Practicing to be the best netball player you can be doesn’t always have to mean completing the same lackluster drills over and over again. Some of the most fun netball drills can also be the most helpful in creating team camaraderie, mastering skills and learning new ones.

Inject some fun into a sport that can sometimes get a little too serious by spice up your normal routine and including one or more of these fun netball drills and exercises.

Bob

Start this game by creating two parallel lines with players. The two players in the front should be holding a ball and standing facing the passer that is far enough away that long passes are required. To begin, the passer throws the ball to the player in the front. She then throws the ball back to the passer and “bobs” down. Each player in line follows suit until the last person receives the ball. Instead of throwing the ball back to the passer, she runs with the ball and exchanges spots. The passer than runs to the front of the line, and the rest of the team stands up and starts the cycle again. When the original passer runs back to her starting place, the game is over and the team yells, “finished”. The ball must be caught!

Chase the tail

In a line formation, three players link by holding on to one another’s waists. Each teammate that isn’t in line, tries to tag the last player in the snake formation while the two players in the front try to defend them.

Hunting Tag

Just as the title suggests, this is a “hunting” game that operates much like tag. By dividing the group into two teams, pick a group that will be the prey and one that that will be the hunters. The hunters will begin with the ball, and seek the members of the other team. A “prey” team member can only be captured by a hunter who has the ball. Play the game under normal netball rules.

Hunting – Group

Somewhat similar to Chase the Tail and Hunting Tag, Hunting-Group takes on characteristics of both. While using one or two thirds of the court, the person who is “it” attempts to tag other players. After being tagged the players links hand with the hunter while try to tag other players. Each player links hands as they’re tagged until there is only one player remaining.

Look out

With half of the players in the center third and half in the goal third, give both team the same amount of balls (four to six). Each member has to throw the ball into their opponent’s third while trying to also snatch the balls that are coming from their opponents. Bounce passes are not allowed.

River Dance

This game is played with two players. While holding one another by the shirt, arms or shoulders they attempt to tag the other’s feet with theirs. You can pair up all team members and the winners match up and compete against each other.

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We’ll start by saying that developing your shooting skills for netball takes lots of practice, and that mastering the technique takes time and patience. If you’re the Goal Shooter or Goal Attack these are skills you are going to want to take the time to become comfortable with. Your team is depending on your expertise!

Since you and one other are in charge of every shooting opportunity, winning or losing really hangs in the balance of how well you know your stuff.

Use your knowledge of netball shooting techniques (BEEF) and the netball shooting tips below to make yourself the hero of your team.

Practice

Spend a lot of time boasting your success rate by training. Go early to practice, stay late or spend an extra 15 to 20 minutes every day honing your skills. Once the technique is second nature, the rest will come and you’ll feel more confident in high-pressure situations. Also, really dedicated players seek the advice of someone more experienced (ask your coach for some one-on-one time and tips).

Take Your Time

You have 3 seconds, which doesn’t seem like much if you are new to the game, but once you get really comfortable with what your body should be doing, three seconds is an ample amount of time.

Balance And Stance

Bent knees, a shoulder width stance and proper grip are essential for keeping your body balanced while shooting. The power of the shot comes from your legs being steady and bent. Wait for your knees and arms to begin straightening, and once your body is extended, take the shot.

Grip

How you hold the ball is also really vital. Your shooting hand gives your attempt spring, power and spin. Your supporting hand should be holding the side, offering support and helping with aim. Cradle the ball with your fingertips on your shooting hand, and spin the ball backward with a little flick of your wrist.

Focus

Ignore your blocker and pretend you are at a normal practice. Do your best to concentrate only on the shot. With the goalpost directly in your line of site, it is unlikely that they’ll be able to intercept.

Controlling the direction the ball goes with your arms, fingers and wrists, focus on the back of the ring. With a flick of the wrist a goal should be yours!

Because there is no backboard, by focusing on the back of the rim, the ball should fall into the basket instead of go past it. If needed, pretend something is hanging just above the basket so you can get a “rainbow” effect.

Rebounding

If for some reason your attempt doesn’t score, but you have remembered to spin the ball backward with your wrist during your shoot, it should bounce back. After you release follow the ball to the ring, and get after it! If your shot missed, make up for it by getting the rebound and going for the second shot. Capture the ball, take your time, focus and secure your goal!

