Fitness and Conditioning

Fitter teams win more games - it's as simple as that. Few rugby clubs will have a fitness trainer or a well-equipped gym. But there is a lot you can do to improve your players' fitness programmes, so they can get rugby fit, stay rugby fit, avoid injury and recover more quickly.

Rugby drills to maximise player pace - It is said that a good "big un" will always beat a good "small un". The same is true of a good fast "un," so it's worth spending time on rugby drills and games that will boost players' speed and acceleration skills.

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.

Tips for fitness and recovery from injury - Here are two truths worth remembering when trying to maintain fitness or recover from injury.

Improvised warm up drills - Rugby training drills to pull out of the coaching toolkit when your plans have gone awry.

Acceleration tips for defenders - Give your team a defensive boost with the techniques and skills used by sprinters.

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 tips for pre match warm up drills - Effective pre-match warm up drills can make all the difference to your team's performance. Use the following tips and strategies to maximise mental and physical preparation.

Tailor your mid season rugby drills to your players' needs - It's hard enough getting players to train mid season, let alone making them sweat. Better Rugby Coaching looks at raising your team's fitness profile by matching their rugby training drills to what actually happens on the pitch and the specific roles of players.

Resistance running rugby drills - The following rugby coaching tips and drills will help your players increase speed strength in a short space of time (and cheaply).

Give your rugby players the right fuel - What we eat and drink provides the fuel for us to train, play and recover. Rugby coaches are in a good position to influence players to become healthier, so try the following tips and tactics to boost your team's awareness.

Rugby coaching tips to make footwork drills fun - The following rugby coaching tips and tactics will help if your players are tired of working on the usual core skills footwork drills.

Rugby drills and planning tips for fitness programmes - It is never too late to start planning fitness drill programmes to help your rugby players.

Rugby warm-up drill to teach spatial awareness - I used to teach netball! I reckon it's better than basketball as a means of teaching spatial awareness, footwork and go forward. So you might like to try this fun warm-up drill which uses netball principles.

Pre-match rugby warm-ups - Your pre-match rugby training routine should be about both mental and physical preparation.

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.

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.

Fun invasion game for rugby skills - An exciting all-action invasion game, that can easily be applied to rugby.

Upper body rugby drills workout - Try the following rugby drills and plyometric exercises to work on the arms and shoulders.

A Heads Up About Headgear - It is generally accepted that headgear will prevent surface wounds. It is far less clear whether they will protect against concussion.

Coaching youth rugby moves and plays - Youth rugby has a number of differences from the adult version and requires different strategies. In this article I look at moves and plays.

Game Specific Fitness - Upper Body Work Out - Strength exercises for the arms and shoulders.

Good Hydrations - We are aware that we need to take on more fluids during exercise, but it is not necessarily recognised in what form and how much.

Needed - More Strength and More Conditioning - Look down any top professional sides' coaching roster and you will soon find the "strength and conditioning" coach. What is all the fuss about and what can you do for your players?

Any Time, Any Place, Anywhere – The Martini Gym - Practical ways to creating your own work out apparatus.

Quicker Dead Leg Recovery - Better ways to recover from a dead leg.

Warming Up to Improve Performance - Exercise the body and mind before training and the match.

Prepare for Speed - Two warm up sessions to help your players cover the ground faster during the match.

3 Tips for Better Match Day Tackling - How to get new players tackling and experienced players tackling better.

How to Build Fitness Conditioning into All Your Sessions - Improving skills and fitness at the same time.

Rugby Volleyball Warm-Up - A great skills and conditioning game.

Encouraging Young Players to Be Confident in Contact - It is vital we get younger players confident to take and make contact.

Rugby Fitness - Make it Personal - Simple methods to creating "made-to-measure" fitness programmes for your players.

The Honey Trap - Five games to improve your players evasion and footwork skills.

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.

Christmas Cheer - A calorie busting skills session I particularly like to use to refocus my players after the Christmas break.

Fitness Planning - Three key tips to helping players get fitter.

5 Things You Need to Tell Your Players About Fitness - Dispellng some fitness and conditioning myths.

Periodization Training Plan - An example training plan for the first four mesocycles of the season.

Drop to Jump Higher - Getting more height from your lineout jumper is crucial to winning more ball.

Don't Waste Your Time with Press Ups - Press ups are an excellent exercise for developing upper body strength in the arms, chest and shoulders as well as building core strength.

Why Forward Play Doesn't Have to be a Pain in the Neck - By Dr Sally Lark, a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Health, Sport and Science at the University of Glamorgan.

Getting Back in the Game After the Tackle - A player on the ground can't play rugby. So how do you go about getting up and back into the game?

