Move and brace
An evasion and footwork warm-up for U9 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
- U9, U10, U11, U12
- Time
- 8 minutes
- Players
- 6 or more
- Space
- 20 m channel
- Kit
- 6 cones
- Pitch
- Fine on hard ground
- Indoors
- Fits a small space
Setting it up
Two lines of cones ten metres apart. Work in waves of four or five so nobody queues.
How it runs
One length each, jog back to rejoin. High knees. Heel flicks. Side steps facing left then facing right. Then a jog with a hard stop and a two-footed brace on your call. Finish with two builds up to about three quarter pace. This is the bit everyone skips when they are running late. It is also the bit that keeps ankles and knees in one piece.
What to watch for
- On the brace, feet shoulder width apart, knees bent, chest up
- Land softly. You should not hear it
- Build the pace across the sequence, do not sprint the first one
Make it easier
- Shorter channel
- Drop the builds if it is really cold
Make it harder
- Add a change of direction on the call before the brace
What it looks like when it is going wrong
What you can see from the touchline, then the one thing to say about it.
- Straight legs and a rounded back on the brace
- Bend your knees. Chest up, look at me
- Sprinting the first one and having nothing left
- Build it. First one is a jog
Safety. This comes before any contact, every session. The research on structured rugby warm-ups is that they cut soft tissue injuries and concussions by a long way. It takes eight minutes.
The RFU's Headcase is where to go for what to do after a bang on the head. It is theirs rather than ours.
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The grades that can do it
What U9 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.