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Now that you’ve mastered all the beginning, basic skills of netball it’s time to take your training and drills to the next level.

The below list of fun and effective netball drills for juniors that were composed with the junior level trainer in mind. Use these five netball drills and exercises to kick your training into high gear. Remember practice makes perfect!

Conditioning: Follow The Leader

It’s important to first get your legs warmed up because they take the brunt of the beating in netball. Players should line up in two parallel lines at the end of the court, approximately 5 feet from one another. The leader then starts with their choice of leg warm up, and can switch it up at each third of the court if desired. Once they’ve gotten to the end of the court, they jog back and the whole group repeats. After that round has finished, the second person in line becomes the leader, and so on until everyone has had an opportunity to go, and everyone’s legs are warm.

Passing: Fast Hands

To warm up a player’s hands and body, as well as get them accustomed to quick reaction times, attempt the fast hands drill.

Two players and one ball will be needed to complete this exercise. Standing approximately 10-12 feet away from one another, one player should be holding the ball, and the other’s hands should be at their sides. The player with the ball will then pass it (chest pass) to the players whose hands are down. Only once the pass is in process can the player without the ball move their hands to catch it.

Defense: Monkey In The Middle

Seven or more players are needed for this drill. Begin by form a circle that has two of the teammates in the middle. The players who are in the circle must pass the ball to one another using different techniques while calling out the recipient’s name. If the ball is intercepted, the person who tossed it should trade places with one of the players in the center.

Shooting: Pass A Defender

To practice this shooting exercise two players, one ball and a pole will be needed. One player will work as the defender and the other will be the shooter. The shooter’s goal is overcome the arms of the defender by making the shot, and it can be repeated until 10 shots are made. This is the perfect drill for critiquing shooting technique.

Footwork: Jailbreak

Not only does this drill for juniors encourage fast footwork, but it also implements defensive actions. Create two circles of players within a 30-foot by 30-foot square designated by cones. Once in the circles, have the group in the inside circle run clockwise and the outside circle run counter clockwise. A coach or another player should yell “jailbreak” and the members who compose the inside circle must try and escape the square. Points are accumulated as members escape. To make this drill more difficult, time how long each team takes to escape.

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There are many elements to netball, and being a good player means learning new skills and critiquing them. Luckily, there are netball drills for beginners for every aspect of the sport from shooting to conditioning, and when you’re starting from the bottom, learning the basics of each aspect of the game is essential.

Below is a list of rudimentary netball drills for beginners to master before moving on to the harder techniques that take a little more grasp of the game’s fundamentals.

Shooting: BEEF

Learning to shoot for beginners can be pretty challenge, but there is an acronym, BEEF, that is designed to make the process a bit easier. Once the words and technique are mastered, add a ball!

B For balance: Balance comes from strong feet that are approximately shoulder width apart and point toward your goal.

E For Eyes: Some beginners imagine that something is floating just above the ring and aim for that, thus, allowing the ball to fall through the net.

E For Elbow: With elbows facing the ring, make sure the arms are extending close to the ear. Elbows should maintain this same position when the arms bend backward before releasing the ball.

F For Follow Through: A follow through is created by the flick of the wrist from the shooting hand.

Positions

Teaching the positions is probably the most difficult aspect of the sport, but you can make it fun by creating a game to teach them. Start by having players run to each spot and call out the name before they get there. Eventually, you can time each player as they run through and name each position.

Stepping: Ice Cream

At first learning not to step may be difficult for some newbies to grasp. You can make a game of this as well. The ice-cream game can be implemented in these circumstances.

Line players up at the base line, and have them run until a whistle is blown. At the whistle, have them do a low jump (as if over a puddle) and land on one foot while yelling “ice”. As they start to place their back foot down on the ground, have them yell “cream”.

Catching And Passing: Bean Bag

As to avoid accidents and injuries, begin practicing catching and passing with a small beanbag. Round up your beginners into a circle, and have each player practice tossing the bag to their left and right. Go around the circle several times with the beanbag, and then introduce the ball. This give them time to understand the different passes and how to be accurate before including a ball.

Movement Drill

With players in two parallel lines at the base line, call out movements you want them to perform. Have each team member do that movement down the court and get back into line until you’ve covered the gamete of activities. To have a little fun with this drill, give each player a turn calling out what they want their teammates to perform. This is also an excellent warm up and refresher drill.

