Professional - Sonny Bill
Sonny Bill has played rugby union with the all blacks, rugby league with other teams and he is also a boxer. So he is very physiologically and psychologically tough. His decisions often have good outputs and when he makes a risk it often works out for the better. He has a Nach personality and is often the highlight of many matches. His famous left shoulder tackle on Joel Clinton is astronomical. Flexion of the knees and eccentric contraction of the quadriceps giving him a lowered body position ready to strike at an upward angle lifting the player of their feet stopping them from making any more movement across the ground. His shoulder joint is adducted so his arms and elbows are close to his body. This lets him bind the player a lot faster than if he had his elbows in line with his shoulders like a lot of rugby players do.
Weakness – Making the decision of passing left with right hand rather than both.
This weakness is a bad habit and has become autonomous through playing for so long. The key skill- passing- is taught at grass roots level, therefore there is no reason I should pass with one hand rather than two as it is a basic skill.
The decision to pass with one hand has often resulted well and taking the risk has often paid off. This choice is negative though, as two hands on the ball gives better handling and allows me to pass both directions, however with one hand on the ball I can pass only one direction and have less grip of the ball but execute it effortlessly. Having less grip of the ball allows player to rip the ball from me more easily; this does not play to my advantage. So this may be down to laziness or I have acquired it over the years as it has resulted well. Rather than the abduction of the shoulder and the extension of the elbow on my right arm along with, the adduction of the left shoulder joint and the extension of the left elbow to pass the ball I just choose to execute it with my right arm without a need to move my left as it seems easier and more efficiently. Evidently I lose grip on the ball and sometimes the pass is not as accurate as it would have been.
This decision can result in loss of possession or it can lead to a great pass, however the risk is sometimes not worth the gain.
Professional – Jonny Wilkinson
Throughout a short clip Jonny Wilkinson expresses the techniques that make him such a good rugby player. He starts of by talking about passing. He says that spreading of the hands maximises the handling of the ball. I also do this but with my right hand however Jonny uses two in all his technique guides. His hands cover most of the ball giving maximum grip allowing greater control over the ball. He further goes on to talk about the spin pass; for him he pushes against the ball with one hand and passes with the other; making the ball spin and travel fast and hard towards the target.
Most to the point he always uses two hands, he says it helps using to hands as it is easier to handle the ball especially under pressure. This shows that he makes the decision to hold it with two hands as he knows the effects of pressure.
