Try blind passing and silent support tactics to vary your rugby drills

Are you brave enough to try some very different rugby coaching drills and tactics?

Sometimes it is worth trying something completely different. Make players work on an important area of the game, such as core skills, but do it in a strange way.

I tried out these innovative rugby drills on some level 3 coaches at a rugby coaching course, after using them extensively with my regular teams. The outcomes were more beneficial than I expected.

Blind passing drill

Purists everywhere will throw their hands up in disgust when I say don't look at the receiver. But I think this can build the players' passing ability and awareness in support.

Tell a player to SHUT THEIR EYES, run three strides forward, step to one side and pass the ball backwards into the space they have just left behind. A supporting player, who is in close attendance, should take the pass, before repeating the drill.

Why does it help?

Because they cannot see the supporting player, the passer will not be passing at the player. This makes players pass into space and thereby encourages supporting players to run onto the ball.
Encourage the passer to pass the ball upwards and backwards. This seems to make players make softer passes, making it easier for the supporting player to take the pass.
It makes supporting players work hard to be in "close support". This is a subtle measure of distance to allow the supporting player to read the ball carrier's direction, and be able to run onto the ball with pace. In drills the most common mistake is for the supporting player to be too close or too far to one side. Remember the ball is being "put" into the space left behind by the ball carrier.

Should players learn to pass blind?

During a practice only. The drills are used to enhance skill levels. It's not something to try in a game situation, unless players are highly skilled and confident of their team mates. Even for skilled, well-drilled players, blind passing should be used only for short pop balls in a narrow channel of play, not for lateral passes of more than a metre.

The top teams may perform moves where the ball carrier passes without looking at the receiver. Whilst this is a high risk strategy, it is not without its rewards. A loose pass in a tight game might be criticized, but if the pass means a score, what then?

Silent support tactic

We are always telling our players to call for the ball. However try this experiment. Ask them to put up their right hand if they know the difference between their left and right. The moment of hesitation by many and the inevitable mistake by a few (always a source of amusement!) will prove to your players that shouting left and right can be difficult to compute quickly, even in relatively calm circumstances.

Calling left and right as a supporting player is anyway a limiting factor for the ball carrier. They may be tackled in such a way that they cannot possibly pass the ball in the direction of the support. In the end, they want to be able to pass the ball either way in close contact situations. Silent support eliminates all calling.

Why does it help?

Silent support makes supporting players work "properly" in training, but is only for training. The idea is to make the ball carrier confident of support, whatever happens.
The supporting player needs to be in the "pocket," just as in the blind passing drills. The onus is on the supporting player to find the ball carrier and work to be in the right place for them, rather than the other way around.
The difference between blind passing and silent support is that the ball carrier now looks for the supporter before releasing the ball. In close quarter rugby this is vital because, like it or not, it is not beyond the wit of opposition players to call for their opponent's ball (shock, horror!).

Should players learn to use silent support?

Silent support tactics teach the supporting player where to run, but again it's only for training. It is a solution to the problem of support players spreading themselves out in a close quarter situation, when they need to be deeper and in behind the ball carrier.

In training, silent support should be used first to teach running support lines and passing awareness, before moving back to the more conventional technique of calling for the ball.

But I still advise against using terms such as "left" and "right".

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