Roll and reset
A tackle warm-up for U10 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
- U10, U11, U12
- Time
- 5 minutes
- Players
- 4 or more
- Space
- 10 x 10 m
- Kit
- Nothing
- Pitch
- Wants a forgiving surface
- Indoors
- Fits a small space
Setting it up
Everyone with a couple of metres of space. Grass, checked first.
How it runs
Down on your side, roll over one shoulder, back to your feet. Then the other side. Ten each way. Slow at first, then quicker. Learning to roll rather than land flat is the thing that keeps shoulders and collarbones in one piece.
What to watch for
- Chin tucked. Never let the back of your head touch the floor
- Roll across the shoulder, not straight over your neck
- Land on your side, then push up
Make it easier
- Start from kneeling
- Roll without getting up
Make it harder
- Roll and get up facing a direction you call out
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 head going back towards the floor
- Chin tucked. Look at your own tummy
- Rolling straight over the top of the neck
- Across your shoulder, on the diagonal
Safety. Ground contact only, nobody touches anybody. Check the pitch for stones first and skip it entirely if the ground is hard or frozen.
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 U10 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.