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Use of Video

The professional game nowadays is built around video analysis.

There is nothing you cannot find out about the opposition or your own team. Maybe the size of the players heart is the only thing hidden from site, although that too will show up in various ways.

At senior club level and 1st XV secondary school level, video analysis still plays a big part. The information won’t necessarily be given to the coach on a platter, they may well have to glean it out themselves, but it is still a very important part of the coaching process.

I have been in environments where the information and footage is passed on, and also in situations where I have done my own video analysis. Believe me, doing your own analysis is the best coaching tool out.

So what about other levels of the game? Is video footage worthwhile? My answer is an absolute ‘yes’ regardless of the age of the players.

Young people live on i-pads, phones and video games these days, so to produce something that they can look at, maybe even downloaded on YouTube, is just an extension of their normal day.

The trick is to have a short package of footage, no longer than 10 minutes, to discuss at training or with individuals at various times. Full games or parts of games can be downloaded on You Tube or on a Facebook page for older players to sift through and answer any questions that you have posed.

For Small Black players Under 10 and down some footage of tries scored, good runs or good rips covering 5 minutes would be a great motivation tool. The coach might also point out some good technique on a sidestep or a rip and use that as the introduction to a coaching session on that topic.

As the players get older the coach can be more specific. At the Under 13 level the coach might pull out some footage of good support play and what happens when there is no support play, leading in to a session on continuity.

There are many aspects that can be looked at depending on where the coach wants to focus their coaching. Technical aspects at set pieces and in contact can be displayed and discussed. Individual skills can be diagnosed and changed if necessary. If you have a really good camera person there might be footage of positional play on attack and defence.

The possibilities are limitless.

I have been associated with a 1st XV where the head coach focused on the tackle count during games. Stats were produced with tackles missed by individuals, tackles made and strong tackles made.

It was discovered that if the team tackled at 80% or above the game was won 90% of the time and if the percentage was under 80 there was a 80% chance of the game being lost. The players took to this in a big way and as the season progressed the team and individual percentages grew in a positive way.

The players themselves introduced a punishment system for those tackling under 80% and this appeared to help as well.

There is bound to be a parent in your team who has a video camera. The next step is to make it another part of the coaching process. It will certainly help your own coaching and the team performances. Just make sure you know what you are looking for. If you don’t have a plan you won’t see anything.