Refocusing the Team

With your team now at least a month in to the season now is the time to fine tune what you are doing, refocusing your group on what lies ahead and more importantly what you and they have to do to achieve their goals as set out at the beginning of the season.

If you had set your long term goals and a plan in place based on your team profile and playing philosophy by now you will have a greater understanding of the individuals that make up the squad. Now is the time to assess ‘where you are at’; ‘where you want to get to’; and ‘how you are going to get there’.

Once you have completed your initial reassessment it would be a good idea to take one of your practice sessions to sit down alongside the players and finalise a plan that they can all ‘buy in to’. This will ensure that it is more likely to be successful.

Remember, not every team can win the competition so many of your target areas should be based around improvements at both the team level and for individuals. Players should always finish a season at least feeling as though they are now better players and have learned along the way.

Your reassessment does not have to be a complicated or lengthy process. You could divide it in to groups under the following headings:  
1-    What are we good at now and should focus on to have the most amount of success?  What should we do to make these aspects even better? This should include how individuals are utilized as well as the mini units and units.
2-    What aspect/s in every game is causing us the most concern and are necessary to improve or the game cannot be faced on an even playing field? These could be set pieces or defensive systems or maybe even individual skills such as tackling.
3-    What, if anything, should be introduced that will ensure that the players keep learning and understanding the game? This would include tactical ideas that suit this group.

To do this you first of all need to sit down and analyse the games played so far and how individuals are shaping up. The challenge is to get your team playing as well as they possibly can on a regular basis. Believe me I know how hard this is, particularly at club level.

A quick survey of a team might be something like this:
1-    Good scrum: need to make this totally dominant / needs more time / need to execute right side with more regularity / should improve plays close to the scrum and utilize the big No 8 in a cleverer way –needs to be on his feet more often / once achieved need a lot more work on opposition ball and working against being ‘screwed’.
Physical pack: work on better techniques at the tackle on attack and defence / plenty of contact work so it is just not a Saturday expectation / need to create more depth on attack and the realization of the pass being an attacking tool / make a plan to better utilize numbers 8, 5, 1.
8-9-10 link: Big number 8 with quick and talented halves – how to best utilize this? Use of the blindside more?  

2-    Lineout needs some work: boys have organized a good plan based on lack of height / needs far more accuracy at the lift / quicker to get organized / more explosive overall / more practice time devoted to the drive / fine tuning the short options / create plays that keep the ball alive at the first tackle point.
Tackling: the tackle count has been down / need to make a specific plan / might be first player around the legs and the second player in on the ball in general play / coach technique and include in drills.

3-    Awareness of space: at the moment the team tend to be ball watching and play close to the ball (particularly under pressure) / need to develop activities for training where players are having to ‘look’ and ‘communicate’ and then make a decision based on what they see / need to realize that against good teams they need to be able to utilize much more of the field on attack and they will need to defend far more of the field.
Speeding the game up: introduce a quick tap kick that is practiced regularly and used at crucial times.

These of course are only a few ideas. Your team would more than likely have different requirements. The point is though, if you get together now to make a plan there is every likelihood you will get better as the season progresses and that is what coaching is all about.