Defensive Drills

[Midman]

Lads i was wondering if anyone could give me some ideas for defensive drills. Drills that help with tackling, positioning etc. All help greatly appreciated

[screenexile]

We did a great drill there over the summer to help improve our tackling and our strength on the ball and it definitely worked wonders on improving our forwards tackling. Start with a pitch 21m by 10m. Have two sets of poles about 3m apart at each end. Then 2 teams of 5 and the rule is that you must try and score by running the ball through the posts but the ball can only be passed backwards.

It's a seriously intense drill and involves a lot of hits but it definitely helps focus on tackling, support play and strength on the ball. One thing that you need to be careful of is the tackling though as it needs to be very disciplined in this game as a lot of pulling and dragging will just breed bad habits and dishearten both teams from being able to score properly.

You may also want to try the Derry GAA website as there are some good drills in the coaching section there as well. derry.gaa.ie

[AbbeySider]

Ya, agreeing with the above post, a possession game in a tight square makes the players think quickly and move the ball and because its close-nit the tackles and hits are flying.

Also if you pair players at the end line. Someone (trainer) stands about 30-40 yards out and sends the ball between them. Whoever gets the ball has to make it through two cones while the other defends.

Also you could put the backs at one side of the goal and forwards at the other. Two forwards sprint out and receive the ball about 30-40 yards out. Two backs follow them and try and defend the score. You could make it harder on the forwards and tell them to shoot for goals.

Check out:

http://derry.gaa.ie/coaching/coaching_tips_index.htm

for other drills

[winghalfun]

Nobody's mentioned Tyrone yet?

Well then I won't either.

[Midman]

Cheers for those lads. Something to keep me warm over the cold winter nights

[MacDanger]

If it's an underage team you're coaching, one of the most basic skills in defending is simply knowing which foot your opponent kicks off (let's face it there aren't a huge amount of two-footed players around) thereby knowing which foot to block on and also trying to push him out on to his weaker foot.

[rolloutking]

It may be primitive but 1v1 in the square with 4 around the outside. 2 balls so thers always 2 options for the forward to give to. 60 seconds in the square is tough going. Have a mentor to police the tackling and you'll see a major improvement in the defenders ability to intercept and disposses and the forwards ability to hold the ball close to the chest + give direct passes while under intense pressure

[Uladh]

the flaw with this one is that you are only tackling a static ball carrier. the most difficult skill in the game is tackling a ball carrier coming at you at pace.

[brokencrossbar1]

Rolloutking

Do that drill with 3 balls but for a shorter period of time.  Increases the intensity level and makes both forward and back work.

One of the most common fouls in any game is where a player tackles across the opponents body with his "outside" arm.  The player with the ball hugs the arm in and falls.  You all know the sort of thing, it happens all the time.  A big mistake by many tacklers is to use their outside arm to reach across, blind siding the ref and giving the opponents the opportunity to engineer a free.  A good drill to prevent this is to have players running alonside each other between cones about 4 m wide and 15 m long.  The tackler has to use his inside arm to tackle the player at all times.

[blanketattack]

The best defensive training you can get is a game of backs and forwards. Scores of All-Irelands have been won based on this revolutionary training method.

[AbbeySider]

One of the most common fouls in any game is where a player tackles across the opponents body with his "outside" arm.  The player with the ball hugs the arm in and falls.  You all know the sort of thing, it happens all the time.  A big mistake by many tacklers is to use their outside arm to reach across, blind siding the ref and giving the opponents the opportunity to engineer a free.  A good drill to prevent this is to have players running alonside each other between cones about 4 m wide and 15 m long.  The tackler has to use his inside arm to tackle the player at all times.

I hear what you are saying there BCB. It is the oldest trick in th book; for a forward to 'grab the arm' and go down.
Could you explain a bit more about that drill?

Am I right in thinking that a person goes on a solo run and the person beside them faces them and tackles with their outside hand rather than their closest hand?

Does this not compromise the quality of the tackle as you can tackle closer with your inside hand? 

[brokencrossbar1]

Abbeyside, the drill would have two players side by side and the ball carrier must beat his man to the end of the cones, with the tackler only allowed to use his inside arm at all times.  Quick, short burst aqnd that is it.  You can also do it with the players facing each other and the tackler only allowed to use closest hand at anuy time even it is the weaker hand.

[SlimShady]

was at a coaching course last night- coaching the tackle. was very good. Theres lots of courses being run at the minute by the Ulster Council and throughout the Winter which is an excellent initiative.

[Mid Mon]

2 sets of goals 40 meters apart two teams of about 8 on the right hand side of each goal. 2 balls in play all the time. Each team has one attacker and one defender in action all the time player "A" from each team attacks the opposit goal while player "B" acts as defender, After player "A" takes their shot, player "C" from their team goes on the attack. Player "A" immediatly takes up the role of defender and defends the goal from player "C". Involves a lot of quick thinking as you must get your shot away quickly in order to give yourself time to defend the opposite goal from the player in attack

[believebelive]

When you talking about youngsters the two most important things to do is to get them tackling with the near hand and also not to cross their feet when a player is coming at them.
Tackling with the wrong hand is a killer - as BC has said it allows the forward to grab it and get a free but also the natural thing to do when tackling with the far hand is to put the near hand on the players back - a stone wall free.
The old foot crossing is another killer - remember a coach telling us to move like a boxer so that we never crossed our feet. Even tied string between some of the boys feet - if they crossed them they ended up going head over shite but if they moved just sided to side like a boxer they were ok.