Lightning quick hooking

WHY USE IT

A clean strike at the scrum means the ball is available before the opposition back row is ready to react. Work on your 2 and 9 put-in connection.

SET UP

Balls, cones and players working in pairs.

HOW TO PLAY

Activity: The hooking player (2) leans against one of the goal posts in the ‘engage’ position, with the scrum half (9) standing 1m metre away (see top illustration). Set out cones behind the hooker, marking channels 1, 2 and 3. Before the hooker strikes the ball, you call the number of which channel the hooker is to strike the ball (see middle illustration). Develop by using a put-in to a controlled 3v3 scrum (see bottom illustration).

COACHING POINTS

• The scrum-half puts the ball in consistently the same way, to develop efficient striking, because the hooker will grow to know where they need to get their foot to strike it.
• The hooker strikes the ball by sweeping with their foot, rather than actually knocking it back. Sweeping gives a better chance of it going where the hooker wants it to, because the sweeping action is controlled. 
• The ball should flow, rather than bounce, into the specified channel.
• For a channel 2/3 ball, using a bent-knee sweep helps direct the ball behind the hooker’s standing foot. A strike with a straightened-leg sweep helps channel 1 ball.

ACTIVITY

• Put a scrum-half into a feeding position next to a hooker, who is crouched and leaning on a post

• Mark out the three possible channels for the strike
  Channel 1: Through the left-hand lock’s legs, to the left foot of the number 8 

  Channel 2: Outside the right foot of the left-hand lock, to the middle of the number 8’s legs 

  Channel 3: Through to the number 8’s right foot

• Look for the hooker sweeping the ball into the channel

• Call out which channel you want the ball to go to. The hooker and 9 combine to strike the ball through that channel 

DEVELOPMENT

• Develop by having a 3v3 contest (controlled scrums). You could have channels marked out behind, too