Offload Touch - "Offload touch" develops footwork, handling and offloading skills, as well as support play, while boosting your players' fitness levels.

Pre-Match Warm-Up for Rucks and Mauls - This warm-up requires one defender with a rucking pad and a group of five attacking players.

Battle of the Shadows - This warm-up prepares players to stop and start quickly as well as change direction.

The Need for Speed - Two keys to the sprint start by Doug McClymont, sports biomechanist.

Lateral Skipping - Training for When Straight Speed isn't Enough - Lateral skipping helps build up the power in the legs, so the player is able to move sideways at speed and to sidestep.

Long Place Fitness Training Drill - A great Western Force Drill of the Week. Please search the site for more clips of coaching drills in action.

The Townsend Training Drill - A great Western Force Drill of the Week. Please search the site for more clips of coaching drills in action.

Up 'n' Backs Contact Training Drill - A great Western Force Drill of the Week. Please search the site for more clips of coaching drills in action

The Baysie Training Drill - A great Western Force Drill of the Week. Please search the site for more clips of coaching drills in action

Attacking Space Training Drill - A great Western Force Drill of the Week. Please search the site for more clips of coaching drills in action

Speed up catching skills - Improve your players' all-round catching skills, reactions, balance and hand-eye coordination with these training drills.

Coping with last-minute team changes - These tips will help you cope if your game plan changes at the last minute, for instance, if your team is set but one of the 15 drops out with less than an hour to go.

Tackling performance errors - A performance error happens when a player cannot perform a skill in a match that they can do in training. The following strategies can help you identify the cause of the problem and how to correct it.

Drills to develop players' core rugby skills - Colin Ireland outlines sixteen rugby plays and drills to condition your players hard, while improving core skills.

Strength training drills for young rugby players - Coaches are often asked about strength training for young players. When can they start? What sort of things should they be doing? How often should they train? When can they start lifting weights?

Rugby drills putting the focus on feet - Balance is a key component in all sports and it is especially important in rugby – whether for passing, tackling, scrummaging, lifting in a lineout, kicking or side stepping. The following training drills will improve your players' footwork and, therefore, balance.

Rugby fitness drills to build body weight - Before your players are physically ready to start weight training programmes, there are plenty of rugby drills players can do to improve skills, get stronger and develop the techniques they will need later. Body weight training drills are simple, adaptable, cheap and can be performed anywhere. Drills involving press ups and abdominal crunches are well used but often performed with poor technique and so lose effectiveness. Introduce the following exercises and follow these tips to mix things up.

Specific fitness drills for different positions - There is a wide variation in the fitness needs of players in different positions. A prop runs further and slower than most backs, but performs more physical activity during the game. Once your players start to establish their positions, you can make fitness training drills more specific. Incorporate the following rugby drills, skills and tips in to your fitness sessions.

Warm-up rugby drill to focus players - Players can sometimes take time to focus their minds when they arrive for training. Add a simple decision-making game to your training drills to warm up the team.

Rugby drills to develop leg muscles - As going to the gym is not a suitable way for young players to build up their leg muscles, these rugby drills, skills and tips will help improve players’ leg drive using safe and fun workouts.

Rugby drill to boost scanning skills - Quickly improve your players’ peripheral vision and scanning skills with this rugby training drill. It aims to help the player see what’s happening all around while receiving and giving a pass.

Rugby fitness drills and games - All players need to develop an aerobic fitness level before they can train and play effectively. Young players can be encouraged in this by playing games and concentrating on a variety of rugby training drills.

Skipping drills and skills - Skipping is a highly versatile basic rugby drill which can benefit rugby players in a variety of ways. It can be used to develop coordination skills, flexibility, agility, speed and both vertical and horizontal power.

Rugby fitness drills to improve leg power - Here are four rugby training drills to increase leg power and build up players' fitness for areas such as scrummaging, jumping and tackling.

Sprinting tips for rugby players - Work on these key factors to improve your players’ sprinting skills.

Add jumping to your warm ups - Jumping is a crucial skill in rugby but one which is often poorly coached or not coached at all. Basic jumping skills can be built into your warm-up drills and can easily be improved with coaching.

Wrestling skills for a warm up drill - It is widely recognised that there are a number of training benefits to be gained from using wrestling drills with rugby players. Use the following tips and drills to integrate one-on-one combat in your training sessions.

Drills for quick decisions - Reacting to unusual situations and making quick decisions is crucial for all players. Developing these skills is not easy, but using speed-strategy training drills will get your players thinking faster.

