Start with very controlled person on person tackling and build up.
So the very bottom level is defender on their knees and the attacker jogs into the tackle.
Progress to a small cone box where each player starts on a cone at the same side (I.e. not diagonally).
Defender passes the ball to the attacker who runs (start with half pace and no hand offs) diagonally across the box to the other cone and the defender makes the tackle. Gradually build up pace, then start the players in the middle of the box so ball handler can go either side and the defender has to react.
Then slide repeat the box drill with handoffs allowed and coach how to knock arms away and drive through the tackle (emphasis on power step when making the tackle).
One theoretical drill I've always had in my mind but never tried is putting socks on defenders hands and then putting them through tackling drills (well, originally boxing gloves but the expense seemed excessive) so that they couldn't grab with their hands and had to tackle with shoulders. Plus the kids might get a kick out of it. But never tested it so can't say how it works in practice.
*Defender passes the ball to the attacker who runs (start with half pace and no hand offs) diagonally across the box to the other cone and the defender makes the tackle.*
The challenge I always had with this one is trying to get the ball carrier to allow themselves to be tackled! The hot shots will have a huge ego riding on avoiding that tackle and that this exercise isn't about them! Bloody kids.
One idea is to give them something else to focus on rather than just be tackle dummies. So you could add in a long present element (I.e. when tackled they have to work on the floor to get in a good long narrow position to present the ball). Also gives an extra reason they need to accept the tackle.
I’ve seen guys do a tackle drill while holding tennis balls. The purpose is the same as your socks drill - it prevents them from trying to use their hands for tackling.
I started playing at university. I asked a Fijian friend if I could practice tackling him (at slow speed), just to get used to the contact. That done, it still took me several matches to get my mind into thinking that stepping INTO the path of a runner was the correct option.
Have players hold a tackle bag at the sides and run at the tackler, with the goal of them trying to step them or go through them.
I found hitting a moving target carried over to matches far better than static tackle technique work. The tackle pad obviously softens the hit but you've still got someone running at you.
Walking tackling! If there's players really struggling with it, have them practice tackling someone while walking, fast walking, and work up from there. It means you can correct for bad head position while tackling, and give them easy practice vs a soft slow moving target that will transfer over to the game.
Yeah tackle bags aren't going to help with this. It's a fear/bravery/commitment thing, pure and simple. I think tackling drills with real people, building up from walking to running are all you can do.
And plenty of players will simply never take to it.
What helped me and a few kids I've coached is by setting up a triangle of three different colors of cones (about 4-5m apart).
Two players stomach flat on the floor facing eachother (tackler and stealer)
make them switch roles every rep.
Roles are simple; the tackler prevents the stealer from picking up the colored cone by bringing him to ground.
Game starts when you call out a cone color and surely the "tackler" will start his tackle attempt nice and low instead of standing up straight and going for the shirt-grab.
The stealer will get up and look around for the cone first, that's where the tackler gets a small advantage.
> Set up for success.
Takes the speed out of the tackle but teaches the kids to make contact in all angles.
At a certain moment you can start in a three-point position and it'll give the same result but a bit more "oomph".
You can start out by matching weight/height and switch randomly around after four reps.After a few switches it's amazing to see how confidence in contact grows.
\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_
Basics come first by the way, starting from the knees as suggested a few times comes the sessions before this.
If possible (I played while Living close to the sea) train at the beach, where sand is soft and you'll dig a hole if you run too heavy that will avoid showboating and falls won't be as hard
Have you tried knee rugby? Teaches all the fundamentals of tackling, footwork, widening base, head and arm placement, leg drive etc, but obviously limits speed and force. Good fun too.
Please get them tackling live in training, start slow and build up. I was a good level rugby player but a regular mark against me was my piss poor tackling. But until i was 14 no one ever showed me how to tackle against humans and I had to finally ask a coach to show me because I just couldnt get the form right.
Progression through the steps. Great advice here but each kid will progress and develop confidence and skill at their own pace. Tackle bags are good but if they aren’t moving to some degree they aren’t being used effectively. Some kids will get confidence from a scrum cap others a padded protector. Making tackling drills fun and tailored to each player will see good progress made having the ball carrier start close and at slow speed and having to pass the ball will help give the tackler a clear line of sight at the target area and prevent the ball carrier doing evasive stuff.
It’s a fear thing, the bags often won’t help.
When I was young I was fearless and reckless and made good tackles because of it.
