Kicking drill
Grubber Through the Gate
Master the low end-over-end grubber that travels through a defensive line.
- Time
- 20 minutes
- Players
- 1 to 6 players
- Intensity
- Low
- Equipment
- Ball, cones
- Space
- 10-20m to a 1-2m gate
- Positions
- Halfbacks, fly-halves, centres, wings
Setup
Two cones 2m apart forming a gate, placed 10m away. Five balls. This is the best wall drill in the library - against a wall the ball comes straight back to you.
How to run it
- Hold the ball upright like a rocket ship flying through space, then step forward onto your non-dominant foot and as you step, drop the ball so the nose of the rocket points at the ground.
- Strike it just before it hits the ground, kicking through with your toes directed at the target.
- The quality standard is that the ball should bounce within 1m of you with end-over-end rotation - if it bounces 5m away or sits up sideways, your drop was wrong.
- Progress the gate from 10m to 15m to 20m, then narrow it to 1m.
- Do 5 sets of 8, then 20 on the weak foot.
Coaching cues
- Nose of the rocket pointing at the ground
- Strike it just before it lands
- Toes to the target
Common mistakes
- Dropping the ball too flat, producing a sitting-up bouncing ball a fullback collects at pace
- Kicking it too hard - the grubber's job is to get through the line, not past the fullback
Related drills
- Chip and RegatherExecute a chip at full pace and win the ball back yourself.
- Self Up-and-UnderBuild hang time on the bomb and practise the high-ball catch in the same rep.
- Drop Kick with TargetBuild a reliable drop kick for both drop goals and restarts.
- Under the CrossbarForce a compressed, driven strike that exposes any weakness in leg speed through contact.
- Goal Kicking Quiet Eye RoutineBuild a repeatable place-kick routine around a quiet eye on the ball.
- Touchline Channel 50:22Build the low driven spiral that wins a lineout in the opposition 22 from your own half.