Training
This section looks at innovative and proven training methods to get the most out of your players. Whether that's a novel way to use a tackle bag, or a motivational tip, these articles look at boosting your rugby coaching in the one area where you really can make a difference.
-
Coaching tips and strategies from the rugby experts
-
Three acknowledged rugby coaching experts provide tips on their coaching strategies and styles.
-
Add hill running drills to training
-
Hill running is a great way to add some variety and challenge endurance skills in your players' routine running and fitness drills.
-
Dynamic stretching warm up drills
-
You don't need to be a physio to introduce these stretches into your team's warm up drills and realise the benefits for players.
-
Rugby drills using tyres
-
Using tyres can offer a fun alternative to the usual training props, to boost core skills and fitness.
-
Getting the most out of drills using grids
-
Grids are sometimes used as an end in themselves, rather than as the means to an end. Here's how you can enhance your use of grids.
-
Making core skills rugby drills fun
-
Core skills training drills can be a chore. Use the following tips to add some variety to make the process fun and develop the skills quicker.
-
Rugby drills with tennis balls
-
Tennis balls make a welcome alternative from the usual rugby ball drills and also teach good technique.
-
Using cones to vary rugby drills
-
Better Rugby Coaching experimented with using cones to add a different dimension to training, breaking up the normal drill routines.
-
Improvised warm up drills
-
Rugby training drills to pull out of the coaching toolkit when your plans have gone awry.
-
Coaching tips to get your rugby players tackling more effectively
-
Work out your players' tackling mindsets so that rugby training drills and practice sessions can be directed more strategically at their weak points.
-
Rugby drill tips for assisted running
-
The following assisted running drills and tips are aimed at helping your players boost their speed and fitness.
-
Rugby coaching the bouncing ball attack
-
How to coach passes using a bouncing ball and make them a potent attacking weapon for your team.
-
Coaching tips for a great scrummaging session
-
Work on your team's scrummaging technique and skills with the effective 30 minute coaching session.
-
Scrummaging coaching tips to win the hit
-
Rugby coaching tips to improve your players' scrummaging techniques.
-
Six tips to winning quicker ruck ball
-
Quick ball means a chance to run at a less organised defence. But if your team simply can't produce the sort of ball your scrum half needs, here are some rugby coaching tips to cure the problem.
-
Coaching tips to train your back row
-
Rugby coaching tips and tactics to help improve your back row's performance.
-
Tips to refresh your rugby coaching style
-
All coaches have moments of reflection or even doubt. Here are some tried and tested tips and tactics to reinvigorate your coaching.
-
Using circle grids for rugby drills
-
Training a large group of players can be difficult. Try circle grids for a different approach to coaching your rugby drills.
-
Touch rugby top tips
-
Playing touch rugby can pay dividends when it comes to full contact matches.
-
Using touch rugby to improve the basics
-
A look at how touch rugby can allow your players to experiment and extend their core rugby skills.
-
Team defence like Rugby League
-
What rugby union can learn from rugby league.
-
Rule reminders for problematic rugby laws
-
The refereeing fraternity is always under the microscope. Six Nations and Super 14 games are dogged by interpretation and language difficulties. So we thought now would be a good time to look at a few of the more problematic areas.
-
Rugby drills and tips to coach a great lineout session
-
Use the following rugby coaching tips and drills to run closed and open lineout training sessions.
-
The one-session rugby workout
-
Ken MacEwen shows you how to build your team's fitness and improve your players' rugby skills at the same time.
-
Tramlines rugby practice session
-
Getting your rugby players to practise the basic skills is an important part of every training session.
-
Overload attack game
-
Challenge your players' individual and unit defensive abilities with this fun rugby skills game.
-
Using periodization ideas to vary rugby training intensity
-
What does periodization mean and how can it work for your team?
-
Five core areas to focus on in rugby coaching
-
These are the five core areas of the game that even the top players practise every week.
-
Five ways to create a controlled, aggressive team
-
How to look to the example of the All Blacks to play a controlled, aggressive rugby game.
-
Rugby coaching tips for falling over
-
How your rugby players fall makes a big difference to how well the side keeps the ball.
-
Touch rugby basics
-
Rugby coaching tips looking at the pros and cons of touch rugby. These games have big skills and fitness gains for your players but read on to avoid the pitfalls.
-
Pop Cycles
-
A full session to boost your team's short passing skills.
-
Silent Running
-
Making support players work harder.
-
Game Specific Fitness - Upper Body Work Out
-
Strength exercises for the arms and shoulders.
-
Attack Strategies - A Simple Way to Create Space
-
A practice to improve inexperienced players' ability to attract defenders and free up space for team mates.
-
Designing the Perfect Drill
-
The key elements of creating your own drills, to practise the skills you want to, when you want to.
-
Seven Uses of Funny Feet to Improve Your Team's Passing
-
Games to develop passing skills, particularly when unbalanced.
-
Space – The Final Frontier
-
Players who are able to recognise and then exploit space effectively are highly valuable, but rare.
-
Freestyle Training to Build Creative Players
-
A game of basketball with a rugby ball? What's the point?
-
Mauling with the ELVs
-
The ELVs (experimental law variations) are experimental no more. One of the laws causing most controversy concerns the maul.
-
Scrummaging with the ELVs
-
The ELVs (experimental law variations) came into force on August 1st. You will have to adapt your coaching, or your team will struggle.
-
The Scrum Half and the ELVs
-
How scrum halves have to adapt their defensive duties at scrums under the ELVs (experimental law variations).
-
The ELVs and Lineouts
-
The ELVs have resulted in a number of changes to the lineout laws.
-
Kicking from Your 22 Under the ELVs
-
When the whistle blows in your next match you'd better be prepared.
-
Running Sessions When Your 1st XV Is Way Better than Your 2nd XV
-
Organising training sessions to make sure your "opponents" are effective.
-
9 Clever Ways to Ramp Up Intensity
-
"Intense" is the buzz word in rugby... according to the commentators at least.
-
How to Tackle the Legs to Win More Turnovers
-
Tackling the ball carrier's legs is one of the simplest ways of winning back the ball from the opposition.
-
How the Experts Coach Young Players
-
It can be daunting to know where to start when coaching younger players. I asked seven elite coaches for their expert opinions.
-
Rugby Fitness - Make it Personal
-
Simple methods to creating "made-to-measure" fitness programmes for your players.
-
Stop Slow Ball Killing Your Game
-
Four key ways to speed up your game.
-
5 Minute Session Planner
-
It's great to plan your training. But in the real world you sometimes simply have to get on with it.
-
Dynamic, Specific Warm-Ups to Boost Your Players
-
Ways to give your players a better start to training, whilst practising their core skills.
-
Shadow Battle
-
A great way to add a competitive element to an agility skills warm-up.
-
Periodization Training Plan
-
An example training plan for the first four mesocycles of the season.
-
An Innovative Way to Mix Up the Intensity of Your Sessions
-
Using experimential and structured training sessions to boost performance.
-
Rugby conditioning drills
-
The following 16 rugby drills are designed to condition your players hard, while developing core rugby skills. They are ideal for training inside during poor weather conditions.
-
Obstacle course and zones drill to help young players find space
-
The following innovative and fun rugby drills will help you solve the common problem of players bunching up and swarming around the ball, as rugby is about finding space and exploiting it.