good tackling drill that is not too hard or impact??

Rob HCoach, England

Hi Erin,

I`m using `tackle doughnut` for my U9`s to build confidence in the tackle and they love it.

It`s a game which requires tweaking depending on the players and i`ll outline my variations which have made this work. Initially it did not work but with perseverance and changes to the rules it started to work well and they ask to play it now.

The reason i like this is that it is purely about tackling under live game conditions but at a slower pace (they cant get up much speed due to the size of the area, which you can vary). It`s also not a routine boring drill - this is attack vs defence and you can use a scoring system if you like but with U9`s that goes out the window fairly quickly.

As it`s close to you, you can coach the tackles being made and get the kids to analyse why they are succeeding or not and correct mistakes.

Most importantly this is fun, which for some kids tackling is not.

Here are some of the things i`ve added/used to get this to work.

• Allow more defenders than attackers if needed and vice versa. Make the conditions fluid to keep game balance.
• To prevent players from turning round and running the wrong way use coloured cones in the outer ring and assign attackers to a coloured zone. They can only score here.
• Get single attackers to `take on` all the defenders. This is a great challenge and they laugh.
• Encourage players to run forwards, use sidesteps etc to score in their zone.
• Ask defenders to think about how to get the quick ones (team up) if they are being beaten often.

I dont have image 2 uploaded so if you have any questions please give me a shout.

Rugby Doughnut

DESCRIPTION

This game is all about developing confidence in the tackle. It doesn't allow attackers to build up speed and gives the coach a very close area to watch and allows plenty of flexibility to change the conditions so plenty of good tackles are made. Using a circle as in the diagram, attackers start in the middle and try to score at the edge. This game requires a bit of tweaking depending on the abilities playing and often an overload for the defence is required. You can even get one kid taking on the entire team of defenders. Switch this around to get a good balance. Also the attackers, being young, see the best way to score as turning round and running backwards, which ruins the whole game so either setting up the outer circle with coloured cones to divide the cirle into thirds, and then assigning a child to a coloured section or carefully managing the game so the attackers dont just run away from the defenders must be employed for this to work.

Rugby Doughnut

DESCRIPTION

This game is all about developing confidence in the tackle. It doesn't allow attackers to build up speed and gives the coach a very close area to watch and allows plenty of flexibility to change the conditions so plenty of good tackles are made. Using a circle as in the diagram, attackers start in the middle and try to score at the edge. This game requires a bit of tweaking depending on the abilities playing and often an overload for the defence is required. You can even get one kid taking on the entire team of defenders. Switch this around to get a good balance. Also the attackers, being young, see the best way to score as turning round and running backwards, which ruins the whole game so either setting up the outer circle with coloured cones to divide the cirle into thirds, and then assigning a child to a coloured section or carefully managing the game so the attackers dont just run away from the defenders must be employed for this to work.

Maredza ManasaCoach, Zimbabwe

Balance the players appropriately, this is about confidence building. overload the defence/attack as appropriate. Keep score if the game flowing freely to add competition. Progress the takecklers how to move onto rucking position and also good presentatiobn for those tackled.