Contest, how can this be coached

Lee-annes NetballCoach, Australia

I find to teach a bit of one on one contest is to do it yourself one on one with the girls. you wil know how much contest they can handle and increase it at a rate that will get them confident instead of scared.

what i do, is have all the players on the outside of the circle, and you go one on one in the circle. have them start on the outside and you zone/block to get them to come into the circle, and they have to work with the players on the outside to get a good position to shoot. you can rotate all the girls around the circle so they can feel what close contest is.

you can then reverse the drill so you are the attacker and they are the defence and do the same drill.

make sure you talk about "coming through" your player, outside arm, moving your feet around your player instead of just using your body, split stance for the shooters (and what that will mean for the defence if the split is between their legs), shooters stepping in to shoot, jumping up for rebounds and having good body position to get the ball, close side on zone/blocking and how to have a good stance (up on your balls of your feet, feet just outside of hips, knees soft, but not so bent that they will cause you to knee or trip a player, arms by your side, and keep an eye on the player and the ball).

and for your shooter talk moving around, light on your feet, zone your defence player, split stance, and that constant movement will occasionally cause their player to contact them and they just need to get use to that feeling. it gets easier and they will get more confident.

hope you have some fun with it.