A SHIFT OF EMPHASIS??
Rugby in England at all levels needs to shift its
emphasis in training rugby players to cater for developing a higher
level of handling and decision making skills. It’s clear to see, even
at the elite level, that the catching, passing and decision making
skills of English players are inferior to their southern hemisphere
counterparts.
The
recent senior tour to New Zealand and the U21 World Championships in
France, were obvious examples to illustrate this fact. Our top players
showed to be so far behind their opposition in terms of executing the
‘finer skills’ that it was embarrassing on occasion even to be watching
at home. I choose to say ‘finer skills’ as the perceptive motor skills
involved in catching, passing and decision making are at the advanced
end of the skills spectrum.
I
consider the techniques and skills involved in open play physical
contact to be more basic and thus more easily acquired and
consolidated. This is not to undermine the importance of physical
contact skills but suggests that more time should be spent on handling
and moving the ball with better success.
This
has obvious implications for the structure of training sessions.
RATIONALE
Training
sessions will allow a greater amount of time for players to acquire and
refine their handling and decision making skills. This has a number of
positive effects:
1 Handling sessions increase the frequency of situations in which
players have to make essential
decisions and therefore help to decrease mistakes and poor decision
making.
2
Handling sessions, by their nature, encourage the development of
effective support skills and
running intelligence.
3 A
player’s speed will be improved and more importantly the speed at which
the ball is carried,
improving execution of game plan patterns.
4 4 Injuries sustained through too much heavy contact
will be reduced. When contact sessions are
implemented the intensity and focus is generally much higher and
therefore more realistic and
beneficial to a competitive game.
5 Considering
the points above, the team should create and convert more scoring
opportunities.
IN CONCLUSION
This
shift of emphasis may mean that some players feel uncomfortable and
challenged during the session. This is great! This is what you have to
experience to become a more skilful player. Stick with it. Ask
questions and give feedback to the coaching team. Those of you who think
that your strengths are to do with contact skills and not handling,
don’t panic! The first thing to bear in mind is that you will get
better. The second thing is that placing more emphasis/priority on
developing handling skills and decision making doesn’t mean that a
narrow game plan cannot be used. Nor does it give free licence to throw
the ball into wide channels regardless. It simply means that players
will be better equipped with skills that compliment any game plan or
style of play.
Any
ideas/feedback always welcome and useful.
Chris
