A few things I was wondering playing wise, (VERY varied)

[JWS]

1. Which boots are good for wide feet? (In the past i've stuck with Canterbury, got Adidas "wide fit" kakuri ones but they didn't fit so I gave them away. How are asics? as I currently have some money for new ones)
2. A lot of the time when I run the ball in, I end up starting a maul. To solve this I thought: run, drive for a certain amount of seconds and then "go down", Do you have any better ideas?
Also, I play Prop. Doesn't matter which, I alternate.
May post more questions.

 

[jonny24]

The maul question would depend on the team strategy/gameplan. If the goal is quick recycling from the ruck, then yes, you want to go to ground. Make your initial contact with the opposition as hard as you can, basically try to knock them on their ass. This will give you a little bit of separation which you can then use to go to ground cleanly and have your teammates for the ruck over you. This should only be done if your support is there for you though, otherwise you need to keep your feet and hang on to the ball until help arrives (or you get tackled).

If, at that stage, when a maul is essentially formed, but you don't WANT to maul, it can be difficult to get to ground. The other team is trying to hold you up because if the ref calls it a maul and it collapses, then they will get the put in. What you want is for your team mates to help you get to ground in order to set up the ruck.

And welcome to TRF! It's a great forum, you'll learn a lot here.

 

[JWS]

Thanks good advice and nice welcoming, I shall try to implement it as soon as I can. I'll probably post if I see a noticeable difference (probably will), another thing I was wondering is, what's the best way to make contact as ball carrier? I've been told to run it in with a forearm out and the ball tightly packed in with the other arm nice and low and drive, are there alternatives? or is this how I should be doing it? Many thanks.

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Thanks good advice and nice welcoming, I shall try to implement it as soon as I can. I'll probably post if I see a noticeable difference (probably will), another thing I was wondering is, what's the best way to make contact as ball carrier? I've been told to run it in with a forearm out and the ball tightly packed in with the other arm nice and low and drive, are there alternatives? or is this how I should be doing it? Many thanks.

Hi. Welcome!

My advice would be that what you are explaining sounds like a good idea for a back with speed and space looking for a hand off and having essentially just one player covering him. You say you play at prop though and one would assume you are hitting the ball up around the fringes in heavy traffic. If I were you I'd rather hold on with both arms and run low into contact leading with the shoulder looking to bowl the primary tackler over. Only go for a hand off if the player or others nearby wouldn't be able to rip the ball off of you.

 

[jonny24]

Forearm lead is good, that's what I've been coached to do in the past. If you feel you want more protection on the ball nothing wrong with keeping both hands on it. If you're in open space with a shot at beating the guy straight arm fend can work well.

As a coach once told me, "Put the hard parts of your body into the soft parts of theirs" - works for both offense and defense.