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Becoming airborne in the scrum!

byrnesdeclan

Academy Player
Joined
May 9, 2016
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Australia
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Australia
Hey guys, I had a question as to how and why i became airborne in the scrum. I play at tight head prop and weigh in at 87kgs.. a little lighter than most but my strength is still up there. Now this has left me stumped and I have no idea how it happened, and after screening the net for more answers I didn't come up with much. My body height was good, engage with opposition was heavy but not insane, the only thing i can think was that my second rower and open side were too low on thighs?

any input would be appreciated, many thanks.
 
My guess is that it isn't necessarily you or your technique that is the problem with you getting "lifted".

It usually happens when the lock behind you starts shoving more in an upwards motion instead of a straight forward motion, causing you to be lifted while hinged to your opponent. Are you shorter than your opponent?
 
My guess is that it isn't necessarily you or your technique that is the problem with you getting "lifted".

It usually happens when the lock behind you starts shoving more in an upwards motion instead of a straight forward motion, causing you to be lifted while hinged to your opponent. Are you shorter than your opponent?

both opposing loose head and hooker were roughly my height
 
My guess is that it isn't necessarily you or your technique that is the problem with you getting "lifted".

It usually happens when the lock behind you starts shoving more in an upwards motion instead of a straight forward motion, causing you to be lifted while hinged to your opponent. Are you shorter than your opponent?

As a former lock we had this happen a few times with a hooker. If the alignment isn't right he would just pop right out. When we would go down and get into position, either the locks would be too low and he would pop, or it would be that the hooker wasn't low enough so the energy just forced him upwards. The lock should be positioned just below the glutes so that when they scrum down the lock is pushing forward into the front rowers who are leaning forward and low. If the front rower is too upright, that pressure can result in a pop up instead of the forward push. Is it also happening to your hooker?
 
Was this a one-off or is it happening regularly? If the former, don't fret, its just part of the learning curve - we've all had wings from time to time. If the latter it feels like more of a technique problem - you certainly need to tell your team mates if their binds don't feel right (that's generally pretty obvious), but I'd start closer to home.

It's quite easy for a naughty loose head to find an angle and drive up and across. That's prop on prop and you simply have to work out your own way of handling it - if you don't like the feel of the engagement then you need to wrestle to a position that suits you - don't be passive.

You say you're quite light - are you also tall? Its easier for a squat prop to lift a long levered one than the other way round (simple mechanics apparently, although I wouldn't put too much store by my O level physics....). Anyway, that's my experience.

Also you say you're strong, but where? Flashy pecs and biceps are great, but pretty useless in scrummaging where much of the power originates from the big muscles in the legs and back.

Good luck in figuring it out!
 

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