Kick Through and Recovery
Description
Simple drill to focus on recovering kicked ball behind the defense and counter-attack or support with rucking options.
Purpose
To improve defensive reaction time and decision-making when the ball is kicked behind the defense.
Learning Outcomes
- Recovering kicked balls efficiently
- Counter-attacking from kick returns
- Supporting teammates in rucking situations
Equipment
- Balls
- Rucking pads (optional)
Setup
- Working in 3 or 4s (2 Defenders, 2 Chasers - 1 with rucking pad if needed)
- One players starts the game by starting with a kick behind the defender and support player line, by grubber or low kick to ground kick along floor for defender to recover.
- Defender and support/rucker start 5m ahead of chaser.
Instructions
- Defenders start facing Chasers about 5m apart.
- On coach's signal, chaser kicks ball behind defenders who must react and recover under pressure from chasers. Aim for kicks of ~5-10 metres behind defenders.
- Defenders reacts to kick, work back and recover ball with support player to ruck as needed.
- First player to the ball becomes the attacker, player becomes support player.
Coaching Points
- Encourage quick reaction times from defenders to the kick.
- Focus on clean ball recovery techniques.
- Support players should be ready to secure the ball in a ruck if needed.
- Emphasize communication between defender and support player during recovery and ruck situations.