Rugby drills at home for 16 year olds

At a glance

At 16

48 rugby drills the app opens for a 16 year old work at home, across 6 skills.

How long

One home session of about 50 minutes; SSTracker never plans more than 75 minutes for a 16 year old.

How often

At most 5 training days a week, with rest days between. Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 16 hours for a 16 year old, with two rest days a week.

What you need

Most used: cones (30 of the 48 drills), rugby ball (26), mat or soft ground (3), tag belts (3), mat or grass (2), agility ladder or chalk lines (1), gentle hill or slope (1), goal posts (1). 2 drills need nothing but space. 13 are for two, and a parent can be the partner.

Safe at home

One child and one parent in a room, garage or yard. Never tackling, contact, diving or head-first falls, no stunts or loaded lifting, and nothing that needs a coach, rink, pool or court. Stop when anything hurts.

48 at-home drills

Rugby drills for 16 year olds to do at home

Every drill below is one the app opens for a 16 year old and one that works at home: a room, garage or yard, one parent as the partner, no venue. Each drill's page has the steps, a diagram where the setup can be drawn, three ways to make it a game and a log to print.

breakdown

Breakdown

• Safe Falling and RollingAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Pick and Go at Walking PaceAges 14 and up · 10 min
• Ball Placement PracticeAges 14 and up · 8 min

catch & pass

Catch & Pass

• Hands Up Target CatchAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Walking Side PassAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Spin Pass AccuracyAges 14 and up · 12 min

evasion

Evasion

• Swerve Run Around a DefenderAges 11 and up · 10 min
• Hop and Step FootworkAges 7 and up · 8 min
• Side-Step Through ConesAges 7 and up · 8 min

kicking

Kicking

• Catching a High KickAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Drop Kick BounceAges 11 and up · 12 min
• Punts to Target ZonesAges 11 and up · 12 min

safe tackling

Safe Tackling

• Tackle Shape on Your KneesAges 14 and up · 8 min
• Shadow Tackle FootworkAges 14 and up · 10 min
• Bear Crawl Shapes GameAges 7 and up · 8 min

A 50-minute session

A home rugby session for a 16 year old

A warm-up, 3 drills and a cool-down, 50 minutes in all. Do it up to 5 days a week, with rest days between.

1. 1Rugby Warm-Up, Ages 14 and UpA 12-minute moving warm-up for rugby players 14 and up: moving stretches, strength, single-leg control, cuts and build-up runs, then rugby moves at practice speed.12 min
2. 2Swerve Run Around a DefenderRun at them, then bend away.10 min
3. 3One on One Tag ChannelPick one move and commit.12 min
4. 4Tackle Shape on Your KneesChin up, head to the side, squeeze.8 min
5. 5Rugby Cool-Down Stretches, Ages 14 and UpA 8-minute cool-down for rugby players 14 and up after training: stretches for the legs, hips, shoulders and inner thighs, each held 20 to 30 seconds, never to pain.8 min

At 16

What changes in rugby training at 16

The app opens the same 48 at-home drills at 16 as at 15; the ones below are a different selection from that list.

Organized sport in all: no more hours a week than the child's age (NATA), so at most 16 hours for a 16 year old, with two rest days a week.

The week

Fitting rugby into a week at 16

At 16 the limit is 16 hours of organized sport a week. If you count home sessions against it to be safe, 5 sessions of 50 minutes is 4.17 hours, which leaves 11.83 for team practice and games. Even 5 days at the app's longest, 75 minutes, is 6.25 hours.

The research behind it

• Ages 13 to 15 are the "specializing years", after the sampling years of 6 to 12.

  Côté and Vierimaa 2014

• Organized sport should total no more hours a week than the child's age in years, with two rest days a week.

  NATA youth sport specialization recommendations

Questions and answers