Punch Wrap Squeeze

Group participants in pairs with one participant positioned on their knees with their partner standing in an offset position in front of them. On the Coach's signal, the kneeling participant must 'punch' their arms through, and around the legs of the standing player. As they do so, the kneeling participant's cheek should be touching the bottom of the standing player, with their chin tucked in.

The kneeling player then squeezes the standing player as hard as possible, pulling them close against them. Repeat the process before asking partners to swap roles.

• No equipment required

Participants learn to wrap and squeeze tightly with their head safely positioned against their partner's body in this introduction to correct tackle technique.

• Encourage peer coaching to provide feedback to participants when performing the ‘punch, wrap, squeeze’.
• Progress to Contact Readiness activity ‘Tackle Complete’, with participants required to bring their partner to the ground.

• Where do our eyes need to be looking when performing the ‘punch, wrap, squeeze’?
• Why do we ‘punch’ our arms through and around the legs of an opponent when tackling?
• Why does our cheek need to be on our opponents bottom when tackling?