Rugby Coach Weekly

Send us Fan MailJack Pattinson, academy and DPP coach at London Irish, in the South of England, talks to me about how he plans his coaching and what principles drive his sessions.I challenge him about the balance between skills training and game training, what the future player needs to know and how he measures success.We discuss:The difference between coaching grassroots and academy rugbyHow he helps players love the gameHow do we measure success in our coachingCreating World Class young mean and what that means for a 15 year oldWhat are the primary principles of the London Irish academyShould we be coaching players for what the game might look like in five years’ timeWhy a coach needs to more than a “catch-pass” teacherWhat a plan looks like, and how much it might changeFree play – how to incorporate it into sessions so it adds valueA destination for your coaching planThe chicken or the egg – do you coach the game and then see what skills are needed or vice versaHow new rules changes can create a better gameTo find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach WeeklyTo find out more about our Partner Club offerCLICK HEREAlso, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

Send us Fan MailIn this collaborative podcast, Dan Cottrell talks to six coaches across the grassroots spectrum. He asks them about the new regulation for teams up to U18s in England, where all match day squad players must play at least half a game.We discuss:Why did it need to be implementedWill the sanctions work and howWhat changes you might need to makeHow do you deal with large squadsWhat has been the experience in Wales where they have been using this rule alreadyThe contributorsNathan Gosling - Coach and teacher in Devon, North Devon DPP lead coach and a coach for Barnstaple u16s, coach mentor/helper Barnstaple Junior sectionIan Hollingworth - Kids First Coach Coordinator, Billericay RFC and DPP lead coach in EssexTim Ravenscroft - Age Grade chair with Gloucestershire and U12s coachIan "Spike" Milligan - co-author of Mini and Youth Rugby, and Club Coaching Coordinator plus coaches the Bury Foxes women's teamAndy Stevens, Kids First chair at Ellingham and Ringwood club, and U11s club coachMike Gravenor, coaching at Mumbles, Wales, with over 12 years experience coaching across three different teamsTo find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach WeeklyTo find out more about our Partner Club offerCLICK HEREAlso, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

Send us Fan MailWe spend so much time on coaching the usual suspects of technical, tactical and conditioning, that we can not spend enough time on the unusual suspects.Andy Brownhill, head of rugby at Park House School, Newbury, a pathway coach with Gloucester academy and a coach with Scotland U16s discusses with me:How to use hot feedback to create tempoUsing different questions with different playersWhat he calls the unusual suspects and whyWhat sessions can look like with different levels of playerWhen there's a place for drills and when to use them effectively To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach WeeklyTo find out more about our Partner Club offerCLICK HEREAlso, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

Send us Fan MailDr Anna Stodter specialises in how coaches learn. Her research gives us an important insight into the impact of coaching courses and how wider learning influences your knowledge and practice.She's a lecturer at Anglia Ruskin university, plays for Saracens and has been capped by Scotland, plus coaches Cambridge University Women’s team.In our conversation, we discuss:What might a coach need to learnWhy that learning is different from what players learnHow we can improve our experience of going on coursesWhat are the three key aspects that courses could concentrate onHow coaching context, biography, and intrapersonal skills make a big differenceTo find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach WeeklyTo find out more about our Partner Club offerCLICK HEREAlso, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

Send us Fan MailRecovery is an absolutely essential part of any training regime. Recovery is the process where the body rebuilds itself at the cellular level following physical exertion, allowing those fitness gains to be realised. With poor or inadequate recovery, not only can much or all the hard work in your training sessions be wasted, you may actually reduce your performance capability, and increase the risk of injury and illness.Andy Hamilton, long-time editor of top sports training magazine, Peak Performance, outlines the importance of recovery, and how you can help your players to recover more effectively.We discuss:What recovery looks and feels like.What to do straight after training.When to rest and when to come to training.How to mentally approach recovery.How to use friends and family to help the process.For more on Peak Performance, go to www.peakendurancesport.comTo find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach WeeklyTo find out more about our Partner Club offerCLICK HEREAlso, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

Send us Fan MailIn a highly energetic podcast, inspirational coach and educator, Craig Gunn completely messes up my idea of a structure to develop some brilliant ideas for better coaching.We venture into session design, how to maintain control and where coaches sometimes lose sight of the real goals of a session.We mention some gurus of coaching, including Brian Ashton, Lynn Evans, John Fletcher, Russell Earnshaw and Richard Cheetham.We discuss how much experience counts, and how inexperienced coaches can build their own style piece by piece.If you want to find out more on Craig, visit his website: craiggunn.orgTo find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach WeeklyTo find out more about our Partner Club offerCLICK HEREAlso, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

Send us Fan MailLiza Burgess talks with former Scottish international and experienced coach, Donna Kennedy. She is passionate about the women's game, Scottish rugby and coaching as a whole. She talks about how the women's game needs to change to continue to move forward. Donna has coached at lots of levels of the game, including the Barbarians, and as director of rugby at Worcester. The topics also include:How to organise team talksAre there difference coaching men to women?The highs and lows after playing and coaching rugbyHow can we benefit from ex International players by helping them to stay involved in the game To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach WeeklyTo find out more about our Partner Club offerCLICK HEREAlso, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

Send us Fan MailA podcast with the legendary Anna Richards talking about her progression from playing to coaching along with an insight into what is exciting her about the future of the women's game How to deal with situations on the playing field when things don’t go quite to plan.Top tips for a coach new to rugby.What’s it like to coach the famous Barbarians squad.An insight into coaching Hong Kong.To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach WeeklyTo find out more about our Partner Club offerCLICK HEREAlso, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

Send us Fan MailIn our series of session walkthroughs, Chris Sweetapple discusses with a game he renamed "hot rucks", which was a development of the Rugby Coach Weekly game, Snap-back ruck game.We start by chatting about the season review process, including his club's "speed-dating" session to improve each team's understanding of the coming season.In the walkthrough, we discuss:How to set up the game.Key factors for quick games.How to coach effectively during the game.Why he renamed the game "hot rucks"/How you would change the game for different levels of player.What were the main outcomes and how this made a difference to the season.What ages this game would work for.Click here to see the original session.To find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach WeeklyTo find out more about our Partner Club offerCLICK HEREAlso, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!

Send us Fan MailRich Clarke, a highly qualified S&C coach, university lecturer and evidence-based trainer, talks us through how we can make simple changes to improve our agility training. He explains how we can use constraints, ensure a specific stimulus and where we might start with less athletic players.Here are some of the highlights:Agility needs a specific perceptual stimulusWhere to start with less athletic playersHow to coach basic techniques with simple constraintsHaving a clear rationale in session designLadders, Box jumps and Hill running: Yes or No?For more from Rich, go to:richperformance.co.ukTo find out more about this podcast and many others, go to Rugby Coach WeeklyTo find out more about our Partner Club offerCLICK HEREAlso, tap into the library of 4,000 pages of activities, advice, tactics and tips to help you become the best rugby coach you can be!