Aonghus Clarke on using bamboo stick: 'I wouldn't go back to my ash hurley'

Ash is the material predominantly used to make hurleys, but there's a new innovation on the market

The news of a Clare-based company's launch of a bamboo hurley piqued the interest of the GAA world this week.

After years of research and development, Torpey Hurleys brought their 'Bambú' stick to the market, looking to provide an alternative to the traditional ash camán.

Before launching the hurl, it was trialled by several intercounty players throughout the National League, including Westmeath captain and Torpey employee Aonghus Clarke.

"Sean [Torpey] introduced the bamboo hurley to me last summer," Clarke told Sky Sports.

"He brought it into me, and I didn't actually realise it was a bamboo hurley. I just thought he was giving me an ash hurley. Eventually he told me and explained the idea to me. I thought the concept was deadly, I loved the whole idea of it. But then I was like, 'But I like my ash hurley, I've always liked my weight and balance'.

"Sean asked me to use it as a trial to see if it would break, and to experiment that way. I used it in a few training sessions then.

"The more I was using it, the more I started liking it and thought it was a lovely stick. I started bringing it to the [ball] wall, and then I used it in the [Walsh Cup] game against Dublin.

"Once I used it then, I haven't stopped using it since that."

Clarke in action against Cian Darcy of Tipperary during the National League

"I would have been staunchly ash up until this point. I loved the feel," he added.

"I wouldn't go back to my ash hurley after using this, after getting used to it now. I love it."

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So what's different?

"The biggest difference for me is the strike off it," noted Clarke. "I find it's a very sweet strike. If you hit it and you get a sweet strike, it's just a lovely, true connection on it. That's the biggest thing for me. In terms of control and touch, it's the same as an ash hurley for me.

"It's not unbreakable. The one hurley I did break, two players fell down on top of it - any ash hurley would have broken the same [way]. I couldn't really have had any complaints.

"I've had that hurley I have since January, and it's going well."

Reaction

Arriving at a training session with such a novel stick didn't quite have the reaction the Castletown Geoghegan club man was expecting.

"Funnily enough, nobody really noticed I was using a bamboo hurley for two or three months!" he laughed.

It has a different look

"I nearly had to tell the lads I was using it, because it actually looks... when you buy it on the shelf, you'd probably notice it's not an ash hurley. But once it gets a little bit dirty, it looks the same as an ash hurley.

"People didn't really know I was using a bamboo hurley, and weren't questioning it because it looked the same.

"[Tuesday] night at training, the word had went out and it was on the social media, a lot of lads were looking to use it at training. I think everyone is quite impressed with it, so far anyway."

It may be a novelty right now - but time will be the true test as to whether bamboo hurleys are here to stay.