'The fear'

DanOB

I have a fear of going into tackles.. how the hell do i get over it?

im 5ft 7, about 10 stone, maybe 11, and im 16 years of age.. i was playing under 18s up until a few weeks ago when i decided to drop down to under 16s to maybe shake the fear..

any tips or advice?

please dont laugh..

Amz

The fear is what will get you hurt, if you don't commit fully to a tackle then you aren't doing yourself any favours.

Size shouldn't really be an issue when it comes to tackling. I'm sure you've seen scrum halves tackling huge second rows in matches.

The only advice I can probably give is try not to think about getting hurt, think about getting the other guy down and getting straight back up again to hit the next one

You will probably have an advantage over your team mates at U16 if you've already got some experience at U18. While there are big 16 year old guys out there, they're not as er, developed as the 18 year olds you may have trained/played with.

Watch some of the tackling tutorials on the BBC website and Youtube, try get some tips and try and put them into practice at training when you're hitting pads, or at full contact training.

DanOB

Amz wrote: »

The fear is what will get you hurt, if you don't commit fully to a tackle then you aren't doing yourself any favours.

Size shouldn't really be an issue when it comes to tackling. I'm sure you've seen scrum halves tackling huge second rows in matches.

The only advice I can probably give is try not to think about getting hurt, think about getting the other guy down and getting straight back up again to hit the next one

You will probably have an advantage over your team mates at U16 if you've already got some experience at U18. While there are big 16 year old guys out there, they're not as er, developed as the 18 year olds you may have trained/played with.

Watch some of the tackling tutorials on the BBC website and Youtube, try get some tips and try and put them into practice at training when you're hitting pads, or at full contact training.

thanks

also, any advice on how to get myself a bit more, eh, built up?

Amz

What position do you play?

I'll PM you a link to a website that might give you some ideas on training you could do for fitness/conditioning etc. Have a chat with your coach too, he may be able to give you an idea of what you need to do to build yourself up.

EdgarAllenPoo

Go into every tackle as if you only have to make one tackle for the entire match. That way the tackle itself is more effective and also if you tip toe into a tackle there's a good chance you'll do more damage to yourself than if you were the one who got tackled.

brianthebard

DanOB wrote: »

thanks

also, any advice on how to get myself a bit more, eh, built up?

check out the fitness section of boards.

chris85

DanOB wrote: »

I have a fear of going into tackles.. how the hell do i get over it?

im 5ft 7, about 10 stone, maybe 11, and im 16 years of age.. i was playing under 18s up until a few weeks ago when i decided to drop down to under 16s to maybe shake the fear..

any tips or advice?

please dont laugh..

Bulking up could help but all depends on what position you play. When tackling or getting tackled do not think about it, just do it (Taken straight from The Matrix )

What I mean is that if you think about it too much you will know the dangers. You gotta just forget about it all and put your body on the line. Its worth it when you get rid of the fear

Super Sidious

If you're going into a tackle, don't go 50%... give it you're all! Ive never been the biggest rugby player but never shy away from tackling the biggest guy on the bitch!

Practise techniques with a tackle bag...don't be afraid to hang back after training, and ask you're coach to do some tackling with you. I remember years ago my coach stayed back for ages with me tackling(not in a homoerotic way) :P

Mate you'll feel sore sometimes after a big tackle, but that stuff passes. Just always remember to keep you're head on the right side of the tackle and try link you're arms around the legs... I know it sounds all basic, but the best players are the ones who do the basics with ease.

Anyway best of luck with it, i'm sure you'll be alright in the end!

-Fly

Stev_o

DanOB wrote: »

I have a fear of going into tackles.. how the hell do i get over it?

im 5ft 7, about 10 stone, maybe 11, and im 16 years of age.. i was playing under 18s up until a few weeks ago when i decided to drop down to under 16s to maybe shake the fear..

any tips or advice?

please dont laugh..

A thing to take into account is that there are many folk who also have a fear of tackling so dont think that you'll be tackled by jerry collins when you go into contact. As people say here fully commit to the tackle and when you know your going to be tackled aim for their weak shoulder.


8/10 your not going to be tackled like a traditional rugby tackle it's going to be more of a grapple, keep your leg's pumping and your body in motion.

And PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. When your doing a drill in tackling put yourself a the top of the line and think ill knock this guy back.

Also your 16 so your not going to be coming up against many 6 ft 5 16 stone lads and at your heigh they are the ones going to find it difficult to tackle you! Its does pesky small guys you gotta watch out for!

cruiserweight

DanOB wrote: »

I have a fear of going into tackles.. how the hell do i get over it?

im 5ft 7, about 10 stone, maybe 11, and im 16 years of age.. i was playing under 18s up until a few weeks ago when i decided to drop down to under 16s to maybe shake the fear..

any tips or advice?

please dont laugh..

