ABSORBING PRESSURE ....an article from Lee Smith, Previous Director of Coaching NZRFU
You can find more of lee's work at the IRB development page as he is the current IRB development officer.
I have repeated the last paragraph of this article , that I received at my level 3 clinic in NZ , here as I feel it is the most important part...
Coaches should aim to put players under this pressure at practice so that they become accustomed to it and have the correct, conditioned response to it. By making them aware of the wrong gut reaction, players can recognize the symptoms. They can adjust to them within themselves and exploit them to their advantage when they occur in opponents.
It is difficult for players not to feel the pressure of the big occasion. While this may heighten performance the pressure of the big occasion can also inhibit performance. This occurs because under pressure self and team discipline can be lost as players revert to type and they play as their gut reaction dictates.
At best this reduces options and at worst it results in fifteen players doing their own thing as the team pattern disintegrates.
Fundamentally this can be avoided if the players are able to perform the basic skills of the game under pressure. The least skilful, especially young players, will have difficulty maintaining a pattern because the pressure will create a struggle with their individual skills.
As the level of rugby increases the players may master the skills but, almost subconsciously, the players will feel pressure and adjust to their own disadvantage.
To overcome this players should be made aware of what can happen under pressure generally. As a coach gets to know a player these characteristics can be more specifically identified for each player.
By making players aware of what does happen they can then guard against it so that the response is a conditioned response and not their gut reaction.
Mental fatigue is preceded by physical fatigue. It is evident, therefore, that the fitter the player the less they will suffer from this competitive stress.
Fatigue is first shown by the player losing eye speed and co-ordination. Rather than have the peripheral vision that is essential in predicting and applying correct options, vision becomes tunnelled, options become limited and play predictable.
The challenge for the player becomes that which is most immediately obvious which is often not the most advantageous for the team as a whole. In close quarter play this more often results in the deterioration of technique, which concedes an advantage to the opponent who has been able to retain form longer.
In the forwards this is most often shown in a deterioration of players' body position.
As the players become more upright they are more susceptible to being driven backwards off the ball with the consequent loss of support and possession. This happens in scrums rucks and mauls. In these situations the fatigued players must consciously exaggerate their body position by going even lower.
A further failing at rucks and mauls is players seeking possession of the ball from a fellow forward. In the standing tackle, to secure possession immediately results in the players going in too high so that there is little forward momentum .
In addition, by going for the ball the arms are no longer used to bind. Forwards lack mutual support and to stabilize their body position the best body position for forward drive is lost.
The pressure that leads to the deterioration of performance in the forwards begins at set pieces.
Scrums deteriorate as the team under pressure panics and speeds up their preparation phase. They get too close to the mark and rush to contact, because they are too close they will not be low enough in the front row.
This compromises body positions throughout the scrum Often the scrums do not contact satisfactorily and have to be reset. The players have to move their feet, change their binding and their body positions. These alterations leave the scrum vulnerable to the opposition scrum's pressure.
In lineouts pressure is best shown by jumpers jumping straight up and stretching for the ball with their arms. Because their body is not driving directly into the ball an opponent easily beats them. In the anxiety to get some possession the jumpers take the view that any ball is good ball and tap the ball back wildly on their side. Realising the risk, supporting players are tempted to go for the ball leaving gaps through which opponents can pour directly onto the halfback. This merely compounds the problem.
In the backs the loss of peripheral vision under pressure results in players choosing the wrong options.
This commences with the backs assuming a shallower alignment on attack.
In their anxiety to act defensively if possession is lost they align in a position that is neither a good attacking formation nor a good defensive formation.If possession is won, passing will be slow as passes are made into the hip and the backline will meet their opponents on the tackle line before the -ball has reached the penetration zone.
Conscious that it is very important that the ball reaches the advantage line the backs will revert to kicking. Alternatively they will barge their way towards the line in the belief that by standing close to it they will have a better chance of reaching it.
It takes discipline to resist this situation. What the team fundamentally needs is space between themselves and the opposing backs to give themselves time to operate efficiently as a unit.
When an attack has been able to penetrate a defensive pattern the players' immediate reaction is similar.
They stand flatter and run up faster. This over-commitment to defence makes them vulnerable to bring outflanked by a cut out pass and attacking becomes even easier.
Sometimes individual backs decide that they are not going to be blamed for the penetration. They sprint up on their designated ball carrier getting out of alignment as they do so. This creates a dog-leg gap in the defensive line allowing penetration to take place.
There are many other examples of the effect that pressure has on the play of players at all levels of rugby. Forwards, especially loose forwards, can get so pre-occupied about tackling a rampant opposition that they forget their ball winning roles at scrum and lineout. This merely aggravates the situation.
Defensive players can over-anticipate what opponents intend doing letting the ball carrier run free. They intend tackling the next ball carrier rather than nipping the play in the bud by tackling the present ball carrier.
As rugby league shows, it is better to use two players to tackle a ball carrier and stop the play at that player. In addition, players stop running towards a ball carrier, rather than cover back. This concedes distance and opens up more options to the ball carrying team.
Finally with the high kick being frequently used the receiving team can allow pressure to build by not reacting correctly. Increasingly players are realizing that it is more successful and safer to contest the ball in the air rather than wait on the ground absorbing the force of oncoming players
Once the ball has been caught players tend to run sideways exposing themselves to a side-on tackle when a head-on tackle will often be high and allow the ball carrier to stand in the tackle. Support can back off looking for a pass that never comes.
They are best used as forwards no matter what their position, who drive in to support the ball carrier securing possession and providing forward momentum.
Coaches should aim to put players under this pressure at practice so that they become accustomed to it and have the correct, conditioned response to it. By making them aware of the wrong gut reaction, players can recognize the symptoms. They can adjust to them within themselves and exploit them to their advantage wen they occur in opponents.