Fend-off, a.k.a. the 'Dont Argue'

Skills

Tackle.

Purpose

When a player is about to be tackled, the best form of defense is often to fend the player off with a push to the chest. The fend both propells the player sideways and away from the player, plus puts them off-balance.

Groups of

Ages

15⁺

Balls/grp

Cones

Distance (max)

30m

Opp. tops

Visible opposition strip: 2

Setup
Use cones to mark 5m wide lanes, a line at each end.
Step 1
Player (A), who must stay within the confines of their lane, runs towards defender (B), who is stationary in the middle.
Step 2
(B) attempts to tackle (A), who must fend off (B) by holding the ball under the arm to the outside of the tackler, and pushing against their chest.

The push but be fast and strong to the upper chest, if the tackler detains an arm it will almost certainly result in holding the ball

The player should push-off sideways to get wide of the player

Forward momentum continues throughout
Step 3
Once (A) is clear they handball to (C) who is stationary between the cones.

(A) must get close enough to hit target (C) accurately
Step 4
(C) repeats the process the other way, with (D) the tackler.
Step 5
After 1-2 minutes, swap the tacklers (B) and (D)