Social media activities
Things I think about when I see an activity online
The rise of social media has meant an increase in people sharing rugby activities they use at training…including me!
It’s so easy to see a video or article of an activity and want to copy and paste it into your sessions.
I post games and activities on here with the hope that they’ll work for your team, but always with the invitation to adapt them to suit the players’ needs. Here are some questions/prompts I use when thinking about transitioning an activity over from online to pitch:
Where are my players currently at?
How would they react to this activity if it was directly copied into their training? Would it be too easy or too challenging?
What is the purpose of the activity?
How would the activity fit into the programme I have planned for the team?
How would the activities fit into the rest of the training session? What is the purpose or theme of the training session and how would the activity compliment that? 4 activities randomly put together may not create the best possible session.
If I like an activity but if I need to adapt it for the players I’m coaching, then this is what I think about:
STEPS (Space, Task, Environment, Players). This model is a great way to think about an activity and what to adapt for your players. (size of the playing area, number of opponents, type of ball etc)
Challenge point/safe uncertainty. This is a good way of thinking whether an activity is appropriate and how to modify it to ensure it gives a good level of challenge for the players. Players don’t want an activity that’s too easy or one that’s too tough. Sometimes this can be a difficult balance to find for everyone you coach, which I why I love giving individual challenges to players who might need an extra stretch.
What’s the leaping off point? When adapting an activity or introducing an activity that’s new, I like to use something familiar as a leaping off point or anchor for the players. This could be a similar challenge or rule included within the new activity.