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TRAINING GAMES: Working core skills (Dan Cottrell)
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WINNING DIFFERENCE: Building fitness and conditioning into your training sessions (Dan Cottrell)
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TRAINING GAMES: Developing more advanced skills (Dan Cottrell)
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
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Editor's choice: Three point stance
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Jargon busting: Speed ball
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Editor's choice: Offload floods
* Training games *
Working core skills
By Dan Cottrell
Using games in training is acknowledged throughout the coaching profession - from grassroots to the top of the professional game - as one of the best ways to improve rugby skills and tactics.
That's why all my Smart Sessions training plans develop from a technical session with progressions, into a game situation. Crucially, all the games are competitive, with clearly defined objectives and scoring systems to replicate match-like conditions and intensities.
In this article, I reproduce some core skills games from my extensive backlist of Smart Sessions Core Skills.
Power passing
Passing out of contact can devastate an opposition defence. The receiver can get behind the defensive line and the ball is kept available for the next phase of the attack.
This game works on your players keeping the ball alive, by driving through contact and then passing out of the tackle.
What you tell your players the game is about
- Developing the power to break through tackles.
- Offloading out of tackles.
- Developing the passing technique and control with the wrists and fingers.
The game
- Set up a 4 v 4 game on pitch about 15m wide by 20m long.
- Tacklers have to grab the ball carrier by the waist and hold on to make a tackle.
- Once held the ball carrier can drive forward but has to pass within four paces.
- If he can't pass to a supporting player or the pass goes to ground the ball is turned over.
- If a ruck or maul develops, the ball is turned over.
- More than one tackler can go for the ball carrier.
- Score one point for a try.
No-go zones
This game is fun and easy to set up. It works your players' footwork and conditioning.
What you tell your players the game is about
- Improving your agility and core stability.
- Improving your evasion skills.
- Improving your vision and decision making.
The game
- Set up an 8 v 8 game on pitch about 40m wide by 30m long.
- Add several "no-go zones" on the pitch where neither team is allowed to go. This will create a game of strategy and tactics, as well as developing agility and evasion skills.
- Turn over the ball if a player steps out of the pitch or into a no-go area.
- Make sure the players always re-start using a tap and pass.
- Use touch tackles at first, before developing with full-on tackling.
- Score one point for a try.
One pass rugby
Your team needs a range of tactics to improve the presentation of the ball at the point of contact. This game can help them understand what works for them in different situations.
One method for quicker ball presentation is the "speed post". See "Jargon busting" below for more details.
What you tell your players the game is about
- Improving your ball presentation at contact situations.
- Improving the speed with which the ball is produced from a breakdown, such as a ruck.
The game
- Set up a conditioned game where only one pass is allowed before contact is made.
- The defence can use pads, suits or live tackling.
- Score one point for a try.
The game may be a bit slow at first, with lots of mauling. However, reinforce the need for quick dynamic play (for instance, encourage the "speed post").
You are looking for your players to pass the ball to team mates in space, and not just near to the break down. You also want your support players to move onto the ball quickly and then to take it forward.
These actions will create more space for the players to exploit.
These games are reproduced from Smart Sessions Core Skills, my ready-made training plans for coaching all the basics of rugby.
With a new plan sent each week, Smart Sessions Core Skills are suitable for school children and club youth players, players new to the game, any players wanting to brush up their skills, and Sevens players. They are not suitable for children aged under 7 years old. Each Smart Session has the information needed to run a full coaching session of between 45 minutes and 1 hour 20 minutes. They cover recommendations for a warm-up, details of the techniques to be practised, a main session with progressions, and a game situation.
All Smart Sessions Core Skills sessions fall into one of 11 player skills categories: passing, kicking, tackling, scrummaging, catching, rucking, mauling, lineout, footwork, support play, and decision-making.
* Editor's choice *
Three point stance
The three point stance is used in American football, where getting low and exploding forward is essential for all players in the front line.
Defending the channels close to a ruck is very similar. Players need to be ready to go but patient, waiting for the ball to be played. It's then a race to get to the gain line and stop the attack.
This week's Smart Sessions Core Skills is called "Three point stance". It's about:
- Improving your players' defence at the side of a ruck.
