeper can't be charged in the small rectangle.

Among the fouls (5.12–5.15): pushing with the hand or hurley, holding or pulling an opponent's hurley, obstructing with the hurley, and striking an opponent's hurley unless you're both playing the ball.

There's no offside rule.

6. Restarts

Situation	Restart
Over the sideline	Sideline puck, struck from the ball placed on the line (2.8)
Wide, or a score	Puck-out from within the small rectangle (2.6)
Foul	Free puck where the foul happened (2.2)
Aggressive foul by a defender in the large rectangle	Penalty puck from the centre of the 20 m line (2.2)

Penalty puck: struck from the centre of the 20 m line, or anywhere in the 20 m arc after bringing the ball back up to 7 m, and struck on or outside the 20 m line. Only one defender may stand on the goal line (2.4(b)). For a free for a technical foul in the large rectangle, up to five defenders may stand on the line (2.4(c)).

7. Officials

A referee, two line umpires and four score umpires (Rules of Control). Score umpires raise a green flag for a goal and a white flag for a point, and signal a wide by crossing their arms above their head (Control 2).

8. The skills

Skill	What it is
Solo	Running with the ball balanced or hopping on the hurley
Lift	Getting the ball up off the ground with the hurley
Hook	Blocking an opponent's swing from behind with your hurley
Block	Smothering a strike from in front
Sideline cut	Striking the sideline puck off the ground

Commonly argued

• Helmets with face guards are compulsory, in games and practice.
• You can't pick the ball up with your hand.
• One catch, one return to the hand. Two if you didn't catch it.
• The hand pass must be struck, not thrown.
• Only one defender on the line for a penalty.
• There's no offside.
• Three points for a goal.