{"id":34600,"date":"2026-04-15T18:26:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T17:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=article&p=34600"},"modified":"2026-05-13T10:56:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T09:56:39","slug":"ultimately-skill-is-technique-performed-under-pressure","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/ultimately-skill-is-technique-performed-under-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Ultimately, Skill Is Technique Performed Under Pressure\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 15 Apr 2026 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

\u2018Ultimately, Skill Is Technique Performed Under Pressure\u2019<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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AS B\u00e9ziers H\u00e9rault Head Coach Rory Teague ponders the question of skill acquisition and delivers his six considerations.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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By John Portch<\/h6>\n
\u201cPersonally, I don\u2019t believe in skills coaches.\u201d<\/h6>\n

These are the words of Rory Teague, who notably spent a year and a half between 2016 and 2017 working as a skills coach under then England men\u2019s rugby union Head Coach Eddie Jones.<\/p>\n

A decade on, Teague serves as the Head Coach of French Pro D2 club AS B\u00e9ziers H\u00e9rault and, as he tells the Leaders Performance Institute, would not copy Jones\u2019 appointment in southern France.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t myself employ a skills coach,\u201d he says. \u201cI think every coach who coaches an area of the game should be able to coach the skill of their area. \u2018Skills coach\u2019 as a term has become archaic as coaching has moved along.\u201d<\/p>\n

He feels that assigning skills coaches to coaching units risks diluting accountability. \u201cWhen something breaks down, you\u2019re not going to just look to the skills coach who\u2019s sat in the room waiting for the moment to say \u2018oh, that\u2019s me\u2019,\u201d he continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the lineout doesn\u2019t go well because of the throw, who\u2019s responsible for that? Is it the lineout coach or the throwing coach that comes in once a week? I would prefer that my forward coach has understanding of the skill of throwing and takes responsibility for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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AS B\u00e9ziers H\u00e9rault Head Coach Rory Teague. (Image: Rory Teague \/ LinkedIn)<\/p><\/div>\n

Over the course of half an hour, Teague ponders the topic of skill acquisition from a coaching career spent as a skills coach, unit coach, and now a head coach.<\/p>\n

Here are his six of his main considerations.<\/p>\n

1. The difference between \u2018skill\u2019 and \u2018technique\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, skill is technique performed under pressure,\u201d says Teague, who has been influenced in his thinking by coaches including Rick Shuttleworth (a consultant at organisations including the Rugby Football Union and UK Sports Institute), Scott Wisemantel (Attack Coach at the NRL\u2019s Paramatta Eels) and, of course, Jones (who is now in his second spell as Head Coach of the Japan men\u2019s team).<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were three incredible coaches who helped me along the way,\u201d he adds. \u201cThey pushed me to go and find out what is \u2018skill\u2019; what is the difference between \u2018technique\u2019 and \u2018skill\u2019? Because there\u2019s a big difference.\u201d Skill, he suggests, is the ability to select, adapt and execute actions in a pressured context. There is little value in a player passing the ball ten metres to their teammate repeatedly at the end a training session. \u201cThey\u2019re only working on their technique, because there\u2019s no external cue for when they\u2019re passing.\u201d<\/p>\n

It follows that skills in rugby develop as a consequence of an interaction between mechanics, cognition and match context. \u201cIf I stand in front of the player and they run towards me and I run towards them, they\u2019re interacting with the environment i.e. me, them, and the distance \u2013 and then<\/em> they\u2019re performing the technique.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is also a psychological and emotional dynamic that goes beyond cognition and technical execution. All these elements can affect skill expression in a match situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no substitute for being in the saddle,\u201d adds Teague. \u201cHot feedback in the moment can be so powerful because you\u2019re living that moment with the player.\u201d He will use the moment to talk them through a situation.<\/p>\n

He will readily halt training sessions to allow kickers to practise too. \u201cGet them to kick when their heartrate is up and their emotional state is variable rather than just doing 50 kicks at the end of the session \u2013 because that\u2019s just technique.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Implicit and explicit learning both matter<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the heart of discussions about skill acquisition is the dichotomy between information-processing approaches (skill acquisition as learning to plan and execute correct movements by processing information internally) and ecological approaches (skill acquisition as learning to perceive and act in context by interacting with the environment).<\/p>\n

Teague is not a dogmatist, even if he leans towards the latter. \u201cI like implicit coaching where the exercise and your questions give the player the feedback,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat exercises can you design whereby you don\u2019t have to say anything, the player performs the act, and the exercise gives the player the feedback? If you look at, say, goal kicking or throwing, you want the player to self-regulate when they\u2019re in the moment and feel the pressure.\u201d He will look to ask a series of questions that \u201cget the player to think about where they want the ball to end up, where they want the ball to go versus breaking it down too technically\u201d. He will also be mindful of the timing too, both pre and post-match.<\/p>\n