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Since there are two main positions as well as the team members that play on the scoring half of the court that focus primarily on attacking in netball, mastering netball attacking drills that focus on this skill are important to grasp for the overall success of the team. Once theses skills are understood, they can be used individually or combined for team attack lines.

Below are a collection of individual netball attacking drills exercises to get everyone involved and onboard with the processes of attacking, and how to outwit and out maneuver even the best players. Each team member can benefit from learning these techniques.

Weaving Drill

To simply practice fancy feet work and changing paces quickly in order to be the most effective attacker possible. Start with a weaving drill. Place cones in a line approximately five feet from one another. Line the players up and blow a whistle to begin the circuit. Have each player weave between the cones using their outside legs to push off. Once the player has gotten to the end of the line, they will turn and return to the line completing the cone drill again. Time the whole team the first time though, and see if you can beat your time.

Front Cut

One worker, one defender, one feeder and cones can be used during this exercise. The cones are used as a point to drive toward. The worker and defender start square to that of the feeder’s position. With the defender on the inside of the worker, the worker will run forward, stop quickly then sprint forward to cut the defender off.

Half Turn

Again, you’ll want three players in the same positions as well as cones for this half turn exercise. Cones will be used exactly the same as before, as a point to drive to. Starting from behind and to the side of the feeder, the worker and defender will stand next to each other, but instead of driving forward in a sprint, the worker will half-turn backward to throw off the defender, pivot back forward and drive off. This drill works on speed, agility and reaction time.

Straight Sprint

Three players and cones are used for this drill as well. While the feeder, defender and worker stand in the same position as the previous drill, the feeder will toss the ball up to begin the drill, just as before. In order to “fake out” the defender the worker will sprint forward at an angle in order to cut off the player and received the ball.

Cone Trap

This netball attacking drill has three players as well, but instead of a feeder, the third member is a defender. While standing 10 feet apart and between two cones, the attacker will try to dodge forward to try and block the worker that is standing approximately 15 feet away. The defender will attempt to stop the attacker, but has to do so in less than three seconds. This is a perfect drill to prepare for games since you can only possess the ball for three seconds.

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Shooting is the only way you accumulate points in netball, so it is essential to master the art of hitting nothing but net.

Control, accuracy and technique are primary to any shooter, and practicing drills that improve those skills are necessary for any team to be successful. Below is a list of some of the best netball shooting drills for 1 or more players.

Solo Shooting Drill

This netball shooting drill, which focuses on technique, can be completed with only one shooter, one ball and a netball post.

While lining up with the post, a player should stand feet shoulder width apart while holding the ball predominately with the shooting hand and supporting it with the second, balancing hand. With arms stretched upward and elbows touching the ears, the player’s arms should bend at the elbow behind the head and shoot. You can repeat this drill from all angels of the court.

Partner Shooting: 10 Shots

This drill can be performed with two players, one ball, one post and 10 cones. Each cone should be lined up at various points, and the player who is shooting should be timed to see how long it takes to make a shot from each one. The feeder will rebound the ball each time the shooter attempts a basket, and the shooter can only move on once a shot is made from the given position.

Partner Shooting: Shooting and Cardio Training

Again, this drill has two players (a shooter and retriever), and is specifically aimed at practicing shooting accuracy while testing endurance.

The rebounder will place the ball anywhere around the semi circle, and the shooter will sprint from the ball to the sideline then back. When returning to the ball, the shooter will attempt a basket. After taking the shot, they will run back to the sideline and repeat the drill over while the rebounder places the ball in another spot on the semicircle until 10 baskets are made.

5 People Or More: 10 Pass Shooting Drill

With three attackers up the court and two shooters within the circle, the attackers start at the transverse line and pass the ball between them five times before passing it to the shooters. After the shooters received the ball, another five passes must be made successfully before a shot can be attempted.

5 People Or More: Race Shooting

Each player lines up at the top of the court. There is a ball in the hands of player one and player two, and the goal is to make a shot before your opponent.

Player one shoots one time and if the shot goes in, player two is out. However, if the shot does not go in player two and player one duke it out until a shot is made. Whoever didn’t make it is out.

