EXPERT SESSIONS AND ADVICE FROM QUALIFIED AND EXPERIENCED GRASSROOTS RUGBY COACHES
Three rules from Bill Parcells, one of American football’s most successful coaches.
“Make it clear from day one that you’re in charge.”
Parcells has found that holding frank one-on-one conversations with every member of the team is essential to success. Leaders can do everything right with their teams and still fail if they aren’t able to reach each member as an individual.
“Confrontation is healthy.”
Parcells relishes confrontation because it provides an opportunity to get things straight with people.
Confrontation does not mean putting someone down.
When criticizing members of the team, he puts it in a positive context. Once he sets that context, he’s not afraid to be blunt about players’ failings.
“Identify small goals and hit them.”
He believes that success breeds success. Once a team gets in the habit of losing, confidence dips and success seems unreachable. To break the habit of losing, Parcells focuses on achieving goals within immediate reach.
Parcells is convinced that if you get people on your team who share the same goals and the same passion, and if you push them to achieve at the highest level, you’re going to come out on top.
When you are speaking to the players during the sessions, you will be doing one of the following: Praising their performance. Providing feedback on where they can improve. Challenging them to engage, through questions. MORE
Coach in a safe environment by following these actions. MORE
If you’re enjoying your own session it’s pretty likely the players will be as well. So, before you sit down to plan your first session, remember that you want to be part of the fun. MORE
Here are some tips on how to organise your players into teams quickly. MORE
Need to plan your first session. Here's a plan on how to plan! MORE
To run the best sessions, you need the following three pieces of kit: MORE
