Scrummaging.

Question
Hey,
   I'm Leo and I play tighthead prop for my local team. I'm  16 years old and play for our u17s side. I'm approximately 6'1" tall and 95.2544kg. I'm having a problem about my bind for a scrum. My coach told me recently that i should be binding around the hooker's shorts rather than his jersey. I was doing well that bind but now he wants me to change it and I'm not sure why?

Also , I was 16 and a half stone last year and i was dominating most scrums but ever since i lost the weight I've been doing poor enough. I don't want to have to get a big belly just to play prop. Maybe if you have some nutritional plans to help me gain back the weight but not in fat? that would be great.


Lastly , my coach was also telling me that the loosehead will look for a long arm on the tighthead so he can attack your ribs/chest. He said to counter-attack that you need to grab his arm and push it under so he can not do anything. But when I tried this in the match the other day , it worked successfully but I got pinned for it ? So how am i supposed to stop the loosehead from getting long arm ?

It would be a massive help if you were able to answer these questions for me !

Many thanks,
         Leo.

Answer
Hi Leo I'll answer your questions then provide some useful links to view.

Binding is a weird thing it can change depending on which hooker and the other prop you have. Take a look at the you tube clips I send for ideas there:

http://youtu.be/7Sk-346090U

Gaining size is a touch call I always suggest gaining maximum strength first then using that strength to build the size with. The two are different so consult a proper trainer. I highly suggest the book and DVD by Mark Rippetoe: Starting Strength. Google that guy and he has a lot of good videos on You Tube. Eat healthy, lots of milk, lean protein, healthy fat, Omega 3 and vitimins good carbs.

A tight head is best getting a quick and high grip on the loosehead. Try to reach up and grap the loosehead's jersey as close to his spin as possible. Get a good handful of jersey and grip hard. This has to be done fast so if it isn't perfect don't sweat it. The tight heads job is to get the opposition loose head as low as possible so to make the opposition hookers job as hard as possible to hook the ball. by driving straight low and with a good grip you will win. To do that you need total focus on technique and your strength needs to be both power and speed with a strong core.

Great You Tube Videos:

http://youtu.be/TLloJj3j7Pc

http://youtu.be/WJX-vPxEz0k


Some light reading:

http://www.ssrfc.com/scrum.pdf

http://www.rfu.com/TakingPart/Coach/CoachResourceArchive/PositionalSkills/~/
media/Files/2009/Coaching/Articles/PositionalSkills/stevepeterspart3.ashx