Encourage good head position and leg drive in this fun exercise in tackling. It’s low impact and ideal for building confidence with your players.
If a player can drive another player sideways, they’ll have probably got their foot position correct and their shoulder engaged into the flank of the ball carrier. If they can keep their eyes open, they should have their heads behind the ball carrier too.
Put a tackler in the middle of the box and four ball carriers inside the edge of the box.
The ball carriers walk around the edge of the box.
The tackler aims to bump them out of the box with a proper grip around the legs, hips or lower body.
Once each one is bumped, he stays out of the box.
After the ball carrier is bumped out, the defender then moves to the next ball carrier.
Once all the players are bumped, the tackler swaps with a ball carrier and it’s repeated.
Then, put a tackler in the middle of the new box.
Ball carriers split into two lines at one end of the box.
They come forward alternately once the tackler is back in the middle.
The tackler tackle-bumps the ball carriers out of the box. See how many he can complete in 30 seconds.
TECHNIQUE
Engage the shoulder into the side of the ball carrier.
Even the top teams recognise they don’t practise side-on tackling enough.
Use this session to work on quick-to-ground tackling, against a dynamic attacker. MORE
The best tacklers read the movements of the ball carrier and anticipate where they are going. This session improves anticipation skills by focusing on the core of the ball carrier. MORE
The low chop tackle brings the ball carrier down quickly. It then offers the opportunity to turn the ball over. This type of tackle isolates the ball carrier from his support and also stops or delay offloads.
Learn the basics of a chop tackle by ensuring the players use it as a side-on tackle. MORE
A tackle is completed when the tackler has done everything in his power to prevent the tackled player releasing the ball to his team’s advantage. Work on what happens next. MORE
Use this full session to build up the right footwork to make strong tackles, both on an individual basis and in a team context. Warm up with some footwork and gentle contact, then start to increase the intensity. MORE