However, when it comes to explicit approaches, \u201cit\u2019s not that those guys you\u2019re very direct with are not taking control of their own journey and development, they just need to be told.\u201d<\/p>\n

It comes down to knowing the individual athlete. \u201cI\u2019ve worked with some players where I\u2019ve fluffed it up too much and asked too many questions and they just want you to go \u2018tell me exactly what you want me to be doing, tell me exactly what I\u2019m doing wrong, tell me exactly how I can get it better\u2019. Whereas with others, you can ask \u2018what do you think?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Skill acquisition requires the coach to understand what the best approach is and why. Additionally, while it may be ideal for the session design to act as the teacher, there will be times when the coach needs to check for understanding.<\/p>\n

3. Ask yourself: what will help the player?<\/strong><\/p>\n

While it is important for players to be drawn towards training sessions, whether by coaches placing balls in their line of sight or by making sessions enjoyable, the guiding principle should be whatever will help the players in that moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you want your players to think your coaching drills are really good or do you want players to think \u2018you\u2019ve taught me how to pass better\u2019?\u201d As ever, the answer \u201cdepends on where you are\u201d with the players in question.<\/p>\n

In any case, \u201csometimes you have to get through the reps and you can\u2019t deviate away from repetition\u201d. Teague says: \u201cI\u2019ve seen coaches try to do these fast exercises to appease players and sometimes they can be so complicated that the players don\u2019t buy into it because of how complex it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

There will be times when a coaching intervention can harm a player\u2019s development and Teague will consciously be less prescriptive as a game week develops. \u201cAs you get closer towards the game, you\u2019re looking at confidence versus correction\u201d because sometimes less is more.<\/p>\n

4. The coach is only part of the player\u2019s journey<\/strong><\/p>\n

Between 2022 and 2023, Teague worked as a forwards and backs coach with Racing 92 where he had the opportunity to coach Finn Russell, who is widely considered one of the best fly-halves in the world.<\/p>\n

Teague reflects on that period and what he refers to as the \u201cculture of extras\u201d, which is the work that the world\u2019s best players continue to do on their basic skillsets.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinn would ask to do some extras when he thought it was right for him,\u201d says Teague, who explains that Russell\u2019s experience guided their training interactions. \u201cSometimes he\u2019d do them on his own, sometimes he\u2019d ask a coach to be there to give him some feedback, sometimes he\u2019d want a coach there just to keep him company.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teague has also worked at school and underage level where he employed a more directive approach but in an environment like England or Racing, \u201ctelling them what to do probably isn\u2019t the most intelligent thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, \u201cI think the more players take control of their own skill development, the more you as a coach just have to be part of that journey, not driving that journey for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

5. Be patient, it\u2019s a journey<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Leaders Performance Institute asks Teague what he knows now that he wished he knew whilst working as a skills coach.<\/p>\n

\u201cSkill acquisition takes a lot more time than I thought,\u201d he says, adding that it could take a season for a goal kicker to become 10% better. \u201cI don\u2019t know if patience is a skill, but I wish I understood more about the learning journey of the player in terms of skill; that each player can pick things up at different rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

It comes back to the player-coach relationship. \u201cPlayers need to take responsibility around what they want to be working on; and that\u2019s a shared process with the coach. Obviously, if there\u2019s something the player has really not identified that they need to work on, and if the coach has to tell them, then so be it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teague will decide when to intervene, when to step back, and when to change the task.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re clever in your design, you can keep pushing and changing the design incrementally as you see the player evolving and becoming better. Equally, you can take it backwards if the player isn\u2019t getting it. So it\u2019s that ability to move up and down the bandwidth of the learning journey where, \u2018OK, I\u2019ve set the start point here at three, I need to go back to one before I can move to four, five and six\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

6. Data informs, it does not decide<\/strong><\/p>\n

When it comes to using data in skill development, Teague describes it as a question of \u201cdata versus feel\u201d.<\/p>\n

He says: \u201cYou can look at the number of passes per game, for example, but then I think you have to really sit down, watch the video, watch the technique, watch the context, look at the environment that they\u2019re in at that moment in time in the game, conditions; there\u2019s lots of different things.\u201d<\/p>\n

As ever data must inform judgement, not replace it; it must provide a meaningful talking point. \u201cI think data can serve its purpose, but what we don\u2019t want to do is go too much down the data route without looking at the individual data moments in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a final question, the Leaders Performance Institute asks Teague what advice he has for coaches working in skill development.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo and find the theory behind skill acquisition. I think it will change you. It will change mindsets, definitely.\u201d<\/p>\n

What to read next<\/strong><\/p>\n

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