Basic Drill of the Week: Depth Square

No matter the level you coach, you have had to battle the issue of depth with your attacking team. Below is a simple fundamental drill that you will find useful called, the depth square.

Needs:
- 4 cones (possibly more if you want to build lanes)
- 1 ball per group

Set-up:
- The square grid should be 25m x 25m.
- Up to 6 attackers on the outside of one edge.

Action:
- First player, with ball in hand, starts by making a pass, at depth, to support.
- Support works to get the ball through all 6 set of hands before breaking the line of the square.
- Once at the other edge players move around the cone and realign in an attacking line.
- Repeat passing on remaining 3 sides of the square.

Key Factors:
- Realignment at depth
- Fast hands
- Travel off the ball: looking over your shoulder, communicating
- Running straight (don't chew up supporting attackers space)

Build-up:
- Add extra cones at square's edge to create running 'lanes' to ensure straight running.
- Put defenders in the middle and allow group to attack into the grid.
- Race by starting multiple grids at the same time.

Must Read Books For Any Coach

A few years ago on a far more unsuccessful blog I wrote up a list of books every coach and player should read. As I'm about to set out on a new challenge in my life I revisited that list a few days ago to take stock and refresh any old ideas it might give me. This started a series of events that pretty much lead to me taking a complete inventory of my leadership books, ideas, fundamental ideas and rehashing things I had learned in the past from some of my favorites. I tell you all of that to give you a new updated version of that list below. These are only ten but could have easily been twenty. But, like a good magician you never show the best tricks. Enjoy and please let me know what you think in the comment section!

'Eleven Rings' by Phil Jackson

This book came along at an interesting time in my coaching career, and exactly when I needed it. We had several big personalities that continually rocked the team boat and were draining for both me and the squad. Now, while this book can at times be like reading the memoirs of a successful hippie it does give you some nuggets of wisdom. For instance, reading about how he managed Kobe Bryant, Shaq, Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman will give you some great insight into some tactics you might have never thought of for dealing with unique players that often clash with others. He also brings a much different perspective to coaching than do most. Dare I call it balance between coaching and life that is not often found in our profession. This is worth a read especially if you grew up around the time the bulls were great so you can see how his impact was felt on the organization or if you sometimes feel like traditional coaching books aren't for you.

Tribal Leadership' by David Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright

In my 'real' job I've read or heard about this several times in one way or the other. While reading 'Eleven Rings' by Phil Jackson he referenced it several times through out his stories and how much it helped him organize his championship winning teams.
The book is based on research done on groups of people and how they develop into world class companies or organization. The authors break individuals inside of groups into tiers ranging from good to bad. Each tier has different cues and trends that they make the reader aware of. They also explain how to bring lower tier groups into the higher tiers.
It was interesting after reading it when I went onto the pitch with my team every evening. You could almost physically see these tiers and their lines through the entire squad, which let me know I had some work to do. If you're in the business of building teams give this book a read because it has my strong recommendations.

Legacy' by Jim Kerr

You ever wonder what makes the All Blacks the All Blacks? How a nation with the same surface area as Oregon can be such a powerhouse in a game like rugby compared to their bigger competition with a much larger selection pool? It comes down to team culture. Author Jim Kerr does an amazing job of pulling the curtain back and revealing the inner workings of a team that has become known for their winning ways. Kerr (and to a certain extent the team) allows the reader a chance to see it wasn't always this way for the team and how management, retired players and current squad members turned it around.

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Think Rugby' by Jim Greenwood

Everyone knows (at least you should) the book Total Rugby, 'Think Rugby' is the sequel (if you can call it that) to it. In 'Total Rugby' you get all the pieces to a great rugby machine; in 'Think Rugby' you are given the directions to assemble all those pieces. In true Greenwood fashion things are explained with great detail. He gives you step by step instructions in how to build a playing system and make it work for your team. This isn’t just a book for coaches it should be read by players as well to help give them a deeper understanding of the game.

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Total Rugby' by Jim Greenwood

This is the Bible of rugby. Jim Greenwood is responsible for creating the game we play today. He has inspired coaches like Clive Woodward and Eddie Jones with his expansive style and patterns. This book is all about the fundamentals of rugby. It is written with such detail to make sure that all of your questions are answered and nothing is left to chance. Do you want to know why you are missing kicks? This book will help you identify the reason by breaking everything down from what your feet are doing to where your eyes should be looking. This is a must own for all coaches.

'Winning' by Clive Woodward

Written by Clive Woodward the 2003 world cup winning England coach this is a guide to how he built England into a rugby powerhouse that concluded with them hoisting the cup in 03. His approach was unique in the way that he applied his experience in business management to coaching a rugby team. While you won’t agree with everything he says and does in this book, you will appreciate his forward thinking and organizational skills. If you are serious about the business of coaching rugby I can’t urge you enough to read this.

