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Even the best international players drop the ball, so it is useful to remind ourselves about the key principles of catching. And we are not just talking about a normal catch and hold. It is important to get hold of the ball in a way so that it can be manipulated quickly for the next action by the player - be it contact, offloading, passing or kicking for touch.
The principles of a good hand catch
The rugby coaching tips to make the hand catch even better
Get players to practise catching:
Top hand catch training tip - clap hands
To help make your players put their hands in the right place, as well as encourage more accurate passing, try this piece of "magic".
Without saying anything beforehand, set up a group of players, some of them carrying a ball. Look at one of the ball carrying players, clap your hands towards him persistently. Lo and behold, the ball will be passed to you.
In practices, encourage your players to clap their hands towards the ball carrier. The hands will then be in the right place to receive the pass.
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