- Tackling offensively at the sides of the ruck, to knock back attackers before they get over gain line.
- Forcing the attacking team to take the more difficult options to go forward.
* Winning difference *
Building fitness and conditioning into all your sessions
By Dan Cottrell
Do you almost never have enough training time to cover all the skills and strategy that you want to, and include a full-on fitness programme?
If so, you have to build fitness conditioning into all of your sessions. Here's some advice about how you can do this. Games for fitness
You should use games for fitness and conditioning as much as possible. These will make players work harder yet keep the enjoyment levels up.
Design the games to make sure you cover the skills work you want to do, as well as improve your players' fitness levels. Here are some examples. Footwork games
Use obstacle races, for instance over bags or through ladders and around posts.
Collision games
Set up tackle games where there is intense work for a short space of time, and then rest. Here's an example:
- Mark out a diamond shape and place two players in the middle, sitting on the ground, back to back.
- Give each player a name, for instance "lion" and "tiger".
- When you shout one of the names, the players get up and run to the cone they're facing.
- The named player picks up a ball and attacks one side of the diamond, whilst the other player tries to tackle them.
- You can alter the pressure and the speed of the collision by changing the depth and width of the diamond.
Strength games
Make use of wrestling and pulling games, like tug of war.
Handling games
Play a game of three on three touch rugby, such as the "ten pass keep ball game".
- Arrange a small box and small number of players, say 3 v 3.
- The objective is for the team in possession to make ten passes.
- Play with high intensity for a minute and then change the groups.
Warm-ups, conditioning and skills
Why start a session with a run around the pitch? Instead, get straight into ball work, easing the pace up. Over a ten metre stretch of the pitch, players can pass and dynamically stretch.
And why accept anything but total accuracy? If the players are moving more slowly than in a game, then they should pass more effectively.
Once dynamically stretched, move onto more challenging work on the lungs and muscles. For instance, to build "anaerobic fitness" (that is, the ability to produce short bursts of energy) work in a small square.
Each time a player performs a skill, like passing, they exit the box and perform an exercise, like a press up. Conditioning coverage
Think of the specifics of the game and then work out your conditioning programme. There is a danger that you regard your players as "athletes" and not "rugby players".
Yes, most athletes share the same attributes, but a sprinter and a winger are very different. It is no good being extremely fast over 50 metres if you can't get past the first player to give yourself that space to run into.
Work, rest and work again
The average amount of continuous play in a game of rugby is just over 20 seconds, with the maximum around three minutes. In fact, the majority of play is between five seconds and one minute.
Try using these timings as the basis for your skills workouts to replicate the activity on the pitch during a game.
* Jargon busting *
Speed post, n
Speed post is where the player posts the ball between the legs during contact, with supporting players then clearing out defenders. The technique must not be confused with "squeeze ball".
The ball carrier places the ball on the ground with his free hand, while gripping the defender with his other hand and driving him back. This should provide quick ball, with the defence on the back foot.
* Training games *
Developing more advanced skills
By Dan Cottrell
Following on from the training games for core skills, in this article I reproduce three games from my extensive backlist of Smart Sessions Advanced Skills.
Ruck and move
Creating quick ball from slow ruck ball requires a dynamic platform. Your team needs to draw in defenders and recycle good possession for the next attack.
This game develops one method to do this, by creating a mini-maul at the side of the ruck. Though primarily for forwards, the techniques practised are useful for backs as well.
What you tell your players the game is about
- Producing good ball that can be used to attack the fringes of a ruck.
- Giving an option to restart the forward momentum of a slow attack.
The game
- Mark out three 10m channels side-by-side.
- Split your players into two small teams.
- Starting in the middle channel, the attacking team, who always keep the ball, moves forward.
- When tackled or stopped, the attacking team needs to form a ruck or mini-maul, and then attack once more in the same channel.
- After the next ruck or mini-maul, they must attack into one of the other channels. Once again, they have to recycle the ball and attack again in this channel.
- Finally, they need to attack much wider and into the channel they have yet to enter.
- Attackers are not allowed to go outside any channel until they have won two rucks or contacts.
- Vary the level of pressure by not allowing the defence to compete for the ball to start with.
