Kicking practice

Kicking practice can be a fun addition to your coaching repertoire. Here's my "do and don't" summary for kicking.

Do...

• Let all your players practice. This season's prop could be your U18 fly half).

• Introduce a variety of kicks (punt, drop, grubber, and chip).

• Concentrate on technique and accuracy rather than distance.

• Introduce kicking games, so your players can have fun practising their kicking skills in various scenarios.

Don't...

• Let your players get away with poor technique.

• Demonstrate a technique first, unless you are sure how to do it, and then only if it's a good example for your players.

Kicking decision making

Decision making for kicking is best developed through training games and during rugby matches, where players can quickly learning from their successes and mistakes.
Always give your players feedback on their kicking after a match or practice to help them learn.
During games, you can set limits on kicking. For instance, only allow your players to kick when they're in their own 22, only allow kicking for the first five minutes of each half, or only allow certain players to kick.

Kicking tennis - a training game

• Mark out two equally sized squares, set about 10 metres apart. Place a team of three or four players in each square.

• The teams take it in turns to kick a ball back and forth, trying to land it in the opposition's square. Encourage the players to catch the ball using good technique.

• If the ball misses the opposition's square, the kicking team loses a point. If the ball lands in the opposition's square, the kicking team wins a point.

• Play up to five points, then change the teams around and start again.

• Lengthen the gap between the squares as your players' kicking skills develop.