Passing under pressure

I’ve been doing a bit of tag rugby coaching recently. It’s nothing really. Just showing a few friends a few drills.

Yesterday I ran out of new drills and asked my friends if they had any areas they wanted to work on. And one by one, in quick succession, I got the following:

Passing under pressure
Kicking under pressure
Catching under pressure

‘Pressure’ used three times. Then it struck me practice/training is a lot like exposure therapy.

It’s a chance to improve one’s ability in dealing with a stressful scenario.

We expose you to artificial pressure in a nice safe environment so that when you encounter real pressure you don’t crumble into a sobbing heap.

Training offers you the chance to experiment with the pressure. To pause and find solutions around it. To draw confidence in your ability to rise to the challenge!