Non-contact training: Your 4-week plan

INTRO | WEEK 1 | WEEK 2 | WEEK 3 | WEEK 4

There are many occasions in the coaching year when you will be looking to improve and engage your team without using activities that require contact. For example, you might be:

• Training in August or pre-season and your age group regulations prevent your team from doing contact.
• Coaching a group of players new to rugby, or less certain of contact.
• Looking for a low impact session for one part of the week.
• Preparing for a return to play because of the current health situation.

I've put together four sessions of activities to help you do just that. Each session is split into three sections to ensure that a good range of coaching bases are covered: Decision-making; Skills; and then a touch game to finish.

Decision-making

Here are the basics of attack where players have to exploit an overlap. It works on defence also, as defenders can make themselves more adept at cutting down the options. Most of these activities are 2v1s. These are ideal if you have low numbers, but if you have more players you can run several stations at a time.

Skills

Develop some of the core skills of handling, running, balance, kicking and catching.

Touch rugby

Touch rugby is fun, and it's an ideal format to experiment with different rules to tease out skills and decision making. Don't be a slave to just one version. Mix it up and see what challenges the players the most.

I see this series fitting into your regular programme or you can use it as your work out for a month. As always, you can mix and match or adapt to suit your own coaching requirements.

Week 1

Decision-making	Don't teach them 2v1s
Skills	Touch cone warm-up drill
Touch game	3 touch rugby games for better handling

Week 2

Decision-making	Aussie 2v1 Line breakers
Skills	2 fun ways to work on evasion
Touch game	Guard the gate touch

Week 3

Decision-making	2v1 continuous
Skills	Airball
Touch game	Triangle touch

Week 4

Decision-making	3v2v1
Skills	Tomb Raider
Touch game	All Black touch rugby