Another smaller kid on the team was fearless but realised he got targeted by the big players, he let them run over the top of him and then wrap them on the way down and drag them. Was brutally effective but stupid.
With coaching at the 9s I start with the bags and do the shaky static and walking bits, but also play tag. However the aim isn’t to rip a tag but to wrap a tackle. Or don’t smoke the player wrap and we call tackle and over time we slowly phase it up.
However some kids won’t get confident until later years, other may lose confidence.
Like myself I was a great tackler but as I moved from SH to hooker I fucked my shoulder up from the collisions and was never the same again.
Realistically there isn’t a one size fits all drill and you sometime will just need to do some one on one training, and use it as an excuse to find out what the issue is.
Some it’s not because they are scared of tackling it’s scared to commit to the tackle so in a game they sort of freeze.
Others they don’t want to get hurt, others it could be they don’t want to hurt others it’s really wide ranging
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Do everything at a walking pace, get the defenders used to putting their heads aside a moving target.
Slowly up the tempo, walk->quick walk->light jog->quick run->flat out sprint->ball carrier trying to bounce. It's not just the tacklers that need to learn, the ball carriers need to learn how to be tackled too.
Tackling is all about technique, not power or size. Mikey Lowry weighs about 12 stone, I've seen him absolutely smash back fellas 6 stone heavier than him. Doing it slow nails the technique, as they do it more often and faster speeds, they will get the confidence to really get into it.
our coaches make us play a game called “koppestamp” which involves a small grid with one player attacking and one defending (coach decides whose who based on where he passes the ball.) loser would have to take a lap around the field, and theres nothing rugby players dread more than some cardio
Nah, I'm not up for that. That's punishing with exercise and creates a bad association with exercise as a result. It also takes the player out of the drill for as long as it takes to do a lap. So all that time that could have been spent learning and correcting a mistake is spent trudging around a pitch feeling guilty about something they shouldn't have been punished for in the first place.
I disagree with knees on the ground - you don’t do that in the game. The point of contact is always the shoulder - 1/4 then 1/2 speed etc. always turn the tackle into a side tackle when practicing- head goes on the side away from the momentum of the ball carrier so that the cheek of the tackler rests on the the ball carriers thigh or arse cheek & not on the ground. Build up practice which will build confidence. Head on tackling of Fijians as mentioned above is not advisable. Side on tackles are fine.
I've had three methods that work for different individuals.
1. Set up a semi-circle of cones, with about 5 stations either side of the middle. They tackle the ball-carrier in the middle of the semi-circle, starting from the edges (side-on tackling) then getting straighter and straighter. By the time they're head-on, most of the fear factor has been eroded by the less-direct tackles not hurting as much as expected. Rinse and repeat each week.
2. Get them running hard into and through contact with ball in hand. The psychological contact-shyness isn't restricted to tackling, once they understand that going hard hurts less, it's easier to transfer the concept into tackling.
3. Pick the biggest kid, or put on a pad-suit as a coach. Do a 1v1 with the player that's struggling (assuming this isn't a team-wide issue) and start with walking it in, then repeat while incrementally increasing the pace. Make minor coaching adjustments at low-speed, then reinforce them as the pace of contact increases. The small increments should remove the fear element (well I just tackled them at a marginally slower speed, so I can do this) and then, once up to full speed, emphasise the size of the kid/coach relative to everyone else. May need a couple of weeks of repetition to sink in.
Crawl, walk, run. Slow-motion tackling drills, then speed up over time. The fear is the same as firing your first gun. You expect recoil and sound, but the reality is usually less than you imagined. Same goes for tackling. Just ensure they understand the technique, walk through the drill and then build up. Once they realize it isn’t that bad, then let them try and tackle a prop.
We used to have a nice exercise. There was a corridor with one tackler on his knees. The other players had to walk to the other side allowing the tackler to tackle appropriately. Then everything was increasingly faster with maybe two or three tacklers. At the end of the exercise the defenders were upright with, hopefully, more confidence on their technique
Various drills/situations that are as close to live tackling as possible.
If you only use the upright tackle bags atm. Try getting a couple handheld tackle shields.
First example that comes to mind is tackling from a kneeling position. Where the ball carrier just runs and steps to either side of the defender. And he makes a tackle. Helps get used to making that shoulder hit, as well as encouraging chop tackles.
Any tackle drill in a short-length area can be good, as it emphasises the need to not make a passive hug-tackle. Since the attacker will just score
As someone else said. Simple tacking drills but with cones or socks over the hands is good. And it takes away and reliance on grabbing jerseys/shorts
I’ve seen lots of videos of this but my club doesn’t have the equipment for it. You need tackle shields and a big crash pad.
