Any Tips For Tighthead Props?

DazHealy

I'Ve Been Playing For A While Now And While I Have My Place On The Team:D, I Dont Seem To Be Able To Force Myself Physically On Apposing Looseheads In The Scrums.Im Kinda Short (5foot 10inches) and weigh around 14-15 stone.I Reguarly Come Up Against Some Guys Up To 18 Stone:eek:, I Just Want To FInd A Way To Even The Odds;).

mikedragon32

What level are you playing at?

4 stone is a lot to give up to your opposite prop, but I suppose the basics of the scrum still apply:

The tight five need to be very tightly bound (hence the moniker)
You need to make sure the lock and flanker behind you have their shoulders under your arse as you crouch into position.
Your feet should be about shoulder width apart
You need to make sure that your back is straight. If your back is arched as you engage, you've already lost.
You must bind correctly (ie: tighthead must have his arm over the Loosehead's and bind on the shoulder or back, you must not grab hold of his sleeve!)
You should be looking to come into the engage from a low starting position and driving up, however you should ensure that your hips are lower than your shoulders.

Tighthead is a tough enough position. You and the lock and flanker behind you take most of the weight and if the three of you aren't particularly well bound and ready to take the weight, you're already in trouble and if the scrum doesn't collapse, it will quite likely wheel.

If you're practicing on a scrum machine (never a good substitute for the real thing, but anyway...) make sure that you set the pads that you drive into as low as you can manage and try to get used to driving into that position. It's also important to maintain a consistent push, if you're doing a push/stop/push technique, this gives your opponents the opportunity to push back during your stop phase.

Hope that helps.

toomevara

MikeDragon's advice above is completely on the ball and I'd second everything he says. As you haven't said what development level you're at I don't know how relevant this advice is, but, if you can, seek out the advice of a more senior tight head player at your club, because while weight disparity is an issue in your position, good technique can offset this. Also raise the issue with your coach/trainer. In fact I'd say a smaller player who is more technically proficient will have the edge on the bigger man at tight head every time.

Finally remember, your safety is paramount. Especially in your position. Don't be afraid to flag these issues up to your coach and team if you feel you are getting out of your depth in any way.

remus808

Your loosehead must be tiny if they have you in at tight-head??

bugler

Without knowing what level you're at it's hard to know what to make of this. Assuming your physical characteristics as mentioned above are accurate, then it's no wonder you find it tough.

5'10 and 14.5 stone isn't a candidate for prop, IMO, let alone TH. As alluded to above be aware of your safety. Bulk certainly isn't everything, and you can outdo your opponent by technique, but to give up 4 stone.....

I'm making the assumption here that you're not regularly encountering 17/18 stone LHs at underage level

besty

- Beat the opposing loosehead to the engagement every time. This is unbeliveably important. Anticipate the "E" of the ref saying "Engage". This lets you set your position against your opponent.

- Pin the back of his neck with the very top of your shoulder. This should let you control the angle of his drive because you can prevent him driving straight by putting downward pressure on his neck/back

- After the engagement and just before the ball is put into the scrum, dip your hips slightly to get underneath the loosehead and remain parallell to the ground. This really helps you get a good drive going if done well.

As said above, technique is more important than size as a prop these days IMO. Practice against live opposition is the key to finding what works for you, and small adaptations against different opponents is really important too.

Eoin

bugler wrote: »

5'10 and 14.5 stone isn't a candidate for prop, IMO, let alone TH. As alluded to above be aware of your safety. Bulk certainly isn't everything, and you can outdo your opponent by technique, but to give up 4 stone.....

I don't agree - a fit 14.5 stone prop will be as useful as an overweight 16 stone one. Edit - that's been my experience of J1 anyway.

Also, at many levels under J1, the scrummaging is vastly different. Wheeling the scrum only results in a reset. The scrum can only go a couple of meters either way as well.

Tighthead has gotten a lot tougher recently though, as binding is much more strictly enforced. Your left arm has to be bound high to your opposing loosehead, meaning it's easier for him to get under you, rather than you bending your elbow and forcing his head to be tucked in slightly. By dipping your elbow and rolling your shoulder slightly, it exposes less of your shoulder for him to push against.

This would mean that his body wasn't completely straight, and it could look to the ref like he's boring in on you. This is why a loosehead should look slightly to the left of the tighthead (i.e. away from his hooker) when engaging.

itsallaboutheL

when you engage and bind on what you want to do is basically squeeze the absolute shiiiiiite outa him with your right arm. if you put enough sorta diagonal downward force on him i.e turning his upperbody without being obvious about it. it takes about half the force outof his push, failing that pinch under his armpits until he crys

JoshPitman

Hi Pal, I play county, regional, and University 1st team rugby at tight head prop. I'm 16stone 10 and regularly face props of 18stones+ and in my honest opinion as long as you have a good basic strength level then being a successful tighthead is hugely based around good technique. I think the things that are most important for you to focus on against a bigger loosehead are:

1. Be low before the hit with a good crouch position and a flat back.
2. Keep your right shoulder low, the larger loosehead will have to duck his head down during the hit in order to engage correctly this will bring his shoulders below or level with his hips and unbalance him giving you an advantage before the hit has even occured. His larger wieght counts against him if he is unbalanced.
3. Take a strong bind as high as you can on his back as soon as you hit, ideally on the shoulderblade or back of his shoulder (be careful that you dont bind on his arm).
4. After taking your bind push hard down and inwards with your elbow and shoulder in a twisting motion like closing a door, this will force the looseheads arm and shoulder down twisting him in and putting him in a very poor body position to push.
5. Make sure during the scrum your back is flat and you are looking as far forward as possible.

Hope those are helpful, screwing your loosehead down and into the scrum like this is the best way to combat any loosehead but is particularly helpful when you're against a larger loosehead, often the loosehead will slip his binding leading to your penalty, or will bring his hips out of the scrum to balance against the twist leading to him being penalised for boreing in. Hit low and hard with a low right shoulder, take a high bind and twist your elbow and shoulder in.

Just a point that you can work in with your whole scrum, ensure the flanker and second rows are both bound tight and shoulders are under your bum, depending on what level you play at you may want to look at charging the hit. This takes practice but is extremely effective, the front five should be on tip toe crouched forward before the hit with the no8 and flankers holding them back on engage the no8 and flankers charge the front five into the scrum this allows you all to push at once and reach the opposing scrum much faster and harder.

Hope those help, Good luck and Happy scrumming!

pred racer

Very good advice above!
i'm a loose head prop(got as far as provincial u-20 so I sorta knew what I was doing ) My aim as a loose head was to get the back of my head on your sternum and keep my binding elbow up.If you can keep my neck on the outside of your shoulder rather than against your neck and put pressure on my binding arm(this is normally achieved by twisting your whole torso slightly, but only slightly, dont push down hard or you will get the blame for any collapse) as above whoever gets the hit first is on top, and whoever gets to drive upwards has the easiest job.

Im presuming here that your stance is correct, back straight and your lock and flanker are helping you out by keeping you straight.

prop is the best position on the field! if you do anything apart from scrummage and donkey work you are a hero! and if you dont you are doing all the hard unseen work and you are still a hero:D