LTPD Guide for Clubs and Schools

Long term player development (LTPD) is a player-centred approach to achieving a player’s full potential throughout their involvement in rugby. This strategy will help us with future work within Scottish Rugby which relates to the development of our game and players.
The model represents a seven stage progression, each stage relative to the important physical, psychological and social developments in a young person’s life. LTPD is about achieving appropriate training, competition and recovery throughout a player’s career, particularly in relation to these important growth stages.

The process emphasises the role of quality preparation and delivery mechanisms, matched to individual development. It is focused on stages and developing performance over the long term rather than winning as a short-term objective (“peaking for the weekend”).

The main aims of the LTPD plan are to outline to coaches, parents, administrators and the rugby and sporting community in Scotland what a long-term approach to training and preparation means. This acknowledges that not all children develop at the same rate.
The research underpinning long term player development has enabled Scottish Rugby to recommend the necessary playing, training and competition environments to improve the future development of all players in our game.

To download a copy of Scottish Rugby’s LTPD Guide for club and schools please click below.

Long Term Player Development Strategy - A guide for clubs and schools

Download

Coaching Tag and Mini Rugby resource

Scottish Rugby has produced this resource to support coaches and teachers who are working with primary school age players in the first two LTPD stages: FUNdamentals and Learning to Play. This resource is being launched at the start of season 2011-12 during the Mini conferences delivered throughout the regions and a hard copy of the resource will be made readliy available free of charge to every mini coach / teacher in the country.

This resource contains guidance for each stage to enable coaches and teachers to fully develop every player in their squad taking into consideration such factors as: rugby’s core values, mental factors, coaching children, lifestyle factors, creating a safe “RugbyReady” environment, competition guidance, LTPD stage philosophy, game coaching guidance, role of the coach, role of the parent, skill competence, coaching code of conduct, Key National Theme (KNT) competence, recommended coaching qualifications, physical competence.

To download a copy of Scottish Rugby’s Coaching Tag and Mini Rugby resource please click below.

Coaching Mini Tag

Download

In order to guide your players’ development and to plan future sessions, player progress guides for each stage have been developed. These are simple to use tick sheets which should be used to highlight areas for development with the goal of almost every player achieving full competency in each facet by the end of the FUNdamental and Learning to play stages.
Note - these are developmental guides and should not be used as selection tools.

To download a copy of the FUNdamental stage player progress guide please click below.

FUNdamental stage player progress guide

Download

To download a copy of the Learning to play stage player progress guide please click below.

Learning to play stage player progress guide

Download

Powerpoint presentations from the Mini Conferences held during Autumn 2011 to promote the Coaching Tag and Mini Rugby resource are available to download below. These should be used in conjunction with the Coaching Tag and Mini Rugby resource to aid you to plan, deliver and review your coaching session content and delivery. This will help ensure that you create the correct learning environment for your players to aid their development.

Mini Conference Slides Collated

Download

Mini Conference PCS - Bosman Du Plessis

Download

Key National Themes resource

Season 2010-11 saw the launch of the restructured Male Player Pathway. This placed greater emphasis on increasing the skill development and physical competency of players at under-14 to under-15 level ~ the Developing the Player stage (12-16yrs) of Scottish Rugby’s LTPD framework. This has been implemented through the delivery of Key National Themes (KNT) and the forthcoming national curriculum.
The KNT are delivered to S1, S2 and under-15 coaches in clubs and schools through a programme of local and regional coaching updates. This programme has been implemented by Club Development Officers and is supported by quality coaching resources (Booklet and CDrom). To obtain your hard copied of both please contact your Club Development Officer or Regional Development Manager.

Four KNT have been identified and agreed by national, pro-team and age-grade coaches, which will help build a game structure that develops and challenges individual players and their skills, at all levels: hand catch / grab, ball presentation, offload, individual tackle technique.