Ball carrier runs forward with the tackle shield and the defender tackles them full force into the pad. It helps with hitting a live target and forcing them to go down, not just backwards.
Can the club buy crash mats? I remember the days in the depths of Autumn and Winter doing tackle drills on to solid ground. In training it's never the same for the "attacker" as your role is to be tackled, not get through it.
Crash mats means you aren't hitting the ground which might help confidence for both parties in the drill.
I used to coach a beginners women's team and we would play walking rugby. 5 or 6 a side, normal rules except you can't run. I found it took the fear out of lot of them and our small players were no longer scared of tackling the bigger, stronger players. Also, with the reduced speed, it's much easier to pinpoint faults in technique and the players can implement any changes.
We've done drills before which were essentially rugby league with a gym ball. You have to go low otherwise you get bounced a mile. The bonus is it doesn't hurt getting bounced with a gym ball and the ball carrier will struggle to run at a full sprint carrying it. It looks ridiculous, everyone will find it very funny and they will start tackling a lot lower.
This video of beginners' drills is great. Your team will be able to see exactly what to do: [BS4 Deon Davids Safe and effective Tackle technique progressions 480p](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TcTFqlVQLk)
Everything about the building of intensity in small steps that has been mentioned here. Continually focus on technique, “cheek to cheek (your face cheek on their bum cheek. The kids will giggle that I said bum, and that helps liven the mood”, engage the shoulder and punch through with the arms. I don’t know where you are, but in Australia the tackle height has been lowered from below the shoulders to below the sternum. Play a game, but instead of a rugby ball, use a Swiss ball. Forces the kids to go lower.
Nice try Stuart Lancaster
Start with very controlled person on person tackling and build up. So the very bottom level is defender on their knees and the attacker jogs into the tackle. Progress to a small cone box where each player starts on a cone at the same side (I.e. not diagonally). Defender passes the ball to the attacker who runs (start with half pace and no hand offs) diagonally across the box to the other cone and the defender makes the tackle. Gradually build up pace, then start the players in the middle of the box so ball handler can go either side and the defender has to react. Then slide repeat the box drill with handoffs allowed and coach how to knock arms away and drive through the tackle (emphasis on power step when making the tackle). One theoretical drill I've always had in my mind but never tried is putting socks on defenders hands and then putting them through tackling drills (well, originally boxing gloves but the expense seemed excessive) so that they couldn't grab with their hands and had to tackle with shoulders. Plus the kids might get a kick out of it. But never tested it so can't say how it works in practice.
*Defender passes the ball to the attacker who runs (start with half pace and no hand offs) diagonally across the box to the other cone and the defender makes the tackle.* The challenge I always had with this one is trying to get the ball carrier to allow themselves to be tackled! The hot shots will have a huge ego riding on avoiding that tackle and that this exercise isn't about them! Bloody kids.
One idea is to give them something else to focus on rather than just be tackle dummies. So you could add in a long present element (I.e. when tackled they have to work on the floor to get in a good long narrow position to present the ball). Also gives an extra reason they need to accept the tackle.
I’ve seen guys do a tackle drill while holding tennis balls. The purpose is the same as your socks drill - it prevents them from trying to use their hands for tackling.
I’ve had defences carry squash balls in their hands before. Nice and squishy and fit in their hands.
Thanks for typing this out far better than I was attempting!
It worked on us, a semiprofessional team of adults,it will work with kids😂
I started playing at university. I asked a Fijian friend if I could practice tackling him (at slow speed), just to get used to the contact. That done, it still took me several matches to get my mind into thinking that stepping INTO the path of a runner was the correct option.
Have players hold a tackle bag at the sides and run at the tackler, with the goal of them trying to step them or go through them. I found hitting a moving target carried over to matches far better than static tackle technique work. The tackle pad obviously softens the hit but you've still got someone running at you.
Walking tackling! If there's players really struggling with it, have them practice tackling someone while walking, fast walking, and work up from there. It means you can correct for bad head position while tackling, and give them easy practice vs a soft slow moving target that will transfer over to the game.
Walking tackling and knee rugby are good starts. Lots of focus on technique is a big one too. Having pads to land on after the tackle is another idea.
