Chose about one in four players to be chasers (the “spooks”). Give each spook a ball.
The spooks turn the rest of the players to “stone” by touching them with the ball on the chest or back. They cannot throw the ball and must hold it in two hands.
If turned to stone, the player stands with their legs wide apart. They can be freed by another player crawling through their legs, though this makes them vulnerable to the spooks.
Set Up
Area: 40m x 30m or small gym/games hall.
Equipment: 1 ball per 4 players, bibs (if available).
Players: Up to a class or squad size.
Scoring
1 point for each player turned to stone, with a 5 point bonus if all of them are turned to stone.
What to Call Out
“Look for space and move into it”
“Take short steps when changing direction”
“Keep your head up to see what’s going on”
“Use fast feet”
Coaching Tips
“Fast feet” refers to the speed of movement of the player in confined areas. Acquiring the skill will allow the ball carrier to manoeuvre away from defenders, defenders to get into better positions to make tackles. Jason Robinson (England) and Shane Williams (Wales) are typically regarded as players with fast feet.
The spooks want to turn the other players to stone.
Players turned to stone must stand still with their legs wide apart.
They can be freed by another player crawling through their legs.
“The defender keeps themselves light on their feet, head up and marking a potential break, coming forward to close down an attacker when they move forward” MORE
Players must win the race to the best space when attacking. In defence, players must work early, scan early and look to close space to force errors.
Attackers seek space, defenders take it away. This is also true over the ball.
Run this game over a series of sessions to gain the most benefit as the players develop their understanding of the tactical implications. MORE
Here’s a series of super-quick activities to set up and use to mix up your training to keep all your players occupied. Ideal to hand out to your co-coaches and aimed at a range of core skills in game-like contexts.
Here. is a series of what I’ve called Quick Coach. They are mini-activities aimed at four to six players. The aim is to provide you with a bank of breakout exercises you can run during your session. They should only last around five minutes, but the key is that they are very quick to set up and can be run by any coach in your group. They can even be run by one of the players if appropriate. MORE
