What's the best technique to teach my players not to bunch?

What's the best technique to teach my players not to bunch?

Hi there I"m coaching a wonderful team of yr7 girls (11-12yr olds) they have lots of potentional however no matter how much I tell them to "find the open spaces" they don't and keep all running towards the ball as they are very keen. Then we have all this open space and about 3/4 players bunched together. Ideas of drills/ strategies to teach them would be much appreciated. Thanks - Trish

Trish GoulterParent, New Zealand
TOP ANSWER
Craig WilliamsCoach, New Zealand

I used chalk to mark out positional channels/areas on the court with different colours for each area I wanted players to stay in. Initiailly with the whole team spread out over a full court. I then threw a loose ball into an area and got the "correct" player to chase it and pick it up. When the ball goes across areas I get them to decided whether they are going to keep chasing it or not. If they keep after the ball into another players area or an overlapped area the other player must switch to cover the now empty area. As soon as they picked up the ball they were to pass it into another area. Once they got the hang of it I played against a friendly team with the markings on the court and stopped the play whenever they were bunched in an area.I found it worked really well as all the players understood where they should be and were very quick to "assist" their team mates when they poached.

ANSWERS
Craig WilliamsCoach, New Zealand

I used chalk to mark out positional channels/areas on the court with different colours for each area I wanted players to stay in. Initiailly with the whole team spread out over a full court. I then threw a loose ball into an area and got the "correct" player to chase it and pick it up. When the ball goes across areas I get them to decided whether they are going to keep chasing it or not. If they keep after the ball into another players area or an overlapped area the other player must switch to cover the now empty area. As soon as they picked up the ball they were to pass it into another area. Once they got the hang of it I played against a friendly team with the markings on the court and stopped the play whenever they were bunched in an area.I found it worked really well as all the players understood where they should be and were very quick to "assist" their team mates when they poached.

Trish GoulterParent, New Zealand

Thanks heaps I will give it a go. Sounds like a good plan!!

Login or Join Now for FREE to post your answer

JOIN SPORTPLAN FOR FREE

  • search our library of 700+ netball drills
  • create your own professional coaching plans
  • or access our tried and tested plans

TRANSFORM YOUR TEAM'S SEASON WITH PROFESSIONALLY PLANNED SESSIONS

Use our expert plans or build your own using our library of over 700+ drills, and easy-to-use tools.

JOIN NOW

VIEW MORE QUESTIONS

See the whole archive of questions.

QUESTIONS ARCHIVE

SIGN UP NOW FOR FREE

  • search our library of 700+ netball drills
  • create professional netball coaching plans
  • or access our tried and tested netball plans

Sportplan App

Give it a try - it's better in the app

YOUR SESSION IS STARTING SOON... Join the worlds largest netball coaching resource for 700+ drills and pro tools to make coaching easy.
LET'S DO IT