Breakdown

Preparing for Contact

Give your players the key skill of footwork to evade defenders.

In this three-part series, Ellis Rugby and former Blues and Bristol Bears Skills Coach Dave Ellis breaks down how to develop effective evasion skills — focusing on the step and swerve.

In part 3 Dave provides coaches with a practical training program they can use to systematically develop players’ general pre-contact skills in their own environments.

Age Grades: Colts-U18, Girls-U16, Girls-U18, Senior, U14, U15, U16

Breakdown

Dave Ellis

Series Videos

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Part 1. The Gift of Footwork – The Step

Level: Youth/Juniors, High School, Senior

STEP AWAY FROM THE CONTACT!… keep your feet operating and go forward are Dave Ellis key starting points as he ‘gifts’ his Waimea and Nelson college players the footwork to step into the space rather than the player. This skill can be trained by players at all levels at any time and anywhere.

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Part 2. The Gift of Footwork – The Swerve

Level: Youth/Juniors, High School, Senior

Pushing off the inside foot and accelerate off the outside foot is Dave Ellis’ key messaging in his how to swerve drill used by the ABs and Brisbane Broncos Rugby league team. Players of all levels can develop this skill and learn to swerve like Christian Cullen!

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Part 3. Precursor to Ball into Contact

Level: Intro

Dave Ellis takes a group of IRANZ High Performance players through his Step into Contact program. A very success program that he has used at all levels of the game from high school to professional teams. Note how Dave adjusts his coaching style in this session to engage the higher level players.