If player two shoots and makes it player one is out, and player two hands the ball off to player four. Player two returns to the end of the line, and the drill continues until one person is left.

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Great coaches are a lot of things – they’re patient, firm, insightful, charismatic and they love their game, job and team. They find a way to make every practice stimulating and impactful, and each child returns home with a newfound love for the sport.

Unbeknownst to parents and children, these leaders had to learn how to coach from somewhere. If you already have a love for the sport consider yourself a step ahead of the rest, but in order to make you the best netball coach you can be, we’ve collected some of the top netball coaching tips we could find.

Create A Routine

First, if you can develop a routine from the very beginning, your team will likely know who is in charge and that you’re serious about your commitment to coaching and playing a great season. Starting on day one, especially if you’re replacing a coach that was loved by his or her team, make sure the lines of communication are open. Find out what your team loves about the sport, where they feel like they need work and where they excel.

Be Attentive

By attentive we mean noticing where there are issues within the sport itself, as well as between individuals. It is almost guarantee that there will be “cliques” within your team.

One of the most important things you can do as a coach is making sure that none of your players feels excluded. You can counteract and help wedge the gap with gestures like calling your players by name, throwing sleepovers or even pizza parties. Camaraderie is a fundamental part of netball. Without it your team won’t respect each other and that will show on the court.

Mixing Work And Fun

A good coach manages to tip-toe on the boundary between being a friend and being an authority figure, and by doing that you have to create an equal amount of fun and discipline. Even though you’ve create a schedule of how your practices are to be carried out, which depicts who’s in charge, make sure to surprise your team with a little fun every now and then.

If they need some extra time practicing balance play the ice-cream game, or if you’ve noticed some distance between players try hunt-group. Kids get burnt out, and spending some time being not quite as serious often helps young players renew their love for the game.

Parental Interaction

Getting parents on board is one of the hardest, but most structurally vital strategies of becoming a good coach. Take some time to meet and introduce yourself to each parent. The gesture goes a long way.

Keeping your team on track within the classroom is an important aspect in their game, and having their parents support on the court and in the classroom is imperative. This means that if a student is acting up in any way they won’t just get penalized by you, but there will be consequences from their parents at home as well.

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A defensive player’s main objective is to create opportunities by gaining possession of the ball, thus, this position is imperative to putting points on the scoreboard.

The best defenders attack the opposing team by intercepting, and this happens not just by paying attention to your opponent, but also by being attentive to where the ball is at all times.

The below list was designed with the defensive player in mind. By becoming familiar with the skills and tactics talked about in the netball defence tips, you’ll be the most effective and valuable defensive player on your team.

Watch

First thing’s first, keep your eye on the ball at all times. Watching the player is a secondary skill you should develop, but your many objective is to always know where the ball is and to anticipate where it’s going by judging its speed and distance. Long, high balls offer the best opportunity to cover ground.

Hone this skill by watching your teammates shoot during practice. Focus on how the ball bounces off the ring and where it goes depending on where it makes contact. Using those skills in every game will make you a master at anticipating ball movements.

Space

Get close to your opponent, and make he or she work for every ball. Hassling can be your best friend in this sport.

Filling the spaces in the goal circle creates excellent opportunities for hassling. Use your outside arm! Practicing this skill is something you can do anywhere.

Fast Feet

Speed and agility are essential to a defender, which are skills often associated with people who aren’t as tall. However, if you are shorter spend some time practicing your ups, but know that maneuverability is more important than height in this position.

Ups Practice

As mentioned above, if you aren’t as tall practicing your leaping skills are important in developing muscles that will help you jump higher, thus, making intercepting and assaulting on shot goals easier.

Position

Position will come from anticipation, and placing yourself where you expect the action to be allows you to be in prime position to cut off an incoming pass. Being aggressive and going for these opportunities makes attackers uncertain, which causes error.

Reaction

Keep on your toes, literally and figuratively. Staying flat-footed slows you down.

Chat

If you see something that is important to your teammates call it out when the play is down the court. Because other defenders are completely focused on their opponent and the ball, they don’t know what’s happening on your part of the court. By chatting you’re letting your team members know what’s happening in your world, too.

General Tips

Fact

Tall goal shooters can often be lazy. Use this to your advantage by keeping forward.

