Netball – Indoor/Outdoor
I have been playing netball on and off now for around 20 years now. I love playing netball soooooo much that I currently play 3 times a week – both indoor and outdoor. I am more dedicated to netball today in my 30s than what I was in my teens and I think to myself “what a waste, I could have been a Silver Fern…….lol.”
I would love to talk about netball strategies for both indoor and outdoor from a coach and player perspective. Please leave comments and share your stories, strategies, etc – I’M A NETBALL FREAK and love everything about the game…but don’t ask me to name the Silver Ferns….lol
The first thing I’ll share with you is today was our last game of the year for one of our indoor teams and boy was it a game. We have played this team a few times before and won so I wasn’t worried and actually I was expecting to win. Unexpectedly one of our good players could not play this morning and another one of our good players turned up sick and she was playing at 40%. A lot of the time after the other team had scored a goal it was hard for our defence and centre players to get the ball down to our attacks and that was because they were all bunched up in the same area and so easy for the opposing team to intercept passes. That was the main reason for our downfall today. Score 27-25….
TIP NUMBER 1 – When on Attack – spread out, keep to your positions area……
In Indoor Netball you have: 2 Defence, 2 Centers and 2 Attacks – I found in one of our games that the Centers were getting tired out before the end of two quarters so I thought of a strategy that helps out not so fit Centers.
TIP NUMBER 2 – Have a Defence Center and an Attack Center – and keep them in those areas of the court – Do not let them cross into the other centers area.
INDOOR NETBALL DEFENCE
TIP NUMBER 3 – When the opposition is passing the ball down to get a goal – the centers will usually go for more points and shoot from outside the circle and if they miss their Attacks inside the circle will go for the rebound. I think its important to put pressure on the center going for the outside shot. One of the defence needs to be 3feet from the shooter – arm stretched out – hand with fingers spread apart in front of the ball – one leg infront of the other – front knee slightly bent for more of a reach and balance – “this usually puts shooter off” – the other defence player should be inbetween an attack and the goal pushing the attack as far away from the goal as possible to ensure the rebound to be caught if the shooter misses..
OUTDOOR NETBALL DEFENCE IN THE CIRCLE
TIP NUMBER 4 – if your a GK (Goal Keep) I quickly learnt that if the goal shoot is near the goal you want to hold her in the front (to stand directly infront of her to intercept the pass) and if shes near the top or near the circle line you want to hold her in from the back (to stand directly behind her and try keep her there to lesson the chances of sinking that shot because she’ll have to shoot from afar).
INDOOR AND OUTDOOR
To get the ball down to your attacks with a good flow is really good but I reckon if you master the basics first you can then try some more flashy stuff. This tip is good to get the ball down the other end and good communication between the players.
TIP NUMBER 5 – This is an attack play called “LINE” – that means to pass the ball down the court in a straight line from player to player. If you are unable to pass down the line listen for the call “SQUARE” – that means to pass the ball to the person who called square who should be at the side of you somewhere.
Those are all good tips. Since you asked, a few snippets that have been useful for this mixed indoor player
Tip 6 for Indoor: The net is your seventh player. Use it to control the ball, to rebound the ball either around defenders or to go over the top off the back net into the circle, or to keep your balance by resting on it with the ball.
Tip 7 for shooting: if there is only one defender on you and getting in the way of your shot, and you are confident in your balance, step back or away from your defender onto our non-grounded foot. Their three feet begins from where your grounded foot was, and if they follow you though that space, they are automatically in obstruction, which often gives you a free shot with the defender out of play. Smart D’s will move around the three-foot bubble and still defend you if they are fast enough, but you’ll usually have the shot away by the time they re-position. It is a good way to figure out how clued up your opposition defenders are (and umpires too!)
Tip 8: never leave an opposition A alone in the circle when the play is at the other end. Conversely on attack, split your A’s so one plays up the half, and one back near the circle. The back A should only ever come up to about halfway to the halfway line (unless the ball just isn’t getting through the defense half, and more passing options are needed). This still leaves them free for driving, but declutters the mid-court and reduces the chances of team-mates accidentally blocking each other, as well as drawing a defender further out of the play if they are close marking.
Alternative strategy for defending 2 point shots. If the opposition C’s are shooting well, forget about the rebounds, and pair your D’s with your C’s to close mark the opposition C’s from inside and outside the circle. Your C’s lean on the shot from outside, the D’s from inside, and both work to block rebound passes from the A’s. You cede the rebounds, and a lot of one-point shots, but if you shut down the 2’s and your attacks are doing the business at the other end this can be a game-winner if done right.
As for my background, I’ve been playing the game for the last 15 years (occasionally blogging about it for the last 5) mostly socially, occasionally seriously, anything up to two or three (and briefly four) teams at a time. Still having a lot of fun:)
WOW those are excellent tips…Netball starts back up next week sooo cannot wait to try your shutting down the 2 “c” advise….thanks for that….awesome..