David Clifford seeks improvement and enjoyment in equal measure

It's been said of David Clifford that he is a generational talent.

Tony Griffin, the former Clare hurler and now performance coach with the Kerry senior footballers, stated that Clifford knows that he is not the complete player but he also knows that he is complete beyond that of others.

The two-time player of the year is always looking to improve, but doesn't drill too deeply in trying to seek such improvement.

"I don't think of it too actively really as I suppose you're always trying to improve and get better," Clifford outlined at the launch of SuperValu's sponsorship of the GAA All-Ireland SFC and this year's #CommunityIncludesEveryone campaign.

"It's still football no matter how much preparation you've done and there are still so many other factors. It's not like darts or snooker where you're playing at the same target.

"You have a defender marking you, you've different defensive structures. So, look, it's hard to know. I don't exactly focus on anything too deeply because you have to try to switch off from it in one sense. I just try to improve and try to always get better and reach for consistency, that's the thing."

In expanding on theme of not over complicating things, the Fossa clubman added: "You can totally overthink it, we're all guilty of that. That's why you need to try to be well settled off the field and have plenty going on off the field to try and be able to move away from it because it's very easy to start thinking about it all the time. And sure then there's no real enjoyment in it then."

Kerry began their championship campaign with a three-point win over Cork on Saturday last, a victory that takes them into another Munster final and a date with Clare on 5 May.

It's the first step on the road to winning back