6 Netball Drills You Can Do At Home
We’ve all
wished we could be a giraffe to play better at netball, but since we can’t all
be tall and spotty we’ve got some netball drills to hone your skills at home.
Regularly
practicing these solo drills will improve your ball control,
agility and speed. All you need is a netball and your body to get started.
Individual Passing and Receiving
Practicing
passing to yourself can assist in improving your ball control and accuracy.
Firstly, keep it simple by throwing the ball across your body back and forth
from one hand to the other. Once you’ve mastered that, shake things up by
throwing the ball above your head and catching.
Introduce
another element by clapping while the ball is mid-flight – throwing above, to
your left, to your right and behind your body. Challenge yourself by throwing
the ball up high and seeing how many times you can clap before you catch the
ball under different conditions – but the key is to catch it.
Wall Rebounds
Draw a mark
on an outside wall (brick is ideal) with chalk and practice throwing the ball,
aiming for this target and putting enough power behind your throw to catch the
netball on the rebound. As your precision improves, take a step back and repeat
the drill from further away.
As you improve, include more targets at different
heights and distances to vary your routine, running to catch the ball as
necessary.
Try shoulder
passes, chest passes, lobs and bounce passes and alternate between your
dominant and non-dominant hand for a balanced workout of your upper body,
focusing on hand speed and ball control.
Jumping
With chalk in
hand, jump beside an outside wall and with your arm extended try to mark it at the
highest point you can. Compare the results of previous sessions to give you a
motivational boost as you improve.
Dynamic stretches such as jumping jacks, leg
swings and side lunges warm up and strengthen the muscles activated during jumping
to increase the height of your vertical leap.
Time Trial Sprints
Put two cones
or any item that can act as a marker 10 – 20 metres apart. Time how long you
take to sprint between the markers and practice regularly to shave seconds off
your personal best – speed will give you an edge on your next match and improve cardio health.
Vary your
workout by starting the sprint from different positions – lying down, facing
backwards or jumping. Head out
to your local park or beach for an additional challenge if you need extra space.
Weaving
Place at
least 6 cones (milk cartons or similar do the trick) in a straight line about 1 metre
distance from each other. Weave through the cones, going around the last one
with a fast, sharp direction change and back to the start, repeating as desired.
Agility Cones
Put 3 cones in a triangle or L shape about 3 metres apart –
let’s name them A, B and C. Jog from A to B, sprint from B to C, and side step
from C to A with small, fast steps.
There are many variations on this exercise; e.g. arranging 4
cones in a square shape and starting from its centre, jog, sprint or side step
to an external cone and return to the starting point, using pivots to change
directions and repeating with the various cones.
If you have a buddy available, ask them to throw the ball your way as you complete the drills to practice receiving and passing.