Practice

Surprise, surprise: Our best tip for becoming a genius at your position is to actually practice goal shooting by performing regular defensive drills. Because you’re constantly having to think about where the ball may rebound, it becomes a reflexive exercise that helps you hone your reaction, rebounding, attacking and hand-eye coordination skills.

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Since there is no dribbling and many other strict rules regulating how a ball can be moved down the court in netball, efficient footwork is an important and fundamental requirement for scoring and avoiding penalties.

However, since there is a three second limit on possession, footwork most be quick and precise, which means that practicing a multitude of different drills is an important part of mastering the game. In order to do just that a list of some of the most effective netball footwork drills and exercises are included to bring out the best in every player.

Balance

Two players, three cones and a ball will be needed to complete this drill. Set each cone about 10 feet apart and have the player who plans to go first stand at the center cone. The player who is passing should stand approximately 15 feet away and start by passing the ball toward the right cone. While running to catch the ball, the player receiving should practice landing on the outside foot. By moving back more than 15 feet you can increase the difficulty.

Reaction

Two or more players face one another approximately 10 feet apart. One player begins doing various foot movements like sliding, jumping, jogging or hopping using different patterns and the opposite player tries to copy and predict the pattern. Switch jobs after several minutes of practice and make sure every player gets the opportunity to try.

Speed

Two or more players can line up on the opposite side of the court from their designated cones. As a whistle is blown and a timer is started, each player sprints to their cone, slides around to the side designated and sprints back to the starting point. Repeat for the right and left side and then see if the players can beat their time.

Also, to increase difficulty, more cones can be added. You can add sliding from one cone to the other or running around them in a figure 8 before the player begins sprinting back to their original position.

Agility

This drill really emphasizes balance and agility. After dividing players into two lines where each player stands approximately 30 feet from one another, the player in the front will receive the ball while running toward the opposite line. When the receiver catches the ball and lands on one foot he or she yells “ice” as soon as the trailing foot lands on the ground the player must yell “cream” and pass the ball to the other group. The drill continues until each player has had an opportunity to participate.

Balance/Speed/Agility

While two feeders stand approximately 15 feet apart on corners of the court, the worker received the ball and begins running to the left and passing to the feeder that is diagonal from their position. As the worker passes to the diagonal feeder they should be using their outside foot to push off before receiving the ball back, sprinting to the other corner and passing to the other feeder.

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Reaction Drill

This netball fitness drill works especially well with a large group but can also work with a smaller group of players.

To start the drill all players must space out in one goal third standing around two metres away from each other in all directions and all facing towards the coach who must stand in the centre circle with the ball. Then on the coaches signal players must “fast feet” on the spot whilst watching the ball and as the coach moves the ball around players must react and move their arms in the same direction of the ball.

Shuttle Running

To perform this drill have all players line up at one of the base line corners. Players must then one by one with a thirty second space in between of each player perform the following routine:

First they must run diagonally to the first centre third transverse line corner whilst they kick their feet up to their behind. Next they must bend from the knees and jump into the air whilst raising their arms above their head in a full stretch and repeat this process a total of five times. Then players must side step across the transverse line all the way to the other side of the court and face the base line that they began at. Once at the corner players must then perform ten star jumps followed by running with their knees up in front at a ninety degree angle all the way to the diagonal corner. Next they must perform another five jumps. Then they must side step across the transverse line to the other side of the court and face the opposite side to before. Then once at the corner they should stand about feet should width apart with their arms out to the side and proceed to turn their upper body from side to side making sure to twist from the waist and hips and perform this ten times at a slow pace. Then players must slowly shuffle run all the way to the last diagonal corner using light and little feet and once at the corner finally perform a sprint along the base line and down the side line all the way back to the beginning.

Perform this drill at least two times.

Zig Zagging

Here’s another simple but effective netball fitness drill.

It’s performed by having players line up at the bottom corner of a court with the player at the front of the line being designated the leader who the rest of the players must follower. There should be around a one to two metre gap between each player.

The leader must then sprint along the baseline and then run with their knees up diagonally to the first thirst line. They then kick their ankles back along that line and sidestep towards the second third corner. They then jog backwards along that line and then jog diagonally to the back corner. Next they dodge along the baseline and then finally sprint at a three quarter pace diagonally all the way back to their original starting spot.

Then just repeat the drill until players are worn out.

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