Kick off and chase
A kicking and catching drill for U11 and up, with where the cones go, how it runs and what to say when it is not working.
Free to read with no account. It works at a pitch with no signal too.
- Age grades
- U11, U12
- Time
- 10 minutes
- Players
- 8 to 20
- Space
- 30 x 20 m
- Kit
- 6 cones, 2 balls
- Pitch
- Fine on hard ground
Setting it up
A halfway line of cones with a second line seven metres beyond it. Two receivers wait past that.
How it runs
Drop kick from halfway. It has to cross the seven metre line or the other side gets the choice of a re-kick or a scrum on halfway, which is worth saying out loud once so they know why the line is there. The chaser goes the moment the foot connects. Receivers catch it and run it back. Everybody kicks at least twice, because on a Sunday the one child who can do it will not always be on the pitch.
What to watch for
- Drop it on its point and hit it as it touches the grass
- Aim for the space, not for a player
- Chase in a line with the kicker. Nobody sets off early
Make it easier
- Punt it rather than drop kick it
- No chasers, just the catch
Make it harder
- Kick to a nominated corner
- Receivers get a two pass counter before you stop it
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- The ball struck out of the hands before it hits the ground
- Let it land first. Hit it off the bounce, not out of your hands
- Chasers strung out with one twenty metres ahead of the rest
- Stay level with each other. Go when the boot goes
Safety. Nobody touches a player who is off the ground. The chaser stops and waits for both feet to land every time. Stop the drill for anybody who does not. No lifting and no jumping into a chaser. Reg 15 has no contest in the air at this grade and neither does this.
The RFU's Headcase is where to go for what to do after a bang on the head. It is theirs rather than ours.
More like this
The grades that can do it
What U11 rugby allows is the rule this sits under. Regulation 15 is reissued every summer, so the RFU's own rules of play are the ones to read for this season rather than a copy on somebody else's website. Ours included. Read against the RFU's 2026/27 appendices in August 2026.