When to run, when to pass, and what to do after you get it wrong
Two reads I wrote for players who do most of the work on their own, each with a drill. There are a few quick questions first, so I know who I'm writing for, and both reads come straight after.
By Etienne Ferrat · about 15 minutes each
One read is on deciding what to do when the ball comes to you, and the other is on the seconds after you get it wrong. Both have pictures and a drill you can do on your own, and a section on what the research does and doesn't show.
Start here
Who these are for
I wrote these for rugby players who want to go pro and have to do most of the work on their own, whatever position they play.
When I went through the answers players have written to me, decisions came up more than anything else, in about four out of ten, and most of them were some version of when to do one thing and when to do the other. The first read splits decisions into the ones you have time for and the ones you don't.
The answers that stayed with me most were from players who are scared of making a mistake, or who overthink it in the match and after it. The second read is about what to do in the seconds after a mistake, with the ball still live or with the whistle gone.
Both are long, with the pictures, the drill, a card that saves what you write on your phone and a section on what the research does and doesn't show.
How to use them this weekRead the one on decisions first and start its video drill in part 4, which takes about fifteen minutes. Then read the one on mistakes and fill in its card, which takes two minutes. Its drill is about ten minutes on your own, and I'd start that this week too. In your next match, count the one thing each read asks you to count, and write it down after.