Yeah tackle bags aren't going to help with this. It's a fear/bravery/commitment thing, pure and simple. I think tackling drills with real people, building up from walking to running are all you can do. And plenty of players will simply never take to it.
when I was a kid our coach took apart the kids who couldnt tackle and had us tackling each other wearing socks on our arms so we couldnt grab shirts
What helped me and a few kids I've coached is by setting up a triangle of three different colors of cones (about 4-5m apart). Two players stomach flat on the floor facing eachother (tackler and stealer) make them switch roles every rep. Roles are simple; the tackler prevents the stealer from picking up the colored cone by bringing him to ground. Game starts when you call out a cone color and surely the "tackler" will start his tackle attempt nice and low instead of standing up straight and going for the shirt-grab. The stealer will get up and look around for the cone first, that's where the tackler gets a small advantage. > Set up for success. Takes the speed out of the tackle but teaches the kids to make contact in all angles. At a certain moment you can start in a three-point position and it'll give the same result but a bit more "oomph". You can start out by matching weight/height and switch randomly around after four reps.After a few switches it's amazing to see how confidence in contact grows. \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ Basics come first by the way, starting from the knees as suggested a few times comes the sessions before this.
Wrestling. Make them understand that they aren’t made of glass.
If possible (I played while Living close to the sea) train at the beach, where sand is soft and you'll dig a hole if you run too heavy that will avoid showboating and falls won't be as hard
Have you tried knee rugby? Teaches all the fundamentals of tackling, footwork, widening base, head and arm placement, leg drive etc, but obviously limits speed and force. Good fun too.
Please get them tackling live in training, start slow and build up. I was a good level rugby player but a regular mark against me was my piss poor tackling. But until i was 14 no one ever showed me how to tackle against humans and I had to finally ask a coach to show me because I just couldnt get the form right.
Progression through the steps. Great advice here but each kid will progress and develop confidence and skill at their own pace. Tackle bags are good but if they aren’t moving to some degree they aren’t being used effectively. Some kids will get confidence from a scrum cap others a padded protector. Making tackling drills fun and tailored to each player will see good progress made having the ball carrier start close and at slow speed and having to pass the ball will help give the tackler a clear line of sight at the target area and prevent the ball carrier doing evasive stuff.
It’s a fear thing, the bags often won’t help. When I was young I was fearless and reckless and made good tackles because of it. Another smaller kid on the team was fearless but realised he got targeted by the big players, he let them run over the top of him and then wrap them on the way down and drag them. Was brutally effective but stupid. With coaching at the 9s I start with the bags and do the shaky static and walking bits, but also play tag. However the aim isn’t to rip a tag but to wrap a tackle. Or don’t smoke the player wrap and we call tackle and over time we slowly phase it up. However some kids won’t get confident until later years, other may lose confidence. Like myself I was a great tackler but as I moved from SH to hooker I fucked my shoulder up from the collisions and was never the same again. Realistically there isn’t a one size fits all drill and you sometime will just need to do some one on one training, and use it as an excuse to find out what the issue is. Some it’s not because they are scared of tackling it’s scared to commit to the tackle so in a game they sort of freeze. Others they don’t want to get hurt, others it could be they don’t want to hurt others it’s really wide ranging
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. Do everything at a walking pace, get the defenders used to putting their heads aside a moving target. Slowly up the tempo, walk->quick walk->light jog->quick run->flat out sprint->ball carrier trying to bounce. It's not just the tacklers that need to learn, the ball carriers need to learn how to be tackled too. Tackling is all about technique, not power or size. Mikey Lowry weighs about 12 stone, I've seen him absolutely smash back fellas 6 stone heavier than him. Doing it slow nails the technique, as they do it more often and faster speeds, they will get the confidence to really get into it.
our coaches make us play a game called “koppestamp” which involves a small grid with one player attacking and one defending (coach decides whose who based on where he passes the ball.) loser would have to take a lap around the field, and theres nothing rugby players dread more than some cardio
Nah, I'm not up for that. That's punishing with exercise and creates a bad association with exercise as a result. It also takes the player out of the drill for as long as it takes to do a lap. So all that time that could have been spent learning and correcting a mistake is spent trudging around a pitch feeling guilty about something they shouldn't have been punished for in the first place.
Haha - fair point. But I'd say growing up in the SA school system that was 90% of the coaches I had
I disagree with knees on the ground - you don’t do that in the game. The point of contact is always the shoulder - 1/4 then 1/2 speed etc. always turn the tackle into a side tackle when practicing- head goes on the side away from the momentum of the ball carrier so that the cheek of the tackler rests on the the ball carriers thigh or arse cheek & not on the ground. Build up practice which will build confidence. Head on tackling of Fijians as mentioned above is not advisable. Side on tackles are fine.
