Three ways for faster hands *Handling*

By Paul Tyler, a Level 3 coach, teacher and contributing editor of Rugby Coach Weekly

"Fast hands" is the ability to move the ball from player to player quickly and so create continuity and attacking opportunities. Here are three exercises to improve your players' fast hands.

Cross pass

One player stands in the middle of four others, each of whom has a ball. The middle player receives a pass from one of the four outside players and immediately gives a pass back to the same player. He then turns to receive a pass from the next player.

He works for 30 seconds and counts how many passes he manages to take and give in that time. Challenge the other players to beat his score.

Emphasise that the ball must be caught as early as possible with "soft hands" to cushion the impact. The return pass should be given in the same movement without bringing the ball near the body.

Pressure gates

Instruct a player run to through three pairs of players, each with a ball, standing about 3m apart. One of the pair passes the ball to the runner who passes it on to the other player in the pair. Make sure the first pass is a good pass and the receivers are showing good targets.

Head to head

Set out five cones either side of a line to denote the starting positions for the two teams.
On your whistle, the scrum half passes the ball to the first player, to pass it on to every player until the last player scores. No player can cross the line or his team are disqualified, this ensures players hold their depth.

Set up a similar set of cones to get players passing off the left hand as well and alternate between the two teams. The first team to score gets a point. The first team to three points wins.

This article is from Rugby Coach Weekly.