HOME Rugby Drills Passing

Rugby: Simple Passing Exercise

Great site and excellent drills. Easy to understand and apply in training....

Tyrone, Rugby Coach

DESCRIPTION

Tell your players the follow.....

The first two players at each coach will advance, attacking the cone to their left, in the middle of the training area.
The players should split as they run, increasing the distance between them.
When they get as far as the middle cone, they should then pass.
The reciever then passes to the first reciever on the cone they are approaching.

COACHING POINTS

Keep the tempo of this exercise high, but only after the players have been able to succeed at a lower tempo. There is no point in moving faster and compromising players experiencing success.
Good communication is vital to define roles, position, expectations, direction of the pass, the type of the pass, the timing of the pass etc.
Communication should be efficient, effective, and encouraging.
Mistakes will happen, while we work to minimize mistakes - don't over focus on them! If you do, your players may well magnify their own mistakes. What's important is the next pass, the next catch! You as a coach have to give the players the freedom to make mistakes, you also have the responsibility for helping players adjust their passing style and decision making etc. to minimize the possibility that the pass will not go astray.
Passes need to be weighted correctly in terms of speed, distance, and accuracy.
Receivers have their hands out.
Players do not spin the ball when there is no need.
Players use soft hands to move the ball quickly. Passing, not firing the ball.
It is only a good pass when it has been completed, and it is only a completed pass when the receiver catches the ball.
The ball should be caught in both hands, at a position that is best suited to move the ball on quickly.
Receiver should present a target, they could clap their hands to provide a visual and audible target.
Set targets for your payers, but make sure that targets can be achieved. It is vitally important that players experience success and feel a sense of achievement at every session.
Have fun, allow the players to experiment and discover attacking and passing options - but don't allow discoveries to go unnoticed.
Could players run their own switch?
Help your players to develop a decision making framework to support their passing and attack play.
Keep players moving, breaking only for very quick corrections and question and answer periods - keep players in position.
Use differentiation with respect to selecting your groups and profile players based on what you see. Use this exercise to set future training goals, individual to each player.
If you do decide to progress this and use a defender at the cone: Players should use footwork, changes in running speed, committ the defender before he pass etc.

Don't feel that you have to focus on all of the following coaching points, you may have your own. Select the points that most closely match your overall training and session goals.

PROGRESSION

You can progress this by placing a defender with a tackle shield on the middle cones, if you do this - don't forget to change the defenders.

READ MORE

READ LESS

OFTEN USED WITH...

Pressure Cooker:

4 players stand on the middle cones in the grid, avoiding the corner cones. The 2 players at the top and the bottom of the grid will have a ball. The players on the sides of the grid will have one ball between them.
The 5th player will be the ball carrier.
The ball carrier starts at the top of the grid facing the bottom. Moving forward they will take a pass off one of the middle players and pass the ball onto the other middle player. They will then collect a pass off the player in front of them, before popping the ball back to them. They will then turn and once again collect a pass off one of the middle players before moving it on to the other middle player. They then take a pass off the top player before popping it back and starting the exercise again.
They keep going until told to switch with another player.
The player in the middle can turn and flick the ball to the static players at the top and bottom of the grid, as well as popping the ball.

Passing

Split with Trailer:

Tell your players the following......

Player A passes to D and cuts - not getting ball back , but holding up - B cuts and receives the ball off D, then turns it back inside to C, who passes to A to score out wide on Right.
Players change position after each attack, the static player will be a runner in the next attack.

Passing

Pop and Pass:

Tell the players the following....

The player on the cone passes the ball forward to the player just in front of the cone, the passer then become the runner.
The reciever pops the ball for the runner to run onto.
Runner takes the ball and makes a bawards pass to the player on the cone opposite them.Â
The runner can drift to increase the distance of the pass.
Players should side step to avoid one another in the middle of the grid.

The first reciever can change the way they present the ball: they could set the ball on the ground for the runner to pick, they could lob the ball into the air for the runner to reach for and catch, they could deliver a low pass aross the knees for the runner to catch etc.

Passing

Beat the defence:

Offensive players (blue), line out in one deep line while the defence (red) line up opposite in a straight line, slightly inside player from the player that they are marking.

The offence will attempt to pass the ball across the line at speed.

Defenders will move up to stop them but do not tackle, simply press. This teachers the attackers to pass under pressure, as they try to pass across the line without making any mistakes.

Passing

35798

1009