Getting ready for training needs players to get their bodies and minds in tune. Play lots of games to motivate and engage the players. Then break out into skills zones where your players can start to concentrate on the details.
Here are four warm-up skills activities which can be mixed into your training routines, all from our growing video archive.
Prepare for full-on tackling practice with this low impact, no-pads warm up. The players develop their footwork, their head position and grip in a dynamic environment. Plus, they get in lots of repetitions.
Get your ruck defenders into the right position then create an awareness of the ball and the attacking threats in this simple ruck warm-up exercise. MORE
Prepare for full-on tackling practice with this low impact, no-pads warm up. The players develop their footwork, their head position and grip in a dynamic environment. Plus, they get in lots of repetitions. MORE
Against an organised defence, you can use closely packed groups of forwards to dent the line and then attack the recovering, disorganised defence. Often known as pods, this requires organisation, especially around the roles of the players in terms of carrying the ball and supporting that ball carrier.
In its simplest format, after a set-piece like a scrum or lineout, the forwards who were not involved in winning the ball back after the first tackle, realign to take the next pass. This is in the expectation that the backline doesn't penetrate the line the first time. MORE
‘Escape the square’ is a quick game that can be used in warm ups to get players focused on moving the rugby ball in attack, scanning for space and communicating with team-mates. MORE
I recently polled coaches on Twitter on how long they spent planning. While over half suggested they spent up to 25 minutes on the process, two in every five coaches spent longer. Planning a session isn't easy and we all know the horrors of a poorly planned session. Here are two coaching ideas to make it easier.
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In all the excitement of the planning for the first full session back at training, I forgot three things that would have made a difference to training. Not perhaps the vital difference, but when you’ve coached for so long, it’s annoying when you make mistakes. I was lucky enough to work with three experienced co-coaches... MORE
With more and more sport opening up in the coming weeks, everyone will be excited about the prospect of training and even playing.
For some teams, the training sessions will almost run themselves as the players are keen to just be back together and play. For others, they might have lost a certain amount of confidence, fearing that their months of inactivity will make a training session an horrific aerobic disaster zone.
I think you have three tough decisions ahead of you. MORE
Back to training and there are five things you must do to ensure you make the most of your precious time with your players. Before we start, here are three things you shouldn’t do: 1. Do fitness testing. 2. Overload the players with too many skills. 3. Run extra sessions for catch up. Click here... MORE