I am 26 and about the same size as you, I am 5ft 7 and just over 11 stone. I can honestly say I have never been seriously injured tackling someone, not in rugby anyway I would just re-iterate make sure that you commit 100%. You are more likely to get hurt if you hold back.

Goodluck2me

I realise that i am reiterating what everyone else has said, but its imperative that you give it 100%, you will soon realise that when you dont committ you are letting yourself be a target, and also runners will go into you harder as they know you wont hit them, if you tackle someone well or hard early on they will be more reluctant to go into you again.

Its important you get your technique right too, think of it like this. Someone is cycling a bike down the road if you go and stand in front of it, then it will hit you hard and hurt you, but if you come in properly from the side and push him, it will fall and you land on top of it, avoiding injury.

DanOB

for those of you who asked, im a scrumhalf, well, its my favoured position anyway..

i need to work on my passing just as much as my tackling to be honest.. but in both cases i guess practice makes perfect, both physically and mentally

thanks for your help

Deedsie

I played hooker, different positions but same objective drive the man back in the tackle and if at all possible make it difficult to off load to a team mate.

Before every game i used to have it in my head to "get my first hit in early, even if it was late" Not suggesting dirty play but the sooner you put a hit in the sooner you'll forget about it.

Sooner you'll relax. Hit them low, no matter how big they'll tumble.

Gijoe

I'm repeating what others have said here but they are all right.
Go 100% into a tackle or you could get hurt!
I'm not tall 5' 10 and I find that not being as tall can be an advantage (especially around the fringes of rucks) - get as low as you possibly can, can't stress that enough! If you are low with legs spread with a wide base, you are in a great position to 1. grab the legs of the attacker and make them fall or 2. if you're really lucky, you'll stop them on contact and be able to drive them back with your wide positioning.

Rattlehead_ie

I kinda had same issue after a 6 times dislocated shoulder when I was playing U-18's when I came back to play 1st thing I did. Ask the biggest ****er in my club that played on the 1st team for bout an hour of his time once or twice a week and just tackled him, again and again and again, in training situation, not only was I never afraid to tackle again, my tackling was great when I came back, being able to dump tackle most ppl my own size most of the time.

DanOB

Rattlehead_ie wrote: »

I kinda had same issue after a 6 times dislocated shoulder when I was playing U-18's when I came back to play 1st thing I did. Ask the biggest ****er in my club that played on the 1st team for bout an hour of his time once or twice a week and just tackled him, again and again and again, in training situation, not only was I never afraid to tackle again, my tackling was great when I came back, being able to dump tackle most ppl my own size most of the time.

brilliant idea.. ill certainly try this out..

thebaz

Playing rugby with Fear is a bad idea, you won't enjoy it , and probably get hurt and frustrated.

Ask yourself if you want to play , if you want to compete , if you want to win .
If so , train harder , and then a bit harder , look at Peter stringer , and i'm not tall myself , and played the game without getting seriously hurt ... one thing i know i enjoyed the game a lot more when i played harder , gave a 100 % , and showed respect , but not fear .... anyway enough of my Roy Keane spiel , enjoy .... just my experience of the game ... when i fealt i wasn't fit eneogh , packed it in and played soccer (still do)

jprender

It's in the mind.

You need to convince yourself that you are a good tackler.

You need to be aggressive in your tackling, not worrying about getting hurt.
A lot of things piss teenagers off, you need to use these things as motivation. Tackling should be an outlet for you. Bring your frustrations to the rugby field and start smashing them. I promise you that the harder you hit them, the better you will feel.

Remember to always tackle low, especially if you are the smaller guy.
There is just no way a scrum-half is gonna stop a second row by tackling above the waste. He will just be too big. But I bet you his ankles are roughly the same size as yours.

rockman15

i had the same problem at your age...except at full back...which was dangerous for the team ( i was there for my hands and counter attacking). i spent a few sessioins with the tackle bags. my coach gave me a few hours too. the main point he tried to get acros was the faster you come at someone the more they are goiing to panic. dont wait for them to come to you. get low and drive with your shoulder. the best modern example of a tackle i have ever seen was brian o'driscoll against the french in the WRC this year.

another exercise we do over here ( im playing in italy for a year and man do these ****ers hit big) is play british bulldogs during contact sessions....great laugh and great training.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mor9xpeHdrY heres the link for that tackle on youtube.

if you want to bulk and get a bit fo meat on you....EAT MORE!!!!! you dont need supplements at your age....youll get more from €35 of eggs then €35 of creo at 16

DanOB

anyone reckon i should spend the midterm on the buffet in pizza hut?

Stev_o

DanOB wrote: »

anyone reckon i should spend the midterm on the buffet in pizza hut?

No no no no thats the wrong food altogether. Honestly my meals consist of Steak and pasta, Pork and pasta, Tuna Past bake and stew week in week out. Dont go eating food that is covered in salt and sugar. Stick to the healthy options around you dont try cut corners with buffets at all for trying to gain weight