Rugby Coach - Making Core Skills Fun
By Dan Cottrell, Editor of Rugby Coach Newsletter, Thu Dec 8th

Making core skills fun. Improving the core skills is importantto player and team. But players, however motivated, will needsome new ways of approaching the core skill to add variety tothe practices. Here are some different ways of adding an elementof fun to handling activities.

Variety

Practice normal passing and then change to an unusual form ofpassing before returning to the core pass being examined. Forinstance when looking at offloads, make the players try onehanded back flicks in the tackle for a couple of rounds of thedrill.

Time trials

After going through some of the drills, try putting a time limiton achieving a certain target, e.g. five passes in one areafollowed by fives passes in another in 30 seconds. The elementof pressure builds a certain amount of tension, but also canlead to players enjoying the success. If they can beat theirtimes or other group’s times, they will enjoy the task even more.

Unusual areas

Don’t just practice in boxes or circles, use different shapesset out by cones to force players to think in different ways.Some coaches set out a snake like shape with differing widths inwhich players must progress up the pitch.

Also try handling on a sharper incline, or in long grass.

Different size balls

With all the different types of promotional balls, as well asage group balls, there are at least five separate sizes of rugbyball out there. Don’t just practice with one size, get theplayers to handle using all shapes and sizes in one practice.The variety of shapes will challenge players to change the waythey may take and give a pass.

Different balls

And one should

not just think of different balls, but alsotry using tennis balls (see issue 10), footballs (have you evertried spinning one of these?) or even beach balls. All could addan element of fun, if not enhance your players understanding ofball handling.

Resistance running and passing

Resistance running is where another player holds onto a player’sshirt or shorts as they try to run forward. The idea is to letthe player make some progress but making them work significantlyharder than they would do normally. Have you tried thistechnique with ball handing? Players do not always have theluxury of passing unhindered.

Cones as distracters

In passing drills, make a player carry a cone in one hand. Theyare allowed to use the cone and other hand to catch the ball,but they must release or pass the ball using the hand withoutthe cone. Once they have made right hand passes, then get themto change hands. Move on to getting players to take passesone-handed – replicating the times in the game when they need totake contact with the other arm. One handed pass to one-handedcatcher is not going to move the ball quickly across the field,but it might be very useful in a tight situation. For morearticles on Coaching or to sign up for a free RugbyCoaching newsletter please visit www.betterrugbycoaching.co.uk

About the author:Dan Cottrell is the Editor and founder of Coach and hasexperienced coaching at most levels. Dan qualified as anRFU coach in 1997, he has worked with Jack Rowell (formerEngland coach) Brian Ashton (former Ireland coach)and atBristol, with Dave Alred, famously known as Jonny Wilkinson’skicking coach.