Catching drill
Self Throw and Catch
Build basic catching confidence and hand-eye coordination with nothing but a ball.
- Time
- 6 minutes
- Players
- 1 to 30 players
- Intensity
- Low
- Equipment
- Ball
- Positions
- All positions
Setup
One ball and open grass. No markings needed.
How to run it
- Throw the ball up and catch it, deliberately varying how high and in which direction you throw it so no two catches are the same - that variation is what makes this worth doing rather than a hundred identical throws.
- Keep your hands up ready with your fingers spread and thumbs close together, and watch the ball all the way in until every finger and thumb is in contact with it.
- Move forward onto the ball to make the catch rather than waiting under it.
- Do 3 rounds of 60 seconds continuous, each round with a different height and direction pattern.
Coaching cues
- Fingers spread, thumbs close together
- Watch it all the way into your hands
- Move forward onto the ball
Common mistakes
- Letting the ball come to your body instead of attacking it with your hands
- Throwing to the same spot every rep, which removes the variability that makes it useful
Related drills
- Wall Reaction CatchSharpen reaction catching off an unpredictable rebound, alone.
- Back and Forth Catch-PassHold catch-pass quality as fatigue builds, which is when handling errors actually happen.
- Support and PassDraw a defender and time the pass, in the smallest possible live decision drill.
- Wall Pass ReboundBuild passing accuracy and reaction catching completely alone, off any flat wall.
- Solo Halfback Wall PassGroove the scrum-half clearing pass off the ground in one sweep, with no partner needed.
- Pass ProgressionBuild a smooth, rhythmic two-handed pass from static through to running pace.