Quick, quick, wide
Players need to know what sequence of different moves is being run. This makes it easier to run the right support lines and break down defences over a series of phases.
This game runs a sequence of plays to attack close to the initial point of contact, before moving wider out.
What you tell your players the game is about
- Creating a system for attack: quick short passing, quick rucking and then passing wide.
- Drawing in a close defence, then attacking wider by using all the players in the line.
The game
- Mark out three 20m channels side-by-side.
- Start the attacking team on the edge of the left (or right) hand channel. They must attack through this channel from a mini set piece (e.g. a scrum), using four quick passes.
- If they recycle the ball quickly, they must try to spread the attack into the far right (or left hand) channel with quick long passes.
- If the ball is slow, they must attack back from where they came and start the process again.
Swerve with pace
Even when you are running plays and sequences, any ball carrier should be able to see a gap and have the ability to "go for it".
The swerve is a great way to avoid defenders in open field play. Even if they cannot beat them with the move, the ball carrier can force a "non-aggressive" tackle from the defender, allowing supporting players easy access to the ball.
What you tell your players the game is about
- Swerving at full pace to beat a defender.
- Developing an evasion skill for use in open field situations.
The game
- Mark out a narrow box, which opens onto a wider, 20m box.
- Have two players attack a defender in the narrow box. At the same time, a second defender runs around the corner of the wider box to defend the outcome of the 2 v 1.
- The attackers can pass, dummy, offload or even switch in the first box.
- In the wider box, the ball carrier can choose to score 2 points wider out, or step inside the defender for 1 point.
These games are reproduced from Smart Sessions Advanced Skills, my ready-made training plans for coaching players beyond the basic skills. They are not suitable for inexperienced players or coaches.
With a new plan sent each week, all Smart Sessions Advanced Skills cover set plays and moves, open field decision making, and advanced practises to challenge and develop the core skills.
Each Smart Session has the information needed to run a full coaching session of between 45 minutes and 1 hour 20 minutes. They cover recommendations for a warm-up, details of the techniques to be practised, a main session with progressions, and a game situation.
* Editor's choice *
Offload floods
A well executed offload can lead to your players flooding into the space behind the defence, exploiting the line break.
However, players and coaches often spend a lot of time working on this area and neglect the vital roles of the support players.
This week's Smart Sessions Advanced Skills works on the timing of the support players' runs, while ensuring that the ball carrier also works hard. It works on:
- Supporting the offload in numbers.
- Attacking the space behind the line break in numbers and at pace.
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NEW DVD!
PHIL LARDER'S IRON CURTAIN DEFENCE
NEW MANUAL!
48 RUGBY
SKILLS GAMES
RUGBY COACH WEEKLY
INTERNATIONAL RUGBY TECHNICAL JOURNAL
SMART SESSIONS
CORE SKILLS
SMART SESSIONS
ADVANCED SKILLS
THE LINEOUT AND
HOW TO WIN IT
COACHING RUGBY MANUAL
50 GREAT
BACKS MOVES
RUGBY ATTACK!
SECRETS OF THE
FRONT ROW
THE RUCK AND
HOW
TO WIN IT
MATCH DAY TACTICS
MOTIVATING YOUR TEAM
THE ULTIMATE RUGBY WARM-UPS MANUAL
COACHING RUGBY DVD
POWER PLAYS DVD
SPEED AND AGILITY FOR RUGBY DVD
WINNING LINEOUT PLAY DVD
COACHING SCHOOLS AND YOUTH RUGBY DVD
DEFENCE AND CONTACT DRILLS DVD
NEW DVD!
PHIL LARDER'S IRON CURTAIN DEFENCE
PROBLEM SOLVING FOR BACK PLAY DVD
SKILLS CONDITIONING AND FITNESS DVD
RUGBY COACH WEEKLY
INTERNATIONAL RUGBY TECHNICAL JOURNAL
SMART SESSIONS
CORE SKILLS
SMART SESSIONS
ADVANCED SKILLS
NEW MANUAL!
48 RUGBY
SKILLS GAMES
THE LINEOUT AND
HOW TO WIN IT
COACHING RUGBY MANUAL
50 GREAT
BACKS MOVES
RUGBY ATTACK!
SECRETS OF THE
FRONT ROW
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