Friday, 28 February 2014

Big Impact - Judo for Rugby

Big Judo's 'Big Impact' Judo for Rugby programme with the Kings College First XV is going great.  We are now in the fifth week and are really enjoying delivering the programme.

'Big Impact' started back in November 2013 when we sat down with the coaching staff discussed what they wanted to achieve and how we could use Judo techniques to deliver a programme that would meet their requirements.

The fact that we are experienced playing Rugby and League as well as Judo and have access to good technical advice on Rugby rules meant that we were able to develop a pretty specific programme designed to meet the coaches objectives.

'Big Impact - Judo for Rugby' will continue to evolve. When we finish the programme we work with the coaching staff to assess the effectiveness of the training,  So the next time we deliver this programme it will be even better.

The guys on the mat.  We are doing some skills instruction. Judo features a range of body movement skills that help players especially in the tackle, standing in the ruck or maul, turning an opponent in the tackle or moving them on the ground.  When we work with a rugby team we talk to the coaching staff and develop the programme specifically to meet their training needs.

Drilling movements off the mat while the rest of the team is wrestling on the mat.  'Big Impact - Rugby for Judo' uses a lot of supervised wrestling because it provides a great learning environment in which to practice the body movement skills we teach and to condition the players.  If the mat area is too small for all the squad to wrestle at once we split them and drill movements and strengthening exercises.  A key objective is to maximise the benefits of each session. 

Ground wrestling.  Safety is paramount and we always start our wrestling programme on the ground with players fighting from the kneeling position.  This allows the players to assimilate skills without the risk of big falls.  When we are confident about their ability to fall we include standing wrestling. The crash pads at the side allow the players to practice very dynamic 'turning' in the tackle movements with less risk of injury.

If you are interested in 'Big Impact - Judo for Rugby' drop me an email - ben@benstallworthy.com