Coaching The Pass At Any Level
If You Do One Skill - Teach Your Team To Pass
From the first contact with a ball, youngsters will pass it or kick it! Two fundamental skills that many coaches may not fully understand or coach sufficiently since there are so many other aspects to deliver.
When sitting down with prospective coaches on Coach Education Courses it appears as if there is an actual fear of coaches being technical at the loss of playing a game! Context is everything and using the right technique at the right time is key to playing the game. However, we do not want our next generation of rugby players to be great at playing games but poor at actually doing anything technical! Here are some great practices for you to base your sessions on:
Breaking a skill down into its technical key components will make it easier to coach, fault correct, praise, provide feedback, and ultimately for the player to understand what they are meant to do.
These process skills are essential to your development as a coach. To enhance these skills you will also need another set of soft skills:
- Questioning (watch here 📺)
- Listening (watch here 📺)
- Adaptive Coaching Style (watch here 📺)
As mentioned, a great exercise is breaking down a skill into its key factors. Remember, to really see if you can perform a technique skillfully it needs to be completed repeatedly under pressure, hence the use of games. All this happens automatically if you practice properly.Take a look at the below example of breaking down the catch!
- Moulding the grip - Soft hands
- Hands as a target - W shape
- Tracking the ball - Visual
- Catching the ball
- The grip of the ball - 10 points of contact
- Body shape as you catch the ball
This all takes time and planning! Yes always use games but don't be afraid to be technical.