These skills are vital if players are to: have the option of attacking using the whole width of the field, speed up the contact area when tackled, speed up general play when on their feet in front of and in between defences, and improve the most important aspect of their defence.

This resource is designed to outline the key benefits that the KNT offer coaches and players, and how they can be implemented into club and school training programmes.

To download a copy of Scottish Rugby’s Key National Themes resource please click below.

KNT Booklet

Download

Top Coaches DVD and High Performance Premier Coaching Day DVD

These resources are targeted at coaches working in the Training to Compete and Training to Win LTPD stages. Clubs and schools have all been sent copies of this resource so please speak to your Club Coach Coordinator/Club secretary/Head of Rugby to access this resource.

IRB Beginners Guide to Rugby
An introduction to the game, ideal for any new coach, parent or official who wishes to learn more about the sport. Content includes Rugby's histroy and ethos, the game, open play, the tackle, positions, scrum, lineout, match officials, the coach, team tactics, rugby in it's diversity.

To download a copy of the IRB Beginners Guide to Rugby resource please click below.

Beginner Guide to Rugby

Download

IRB Coaching Key Factors
A useful guide for all coaches, this resource breaks down every facet of the game into the specific Key factors which should be focused on when coaching. It covers individual, unit and team skills.

Coaching Key Factors

Download

IRB Coach's Diary
A useful tool for coaches at all levels, this diary enables the coach to record player information and team management information, as well as providing guidlines and templates for team analysis and player profiling.

IRB coaching Diary

Download

IRB Coaching Sevens
A practical guide to coaching seven-a-side rugby

Coaching Sevens

Download

Further resources are currently being developed to support coaches and teachers working in all LTPD stages and will be made available when ready.

Scottish Rugby has worked in partnership with the IRB and Sportscotland to aid the development of a number of web-based resources to aid your development as a coach. Details of these web based resources are listed below:

IRB Coaching e-Learning Tool www.irbcoaching.com
This resource is designed to help coaches and match officials get their hands on essential and up-to-date information for improving their coaching and officiating. It is free to join and membership includes access to the online rugby answers forum and free monthly newsletters with top advice on improving your coaching and officiating.

IRB Laws e-Learning Tool www.irblaws.com
On this site, you can read the Laws, watch video examples and animations to build your understanding of how the Laws are applied on the field of play, and take a self-test exam to check your knowledge.
Also available from the IRB is the 2011 Law Book which can be downloaded from this site in Adobe PDF format along with a free iPhone laws app.

IRB RugbyReady www.irbrugbyready.com (New and Improved for 2011)
The IRB Rugby Ready programme is intended to raise awareness of good practice and help stakeholders manage the inherent risks of a contact sport by putting appropriate safeguards in place.

The Rugby Ready web site is a powerful online resource that you can register to use for free. You can use the site to build, refresh and test your knowledge of the physical aspects of the Game.

The self-assessment programme comprises 18 good-practice modules covering:
• Match preparation and physical conditioning
• Correct technique
• Injury prevention and management.

After completing the online IRB Rugby Ready exam, you can download your personalised awareness certificate.

IRB Passport www.IRBpassport.com
The gateway to IRB training and education – includes access to IRB sites above as well as to the IRB player welfare and drug awareness sites.

Coaching FUNdamentals - a tool suitable for Mini Rugby Coaches www.coachingfundamentals.org.uk

The Coaching Fundamentals website is designed for use by coaches, to help their understanding of physical literacy and pre-sport-specific skills, as well as affording them a whole host of activity-based ideas and opportunities to put the theory into practice. It is a dynamic resource born out of a wealth of sports expertise, but it is also intended to make coaching sessions even more enjoyable for all concerned - a dynamic place where facts and fun are combined for all-round sporting success. You can get access to Coaching Fundamentals if you have completed the annual mandatory RugbyReady course. To gain access to this website please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

To download the 2011 season Age Grade Law Variations as well as the RugbyReady practical course booklet including game coaching guidance please visit the "Are You Ready to Play Rugby?" pages.