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Rugby: Passing compass

I am so pleased with all of the drills and advice on rugby. I am a...

Mokie, Rugby Coach

DESCRIPTION

Have a quick demo using one group - keep your player briefing, brief.
Each pair face one another and stand side by side, about 1 meter apart - shoulder to shoulder. And about 2 meters apart - face to face.
Players should be up on the balls of their feet, jogging on the spot.
They should continually pass to each other, passing with the player in front of them.
When the coach calls out a direction the players should move as a unit maintaining the distances to each other while passing until the new direction is called.
You could call NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, or WEST. You could also have each side of your grid marked with different coloured cones and your players could move according to colours.
Movement should be controlled and not too fast.
Expand the size of the training area for greater speed of movement over distance.

COACHING POINTS

Feel free to select the coaching points that are most useful for your session plan and that match your training/coaching goals. You may have some of your own?

Ball carrier holds the ball in two hands.
The weight of the pass is considered in terms of distance, speed, and accuracy.
There is no need to spin the ball.
Players should listen and respond to the coaches call.
There is no reason why players cannot talk and listen at the same time.
Players are always moving and passing, even when their position is static.
Players are up on the balls of their feet and ready to change direction quickly.
Players can direction right away, when told to do so.
Players maintain the line in terms of speed and space, like in defence!
Movement is controlled and no too fast in any one direction.

PROGRESSION

Give each player a ball - passing between players still takes place with two balls active at once.
Passing and movement stops on a coaches instruction to e.g. do five sit up, five press ups etc. Once the instruction has been carried out - movement and passing carries on. Can players remember what they were doing before the instruction e.g. moving south?

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OFTEN USED WITH...

Pass and Follow:

They pass the ball around either clock wise or anti clock wise, you can decide to change the direction youself at any point during the exercise.
After the player passes the ball they have to follow their pass, touching the cone of the player they passed to - then get back to their cone before receiving the next pass.
The tempo of this exercise should be high.

Warm Up

One on One Race:

Tell the players: The player in possession of the ball when the coach blows their whistle has to run around the cone at the end of the grid to try and run the full length of the grid to score a try. The player from the opposition in line with the player that is running can try to stop the player scoring by running around the cone and tagging the runner before they reach the line.

For tag rugby players, provide all players with tags. In other variations decide on touch or contact, depending on how warm the players are - and your training goals.
Provide coaching on the go with encouraging feedback.

Warm Up

Wave After Wave:

The front line of players run towards the other side of the grid while passing the ball down the line. When the last player in the line receives the ball the line form behind runs through and receives the ball to continue to the other side of the grid.
The first wave should realign behind the second wave, when the second wave has the ball.

Warm Up

Relay Passing Race:

With each new instruction to players you'll be having a race, lets see which group is the fastest - no cheating!
Don't spend too much time talking, get the players into their groups quickly and tell them to do the following:

Pass the ball between your legs to the person behind you - keep going until the ball reaches the end of the line.
Same thing as above, but this time when the ball reaches the end of the line, the player at the end runs the ball back and the ball starts the same journey again. This is repeating until the every player has run from the back to the front of the line.
Same idea but this time under legs then next person passes over head, next under legs (under/over/under etc.)
Same idea but twist hips to pass to person behind first to the left then to the right - back person runs to front.
As above but just over the head.
Progress this with your own ideas e.g. pass to the person behind you with one hand etc.