From TurboCASH Wiki

Contents 1 Rope Drills 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Strong Left-Strong Right 1.3 With a group of 7 or 8 1.4 Adding Balls and Going beserk

Rope Drills

Introduction

Ideally you need a tent to practice low body drills, but we have a low tech method of using the same techiques - an 18 Meter Rope. Ideally this should be course material and stand up to tugging and bumping.

The general aim of Rope Drills is to encourage Players to move as one Defensive Unit and to improve the Speed and agility of practiced movements.

Strong Left-Strong Right

• Drill is to practice moving left-right back-forward as a Defensive Unit.
• Double the Rope over to have length of 9 meters
• 4 Players line up - 3 meteres apart facing the Coach who is 7 meters in front of them.
• Bag represents the Breakdown
• Allplayers stand in the Linebacker Stance
• They are on their toes and begin Chopping, pounding the ground in time.
• If required let them count out loud 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4
• All move as one unit.
  
  

This is the Defensive Line

• Two inside players are "tackles" two outside players are "end".
• Strong Right has 3 on right of breakdown
• Strong Left has 3 on left of breakdown
• Tackles have Feet Almost Parrallel, outside foot slightly back
• Ends have a more pronounced vertical split in the stance.outside foot back
• The more the vetical split the greater the lateral movement possible.

• Coach calls a combination of Strong left - Strong Right
• Players "Chop" quickly into new position, keeping the rope taught between the players. This helps make players aware of their position realtive to each other and co-ordinate their movements with in the team.
• Both Tackles move to the "other side of the Breakdown.

• Stepping technique is called "shuffling"
• Players must keep a wide stance
• Move first with the leg in the direction of motion.
• Do not "Cross" Legs
• Feet must not be lifted very high off the floor as any change in dirrection takes longer to execute if the feet are lifted higher.

• Forward-backward
• Players burst Forward or Back Five Meters
• Players hold the Rope in two hands
• Players burst forward 5 meters go into The Breakdown

• When running backward
  • Stay low
  • keep feet close to ground
  • Keep hands up
  • keep the back straight and head up
  • bend at the waist and knees to bring the chin over the toes and centre of gravity over the feet - do not lean backwards
  • ensure good extension of the knee on each step to drive the player explosively

With a group of 7 or 8

We lift the complexity of the exersise.

• 3 to 5 guys hold the rope and chop left right ect. One at a time at first those not holding the rope run in and out under the rope.
• The Rope holders Move according to the coaches instrictions while chopping left right back forward etc. to keep runners alert and agile.
  • To begin let the Rope Holders stay in a stationary position, "Chopping"
  • At the end you can let the Runner, take over the position of End and the End moves to the back of the que of Runners, everyone gets a turn

• Once they can do it to the Right, try the whole exersise to the left.

Progression is to allow four runners to go one after each each to the end and back so not only do you have choppers moving with the rope you have potential for collision from runners returning on their run as the next runner is going out. Teams of four are best as the rotation is fast and all players get a turn, but the chopping does not getto exhausting. This is an outstanding conditioning drill, agility drill and mental alertness drill.

You then get runners to do different types of foot drills under the rope. cross overs mini jumps, spins etc.

Adding Balls and Going beserk

Chopping, if done properly, is a truly draining exersise. This will be the main limitation in taking the Drills to a more advanced level. However the players will get "fitter" with repetition.

On the rope drill you can add ball skills conditioning

1. Once runners are used to running in and out missing each other and the choppers give them balls to hold. Teach them to change the ball form one hand to the other as they run in and out so that the ball is always away from the chopping man
2. Hit players with light sand bags as they run in and out and they may not drop the ball
3. Get the runners to pass the ball to the coach who simulates running in support, by calling "now" for the pass as the player ducks under the rope. Once he has passed the ball the coach passes it or uses the Hand off to the runner on the return run.

So the player is learning run in a low position, in a confusing situation to hold the ball, pass the ball catch the ball, take a hand off while the choppers must focus on the directions given by the direction coach. This teaches them (the choppers) to hold defensive lines, and hold attention relative to each other while mayhem ensues around them.

Each drill lasts long enough for the runners all to go out and back uder the rope. The players can work in teams so that the choppers are changed out with the runners. Again this drill will develop

• work capacity of the strength endurance system (glycolic system)and the aerobic capacity (oxidative system)
• agility and better range of motion
• the correct low body running and contact position
• ball skills agility under stress and reduced muscle capacity (game like)
• devlops the mental agility of ball carriers and defenders
• defencive alertness and communication

Thus again transfering the conditoning skills for contact to game simulation. This takes the conditioning past its normal boundary into full rugby conditioning - the mainstay of the the contact conditioning coaching system (sport specific conditioning systems).