Improve your Netball Coaching, with great drills, techniques & training plans

Deny the opposition space - Create Defensive Shadow Masters

This week we look at improving defence throughout your entire team, working on channelling, shadowing and intercepting high balls!

Defending shouldn't be the sole responsibility of players inside the defensive third - the instant your team loses possession of the ball it should be all hands on deck as your team works as a unit to regain possession.

To improve your players' spatial awareness, in turn increasing the number of passing errors from the opposition, we start with an explosive running and catching drill where you can get your players making darting defensive runs before receiving a high pass. After your players have practised intercepting the high balls we then move onto a virtual shadowing drill before then moving into an actual jump and snatch the ball defensive exercise.

Understandably not all your players are going to be expert ball snatchers, however after using this week's session you should expect to see all your players minimising the threat from the opposition by shepherding the opposition into wide positions on the field and by picking off some of the high balls fed through the court.

Show them a dead end and win the ball! - full members can log in download it now, or you can upgrade today.

Coach the snakebite defence - Biting defensive move

This week's Sportplan session switches the focus from attack to the back, looking at the Snakebite Defence - a sharp and decisive pincer movement that puts pressure on the attacking player and looks to get your players making incisive interceptions.

The snakebite defence (a crazy name to help your players remember this move) is a venomous move that is sure to poison the opposition's attack. It's fast, it's effective and it's a sure fire way for your team to rustle through the grass and strike to win possession and turn defence into offence!

When your players are stood behind an attacking player it can often be difficult to get around them before the attacker's gained possession, however the snakebite's strong point is that it uses fast feet and sharp darting running to sneak around the corner and snatch away the ball. The other team won't know what's hit them as your team win ball after ball, neutralising their attack and frustrating their players.

To start this session we get the music pumping, performing the fast-feet warm-up to the music of your choice (Sportplan suggests a bit of Whitesnake) before then practising this defensive drive with cones before then moving onto some real snake-bite exercises. After using this session your players should be turning the ball over more often in their next game, snatching the ball from the opposition with more incisive interceptions.

Give your opponents ophiophobia (phobia of snakes) today! - full members can log in download it now, or you can upgrade today.

Feeding the Shooting Circle

This week's Sportplan session works on giving your shooting players the service they need, improving the movement of all seven players on the court and balancing the shooting circle

New Zealand's netball coach, Ruth Aitken, yesterday said that she wants her players to "match their physical agility with mental speed" in preparation for their two-test series against Jamaica this Wednesday. Mental speed is vital if you want your team to find the chinks in their opposition's defence and this is exactly what this week's session aims to get your players thinking about.

To ensure the ball's getting through we begin with a fun warm-up game of netball tag. This game immediately gets your players passing and moving in order to try and receive the ball in close proximity to their opponent so that they can tag them and get them 'out'. After this energetic start we work on fast and varied passing (which should still be fresh in your players' minds after last week's session).

From this point it's then time to think about progressing the ball up the court, to get this across to your team they'll need to pass 10 times before being allowed to shoot, but the Goal Shooter and Goal Shooter will need to stay on opposite sides of the circle to offer two different passing options.

After using this movement session instead of a trickle of balls finding their way into the circle your players will surf on a tidal wave of service!

Surf on a tidal wave of service! - full members can log in download it now, or you can upgrade today.