One sign of a well coached team is the quality of the ball placement after the tackle. These vital moments can give you the best chance for recovery and continuity. Your players need to use a variety of styles of placement, depending on the type of contact they take.

Warm up time: 5-7
Session time: 5-10
Development time: 8-12
Game time: 15-20
Warm down time: 5-7

What to think about

There are five placement techniques.

1. Traditional: The ball carrier places the ball back from the tackled position. He can either keep the ball close to his body or at an arm’s length.
2. Jack knife: The tackled player thrusts his upper body back towards his own team.
3. Long placement: The tackled player lies prone with his feet towards the opposition.
4. Squeezeball: The tackled player rests on his knees and posts the ball through his legs.
5. 360s: The ball carrier rolls in the tackle before placing the ball.

Each has strengths, and not every type is suitable for the situation the ball carrier finds himself in.

set-up

1. Fight to the ground when you are tackled, to give yourself the upper hand in the tackle situation.
2. Use the ball placement technique that secures the ball first for your team and then provides the best ball to play with.

What you get your players to do

Split into groups of three with a ball. Nominate a type of placement. Have the ball carrier run into another player. He drops to the ground and places the ball. Rotate the players and the types of placement Also, change the height of the tackles, using ruck pads and tackle suits to act as different stimulus. Finally, have the third player act as support to drive off or over the tackler.