Speed training:rugby

Try looking at SAQinternational.com. They have a wide variety of information on speed training especially rugby. The author of the books and video's - Alan Peason is a former rugby player and coach. He has specific books on rugby training for SAQ ( speed, agility and quickness).

Dependin on how much timeyou have and time you want to dedicate to training, you can do a variety of training from strength using weights, plyometrics, rugby specific skills etc.

You are best talking to a fitness professional who has some idea of the above. Send me a private message and can mayb guide you through some kind of training as have not got a lot of time tonight. One of my passions is rugby and training for thegame so I may have one or two programmes around.

All the best

try a power speed sled you can get them from places like stadia sports and N4sport. i made my own for my athletics group

need a cheap plastic sledge. i got mine from N4sport cost about £10

make yourself a harness ( i used rope and padded them with old t-shirts then covered them in electrical tape.)

connect the harness to the sledge with a piece of rope about 3-4m in length..

and for the weight use a bag of sand, then you can adjust the resistance.

always try to do the session while running both forwards and running backwards to work the muscles evenly (make sure you stay on your toes)

time your players sprint over say 50m
add the power sledge to your training then after a couple of weeks, time them all again over 50m to see if its improved.

as a javelin thrower and coach i have found this very effective for explosive speed.

Hi Marko,

I don't know how old you are but it might be worth trying your local athletics club and speaking to one of the sprint coaches, their technical knowledge about the mechanics of running can complement something like SAQ and help to imrpove your running technique - which will enable you to achieve gains in speed and dynamics.

A couple of the guys I coach (u16) have found this approach beneficial - although they gained access to the athletics coach through school.

Cheers

Paul

Marko,

I highly agree with what other members have said about SAQ. An excellent book is SAQ Rugby which highlights a number of speed and agility exercises. Do a search on the web and you will find a great deal of useful information.

Also incorporate a good weights program into your training as this will assist with power generation thus improve your speed.

Good luck with your training.

Phil

Yeah the SAQ stuff is pretty good, its well worth a look into it! it also provides you with information on how to train the different aspects of fitness using various types of SAQ equipment. Great for traing footwork, speed etc...

The best site on the net i have come across is www.fitness4rugby.com
The site has been done by Paul Pooke who is the strength and conditioning coach to Harlequins. An awesome site! You may find some useful info there

James

SAQ is great but I have difficulty in getting all the stuff into a regular two evenings a week schedule.

:arrow: I use fast foot ladders and no other specific equipment.
:arrow: Plyometrics are a good combination with the SAQ stuff.

You can have a closer look at what I do with my team at my website...

Martin

With SAQ I only do about 20 minutes of ladders/hurdles work at the beginning of the session after the dynamic flex from the SAQ continium (www.saqinternational.com). I find this is enough for mid level clubs.

I have found ways of include SAQ within the training using viper belts and resistive straps.

SAQ rugby- Speed, Agility and Quickness for Rugby by Alan Peason is a great to purchase for ideas of training

i would find out your nearest athletics club, and see if you can train with the sprinters there. Check the coach knows what he's talking about aswell!

Hi Marko, I fully endorse James Wild on the fitness4rugby site, its a very good site. In India Rugby is not very popular but i had done a project on Fitness and conditioning for Rugby players wherein i had used information from this site to a very large extent. The aqua training and plyometric drills mentioned there in, in particular, are very good and worth trying.