Hey I need help learning how to tackle properly. When I go into contact I get low (around the persons hips or mid thigh) wrap my arms around their legs or hips, and drive forward, but unless the player is smaller than me and I crush them, all I seem to do is push them back or stop them from moving forward.
I play hooker, I am 5’ 4" 180 lbs and I have decent strength with a 405lb squat and 430lb deadlift as of my last powerlifting meet in February.
Thanks.
Do you play for a team? If so Ask your coach and fellow team mates.
ermmm… whats the problem??? your worst case scenario is that you stop them…? thats the objective…
Pull a leg or two. If you’re pushing someone back and you get one or two of their legs off the ground you’re good to go.
Drive up. Squat down low, and when you are tackling, don’t just drive back. Drive up and back. That way, you either lift them off the ground, or they fall on their ass or back.
Stop being a pussy, bite a dick off.
At practise, let your coach tape your tackling and comment on it. We used it and everybody learned a lot. Plus, if you’re already on the guy and he’s bigger, slide down (while still holding tight) and make him trip.
It’s hard to cover everything without being there in person. Generally:
You make the initial contact with your shoulder, and have your head off to the side. This will require you planting the proper foot depending on the shoulder and angle you’re on.
You aim at their hips or slightly above (this isn’t demonstrated in the following video properly until after 6:00). Either drive forward and up, or forward if you feel they’re harder to take down. Aim to hit them and drive through, rather than just slide down their legs. Old school coaches advocated sliding down the legs, but it isn’t the most effective way and you don’t see it very often at a professional level anymore. Against a high knee runner, or a leading forearm you’ll miss the tackle if you try to slide down.
Plant your foot close to the player, keep your head up and back tight, and grab them hard when you make contact. The best points to wrap the arms are around the waist and leg. You’d want to take both the waist and the leg in a rising tackle when you’re trying to drop them hard, and mainly the waist if you’re getting dislodged in tackles.
The further you are away the top of their hips, the easier it will be for them to bump you off.
Have a look at this. It’s not perfect, but it’s a good start and has a breakdown of the preparation for a tackle:
Watch Rugby League ,they can tackle properly.They hit much harder than in rugby.Check it out on Youtube.
It is fine if you’re just pushing them back, in which case they might try to start a maul and you could try to strip the ball. Also, the point in tackling is to stop them from moving forward but don’t worry if don’t stop foward progress completely since rugby is a game of possession instead of a game of inches like football. The way I was taught to tackle in rugby was to wrap low and have the top of the shoulder on the hip and head behind, what my coach called cheek to cheek (your cheek on his ass cheek) then drive and lift. the difference was the head placement because in football you are taught to put your head in front (going acroos the body) whereas rugby you dont, mainly just to avoid injury.
I was a small guy last season at 6’'0 and 170lbs and I played winger. Not exactly beastly but I had a reputation as the best tackler on the team.
Really, the only thing about tackling is you can’t be afraid. It’s an all or nothing activity. Imagine yourself sending them hitting the ground out of breath from you tackle and go make it happen
It is fine if you’re just pushing them back, in which case they might try to start a maul and you could try to strip the ball. Also, the point in tackling is to stop them from moving forward but don’t worry if don’t stop foward progress completely since rugby is a game of possession instead of a game of inches like football. The way I was taught to tackle in rugby was to wrap low and have the top of the shoulder on the hip and head behind, what my coach called cheek to cheek (your cheek on his ass cheek) then drive and lift. the difference was the head placement because in football you are taught to put your head in front (going acroos the body) whereas rugby you dont, mainly just to avoid injury.
You have to get rid of their leverage. Same concept as in wrestling, just drive forward and up. Dont just push them back. Try to get their body behind their legs, they lose balance/leverage and will fall backwards.
When your driving into then and you have total control, twist, theyll go down, I had the same problem in football, and i grab on, and drive and twit my body.
I used to have the same problem…
Make sure you dont stop your leg drive once you’ve made contact, and be sure to keep your head up. If your head is facing the ground, then thats where you will end up.
Oh and some testicular fortitude always helps…
[quote]Iron Terp wrote:
It is fine if you’re just pushing them back, in which case they might try to start a maul and you could try to strip the ball. Also, the point in tackling is to stop them from moving forward but don’t worry if don’t stop foward progress completely since rugby is a game of possession instead of a game of inches like football. The way I was taught to tackle in rugby was to wrap low and have the top of the shoulder on the hip and head behind, what my coach called cheek to cheek (your cheek on his ass cheek) then drive and lift. the difference was the head placement because in football you are taught to put your head in front (going acroos the body) whereas rugby you dont, mainly just to avoid injury.[/quote]
This is a great post.
I was always either a prop or scrum half because I was short and stocky and one thing I know is that a lot of guys wanted to try to tackle me which I liked because I wanted to get up to speed as fast as possible and hit them really fucking hard. I wanted to avoid the hell out of getting taken down.
If you are not moving fast and driving through I would make a play and get the ball off before you took me down.
Two big things:
Cheek to Cheek. Sounds like you are getting low enough
Wrap the knees and pull or push in a direction perpendicular to that they are running in. This will cause their own momentum to take them down. wrapping around the knees as opposed to wrapping around the hips makes a big difference.
Pat Lam is a legend so he’s not a bad guy to listen to… But don’t try the Rugby league Hits in Union - you’ll give a way a load of penalties for not wrapping up.
If you’re playing in the front row a lot of yoru tackels will be made in tight situations around the breakdown - if you’re getting low and driving through the mans hips then you’re 90% there - one of the most useful things to do from there is go sideways - it’s a lot less effort to redirect your opponents momentum than stop him dead. Also as was said above, if you’re not getting the man down, tighten your arms and strip down to the knees and ankles. You need to work on real tackling rather than just open drills, one of the best ways is small pitch walkign rugby - if no-one can run then there’s a lot more contact, also you can limit the number of passes, if there’s only one pass allowed then it’s either pick and go or one pass from the Scrum half and hit. It’ll also sort your rucking ability pretty quickly.
I had a look on Youtube and found this compilation of good and generally legal Rugby Union hits:
[quote]vinscay wrote:
Watch Rugby League ,they can tackle properly.They hit much harder than in rugby.Check it out on Youtube.[/quote]
That’s bullshit. Rugby League players very rarely make one on one tackles. More often then not they are gang tackles. League players also almost always run straight at the defensive line. Rugby Union players run towards a defenders shoulder rather then straight at his chest. This makes them harder to tackle. League players are also aloud to shoulder charge making their hits look better.
Show me a league player that has successfully converted to Union and I may be willing to change my opinion.