Speed up catching skills
Improve your players' all-round catching skills, reactions, balance and hand-eye coordination with these rugby coaching drills.
Turning exercise
- Split your players into pairs, with one ball per pair.
- The working player faces away from the ball carrier. Make sure he is on the balls of his feet and in position to react fast to any trigger.
- The ball carrier shouts "GO" and passes the ball. The "GO" call should be made just before the ball is thrown to let the working player get used to the exercise.
- The working player reacts to the call, turning round to catch the ball. He stays on the balls of his feet throughout, retaining his balance.
Developments
- Develop the exercise with players throwing the ball simultaneously with the call.
- As your players improve further, they can also make the passes progressively harder to catch.
Step towards the pass, don't lean
Remind your players that if they have to move to catch the ball, the feet should do all the work. They should never have to lean to catch a pass.
Player A has taken a step towards the ball and is able to catch it comfortably in a balanced position. From here, he can run, pass or take contact effectively.
Player B has not moved his feet at all and has had to reach a long way for the ball. He is unbalanced and from here has fewer options.
Variations- Vary the types of pass so the player has to move to the ball, jump and crouch down to make an effective catch.
- Use different types of balls to make the exercise progressively harder. Miniature rugby balls, tennis balls or golf balls can be used to improve the catcher's skills. Always insist the ball is caught in two hands.
- Develop the exercises so that once the player has caught the ball, he has to give a pass either back to the starting player or to another player to his side.
- Once the player catches the ball, he has to perform a set action. This can be anything from a simple run to a complex skill, such as beating a defender one-on-one.
This article is taken from the Better Rugby Coaching e-newsletter. Click here to sign up and get free rugby drills and skills twice a week.
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