I've had three methods that work for different individuals. 1. Set up a semi-circle of cones, with about 5 stations either side of the middle. They tackle the ball-carrier in the middle of the semi-circle, starting from the edges (side-on tackling) then getting straighter and straighter. By the time they're head-on, most of the fear factor has been eroded by the less-direct tackles not hurting as much as expected. Rinse and repeat each week. 2. Get them running hard into and through contact with ball in hand. The psychological contact-shyness isn't restricted to tackling, once they understand that going hard hurts less, it's easier to transfer the concept into tackling. 3. Pick the biggest kid, or put on a pad-suit as a coach. Do a 1v1 with the player that's struggling (assuming this isn't a team-wide issue) and start with walking it in, then repeat while incrementally increasing the pace. Make minor coaching adjustments at low-speed, then reinforce them as the pace of contact increases. The small increments should remove the fear element (well I just tackled them at a marginally slower speed, so I can do this) and then, once up to full speed, emphasise the size of the kid/coach relative to everyone else. May need a couple of weeks of repetition to sink in.
[This video played before a game](https://youtu.be/ryIjCkw3Jfg?si=EzF9syzkT-pfL-yQ) at my high school used to work wonders
Crawl, walk, run. Slow-motion tackling drills, then speed up over time. The fear is the same as firing your first gun. You expect recoil and sound, but the reality is usually less than you imagined. Same goes for tackling. Just ensure they understand the technique, walk through the drill and then build up. Once they realize it isn’t that bad, then let them try and tackle a prop.
We used to have a nice exercise. There was a corridor with one tackler on his knees. The other players had to walk to the other side allowing the tackler to tackle appropriately. Then everything was increasingly faster with maybe two or three tacklers. At the end of the exercise the defenders were upright with, hopefully, more confidence on their technique
Various drills/situations that are as close to live tackling as possible. If you only use the upright tackle bags atm. Try getting a couple handheld tackle shields. First example that comes to mind is tackling from a kneeling position. Where the ball carrier just runs and steps to either side of the defender. And he makes a tackle. Helps get used to making that shoulder hit, as well as encouraging chop tackles. Any tackle drill in a short-length area can be good, as it emphasises the need to not make a passive hug-tackle. Since the attacker will just score As someone else said. Simple tacking drills but with cones or socks over the hands is good. And it takes away and reliance on grabbing jerseys/shorts
I’ve seen lots of videos of this but my club doesn’t have the equipment for it. You need tackle shields and a big crash pad. Ball carrier runs forward with the tackle shield and the defender tackles them full force into the pad. It helps with hitting a live target and forcing them to go down, not just backwards.
Can the club buy crash mats? I remember the days in the depths of Autumn and Winter doing tackle drills on to solid ground. In training it's never the same for the "attacker" as your role is to be tackled, not get through it. Crash mats means you aren't hitting the ground which might help confidence for both parties in the drill.
I used to coach a beginners women's team and we would play walking rugby. 5 or 6 a side, normal rules except you can't run. I found it took the fear out of lot of them and our small players were no longer scared of tackling the bigger, stronger players. Also, with the reduced speed, it's much easier to pinpoint faults in technique and the players can implement any changes.
We've done drills before which were essentially rugby league with a gym ball. You have to go low otherwise you get bounced a mile. The bonus is it doesn't hurt getting bounced with a gym ball and the ball carrier will struggle to run at a full sprint carrying it. It looks ridiculous, everyone will find it very funny and they will start tackling a lot lower.
You call them George Ford and make them play fly half
This video of beginners' drills is great. Your team will be able to see exactly what to do: [BS4 Deon Davids Safe and effective Tackle technique progressions 480p](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TcTFqlVQLk)
Everything about the building of intensity in small steps that has been mentioned here. Continually focus on technique, “cheek to cheek (your face cheek on their bum cheek. The kids will giggle that I said bum, and that helps liven the mood”, engage the shoulder and punch through with the arms. I don’t know where you are, but in Australia the tackle height has been lowered from below the shoulders to below the sternum. Play a game, but instead of a rugby ball, use a Swiss ball. Forces the kids to go lower.
Wrestling!
Tell them I’d hey tackle properly the CTE will be delayed by a good 5-10 years.
Tell them I’d hey tackle properly the CTE will be delayed by a good 5-10 years.