How to move in the circle

Eleanor DurrPlayer, England

Hi Carly, 

I am unsure if you are talking about from an attacking or defensive perspective so I shall explain both. 

Attack
Your shooters should work together and be on the same page. A key skill for the shooting circle is shooter rotation - this means reading off each other, so if one shooter goes up, the other goes back, so they are not in the same space, offering for the same ball at the same time. If you have a tall GS it is likely she will want to hold in the circle, your GA must therefore recognise this and not enter the circle, bringing her defender with her and take the space. Instead the GA should keep her GD busy and keep moving to prevent the GS becoming double marked. 

If one shooter is double marked, the other must get free for the ball and get the defenders tempted to move on to her, and thus opening up your other shooter. 

Your GS can also make space for the GA. If the GS drives out of the circle to support your centre court players and get the ball down court, the circle will be left with a huge amount of space. Your GA must recognise this and can penetrate into this space. For example, here the GS comes out and the GA moves into the space created. 

Make sure both your shooters are watching the ball and each other. Often the centre court players will swing the ball across the circle to try open it up, which can leave one, or both, players free for a limited time - recognise this and get them to move onto the ball. 

Check out our new centre pass category, where you can see how your shooters can work together right from a centre pass. 

Defence 
Just like the shooting partnership, it is crucial your defence develop a defensive partnership, working together. Firstly, both defenders should maintain a narrow foot base and open body positioning - so they can see the ball and the player. Often a GS will try to set up in the circle, however ensure your GK maintains a narrow foot base and keeps moving round the GS to not allow this set up. Shooters do a lot of movement within the circle and this can confuse the defence, however, if your defence work together and switch the shooters will be doing a lot of work but they will have been closed down. If you check out the video I will attach in the comments, you can use this drill to get your defenders practicing how to switch within the circle. 

The main thing to note in regards to defence within the circle is knowing exactly where your player, your defending partner and the ball is at all times and adjusting your body angle to suit. 

Hope this helps.