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Wooden' John Wooden with Steve Jamison

If you’re a bookstore nerd like this guy you probably would have to take off your shoes to count how many John Wooden books you could find in the sports section. But, this one is different. Written near the end of his life, by him and a friend, this book explores his life and coaching philosophies. Wooden wasn’t just a great coach but a great teacher and person, and that is highlighted throughout the chapters. The lessons he shares from his days coaching UCLA basketball (where he won 7 straight national championships) will make you look at how you coach your team. One of the standouts in the book is a poem titled “A Parent Talks to a Child before the First Game” which should be read to every high school and college rugby team.

'The Fighters Mind: Inside the Mental Game' by Sam Sheridan

Think you’re a bad ass? Wait until you read the story about the ultra marathoner who broke his leg, kept running and finished the race! No big deal you say? It was a race from LA to New York. This book goes and gets some of the top athletes and coaches in sports and burrows into their brain to find out what gives them the drive to train, compete, and reach the top of their sport. Don’t confuse this book as something written by a meat head, about meat heads. It packed full of insight into how to train your mind to do what you might not think physically possible. It’s gritty and honest and will force you to look at yourself and your mental make up.

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Mind Gym' by Gary Mack and David Casstevens

Written by Gary Mack a leading sports psychologist who has worked with some of the top athletes and teams in America. The book is made up of 40 lessons and packed with anecdotes of them being put to practice. We all know a friend or player who constantly struggles with the mental side of this sport and this book is written for them. It is a quick, easy read (I got thru it in a cross country plane ride) and enjoyable. Read it and enjoy building your mind gym for a mental edge on your opponent. 

'Food for Rugby: Eat Well Perform Better' by Jane Griffin

If you’re like me and consider a diet ordering a small Blizzard from Dairy Queen instead of the large this book is for you. If you are like my nutritionist who probably read that last sentenced and slammed her fist on the desk in rage over my dietary ignorance, don’t worry this book is for you too. Packed full of the science of why and how food fuels your rugby body it balances itself out with helpful, easy to read graphs and handy menus (the healthy bar menu is a personal favorite) that anyone can follow. It doesn’t matter if you are a teenager just getting into the game, a college student who plays socially or residing at the OTC this book can help you take care of your body with the fuel it needs.

How YOU can help the national team be successful

Let me start by saying this is not a fundraising plea, its much more important. This is about how you, as a coach, can have help the Eagles win. We all think we can do it, coach an international side, how hard can it really be? Truth be told we are part of the problem. We are just as responsible for these outcomes as the players and coaches on the field. Why? Because we are responsible for teaching players the fundamental skills of the game (passing/catching, tackling, rucking, decision making and communication). Bottom line we are the one tasked with developing these players at the grass roots level and we are failing them and our national side.

I've had the pleasure of working with high performance teams for a couple years now. I've also had the pleasure of talking, watching, and learning from foreign coaches who are closing in on their countries top spots. The one thing they agree on, and I'm starting to believe, is we as Americans look great in a rugby jersey but that is as close to an actual rugby player we get. We lack the fundamental skills needed for rugby. In my opinion, for what its worth, its starts with how we are taught in our sporting youth. Most of us only know one way to think, in X's and Os, and we are drilled until we can not screw it up (seriously, its been over a decade since I last played a down of football and I still can remember the proper footwork for a trap block). Our popular sports here are controlled by plays, plans, and diagrams. This hurts us in free flowing games like soccer, rugby and other international sports.

We as coach fail in two areas. The first being fundamentals, our players struggle with the basics. We must do a better job teaching the skills from the list above. We often let 'star' players get away with bad habits because of who they are. I'm telling you right now, I've seen it with my own two eyes, your star player will not cut it in any high performance camp. Everyone is a star there and what divides the have's from the have not's is the execution of the fundamentals. The second problem area works in conjunction with the first, overly complicated game plans. We spend too much time at training sessions trying to come up with the secret formula for the win. Recently, I overheard a team that had broken the field into FIVE sections, from sideline to sideline, to help with ID'ing of space for their attack. Could you imagine being fatigued and trying to determine if the half gap is in two or three? The problem here is we are sacrificing time that could be spent on skill development for things that hardly ever get used in the game because at the end of the day, if your covert double screen, switch, loop, wing crash attack play is going to work it all depends on your squads ability to pass and catch.

So what can we do to get better?  Well, for starters educate yourself with videos, articles, and knowledge from other coaches. Start to develop your own style by taking things you like, applying them and getting rid of the stuff you don't. Second, video tape one of your sessions. Focus the camera not on the actual players and the drills, but you. Watch how you speak to them (and for how long) also watch their reactions. Are you clearly telling them what part of the skill your working before their attention is lost? Finally, don't be afraid to learn and coach new things. Don't get stuck telling yourself "this is how I've done it and this is how I will keep doing it". Since the game has gone professional coaches have come up with all sorts of new skills and patterns. They have also started to borrow teaching techniques from the education systems that have really helped to impact and accelerate the learning curve of their players.

What do you think? Anything you want to add?