Core skills and fitness drills - It is important to introduce skills training into your training drills as soon as possible, and preferably during the pre-season programme.

More core skills and fitness drills - The following tips and drills follow on from Core skills and fitness drills, and focus on vertical jumps, moving from an upright position to a lying down one, tackling and sprinting around agility poles.

Rugby coaching tips for the new season's first session - Tackling the first rugby lesson or session of a new season, or even a new school term after an extended break, can be a daunting task. There is so much to cover even before you try to pull together a team. The following rugby coaching tips will help you get organised.

Contact warm-up drill - Dominate the contact zone and you dominate the game, so warming up contact drills to prepare players physically and mentally are crucial to success.

Contact and defence warm up drill - A pre-match warm up drill to prepare your players and keep them motivated, fit and challenged.

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.

Rugby warm up drill to develop better running angles - Try the following rugby warm-up drill to boost your players' handling and movement skills.

Easy drills to work the core muscles needed for speed -
It's the core muscles that count the most when you're training for speed and rugby speed comes from the engine room, that is the stability of the muscles around the hips.
The best rugby runners have a very stable pelvis because their conditioning programme has included core stability drills to develop these muscles and posture. Use the following rugby drills and tricks to help your players.

Rugby warm-up drill to get your players moving faster - Use this simple rugby warm-up drill for a quick way to boost your players' speeds.

Ball juggling rugby warm-up drill - This is a warm-up rugby drill your young players will have fun using. Not only does it get them handling the ball before the main training session or the match starts, but also it's a good way of getting them used to the weather conditions.

Star jump warm-up drill - Using a combination of jumps is a great way to help your young players get their muscles warmed up and flexible before a match or a rugby training session. Try the following star jump warm-up drill with your team.

Dodging drill to combine fitness and core rugby skills - Coaching fitness during your rugby training sessions is a hard call. By the time you've got your players warmed up and the session underway, frequently there is seldom time for specific skills development, let alone increasing fitness levels. This rugby drill session, however, combines skills and fitness in one session.

Lunge drill for lower-body strength - The lunge is a versatile fitness drill, which can be used to develop all-round lower body strength, flexibility, balance and power. Lunges can be performed as body weight drills or with dumbbells to increase resistance.

Rugby coaching tips for speed drills - You need to work on your rugby players' speed constantly during the rugby season, but you also need to train for speed in the off-season. Rugby speed drills work well if you follow these simple rules and coaching tips:

Rugby warm-up drill to boost your players' handling skills - This is a quick rugby warm-up drill to try with your players in order to brush up their handling skills.

Ball lift warm-up rugby drill - Before games it is important to get your players' mind and body tuned up for the intense conditions they will be facing in the match. If they run onto the pitch cold, still thinking about last night's film, you've got problems. Use the following rugby warm-up drill to help them focus on the here and now.

Ready to tackle warm-up rugby drill - So you've got your players tackling in their rugby training sessions and they're ready for the match. Use this rugby warm-up drill to make sure they're alert and fully prepared for the game and the tackles they are about to play.

How to get the most from your rugby coaching warm-up sessions - Never underestimate the importance of your warm-up session, advises Gethin Watts, assistant coach to the Wales U18 national side and for the Ospreys U18 regional squad.

Pre-contact rugby warm-up drill - Get your players ready for contact with the help of this quick rugby warm-up drill.

Rugby warm-up drill to prevent hamstring injury - This is an excellent rugby warm-up drill for strengthening hamstrings and preventing hamstring injuries, which are among the most common rugby injuries. Include it in your rugby training programme all year long.

Rugby coaching session to develop an aggressive defence - An aggressive defence can often be the start of an attack. If your defenders hit quick and hit hard, they can catch an attacking team off-guard. The best way to do this is known as the blitz defence. Use the following rugby coaching session to show your players how.

Rugby coaching tips for jumping - Use the following rugby coaching tips to improve the vertical distance your players can achieve with their jumps.

Core stability fitness - Core stability is a buzzword in rugby fitness. Why? Because the "core" is the origin of movement and the foundation for safe and dynamic rugby. Use the following tips to add core stability training to your rugby coaching sessions.

Rugby warm-up drill for pre-match footwork skills - When you're coaching rugby, footwork is key to exploiting space. A good pre-match rugby warm-up drill is essential to help get your players quickly into their stride.

Rugby fitness drills and games - Rather than send your players off on another dreary warm-up run around the pitch, check out these rugby coaching tips and drills to improve player fitness.

Rugby warm up drill for backs - Your backs need to work through their preferred moves before a match. Use these rugby drills and moves for warming up. But check out the state of the ground before you warm up.

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