Use this “empowered” warm up to give your players more say in how training looks. See the note on empowerment below this activity.
Break the pitch down into quarters.
Allocate a player as a leader for each pitch. The leader chooses what they want the rules of their touch game to be. You may want to prime these players before they arrive at training so they can plan.
Split the group down into small teams, with ideally 4 or 5 players per team.
Send them to their pitches and ask the leader to explain their version of the game. Give them a one minute time limit to explain and get the game started.
After 5 minutes blow the whistle. Bring the group in for some activation and dynamic stretches. Then send the teams back to a different pitch and repeat for a further 5 minutes.
Finish with a second set of activation and stretches.
If you have 10-12 players at training, then this would mean one game at a time, with a different leader each time. The leader will be playing in the game.
You can split into two concurrent games with 16 or more players.
With younger players, you will definitely want to prime the leaders. They should play games they are already familiar with.
Empowerment means delegating authority to the players to make decisions.
They have to be responsible for those outcomes. If it’s not working, they need to take charge of making changes.
And to know why it is working or not working, they need to have a clear idea on what needs to be achieved.
Therefore when you empower players you need to check for the following:
Do they have a clear idea on what the objectives are?
Do they know what they have in their power to change?
Do they know what where their responsibility starts and finishes?
For example, you will be responsible for safety and probably the equipment. Also, you will be in charge of discipline.
You will agree the outcomes. For example, here, the players want to increase their heart rates, do something that is rugby related, active, inclusive and above all engaging.
You will perhaps chat through some possible changes. For example, pitch sizes, the numbers in the teams, different points systems.
Then you have to let go and let them play.
You can ask afterwards how they found it. And, then the real process starts, because if you allow them to take charge again, then it shows you have given them a level of trust. That’s the real power of empowerment.
In Hard and Fast with the Miss Pass, we set up a “miss pass” training session. The miss pass is a long pass which skips one player, with the missed player drawing a defender in the process. MORE
A hard and fast flat miss pass can cut out defenders before they have a chance to change their running angles. It can lead to clean breaks as your attackers exploit the gaps.
By scanning the line and hitting the ball at an angle towards a space, the ball carrier is going to be almost impossible to stop. MORE
Training games, like touch rugby or contact games, tend to be competitive.
They should have:
Context: the players should know, either before or after the game, the reason you are playing. Fun/enjoyment are a given. However, what are the potential rugby outcomes?
Points: the players will want to know what the score is, and what the points system is.
Now, let's spice this up MORE
Already leaked more tries than you expected this season. Here's some cures to shore up your defensive line, which concentrate on technique, skills and organisation. Remind your players of what they do well and then help them to address their weaknesses. MORE
If you are coaching adult rugby, then you are probably already beginning to put in some elements of contact into your preparation programme for next season. If you are coaching youth rugby, then you need to carefully consider the regulations about contact rugby. For example, in England for under 11s and below, you won't even start "contact" of any sort until the actual season starts. MORE
Use our two simple tactics to pull defences one way and then kick the other to surprise them and give your chasers a good chance of gathering the kick unopposed. MORE