Like basketball, you don’t actually need a ring to practice simple netball drills at home.  Having access to a netball ring at home or nearby is great for your child to practice their shooting, however, there are many more skills to the game of netball that your child can develop on without access to a ring.  Such skills include:

• Passing
• Catching
• Footwork
• Pivoting
• Agility
• Hand-eye coordination

Netball is a fast-paced sport and these skills are highly valuable no matter what position you play.  These drills can be undertaken at home and can work several different skills at once.  With access to a netball, cones and a wall, your child will be able to effectively develop a nice mix of new netball skills. Once your child becomes proficient at these skills, you may wish to further your child’s development in the sport of netball by enrolling them into one of Australian Sports Camps three-day Netball Camps.  These programs run every school holidays at multiple interstate locations.

SIX SIMPLE NETBALL DRILLS

Agility and Footwork Drills

Playing netball covers all types of movements which include going forwards, backwards and sideways.  Getting your footwork right in netball can be one of the trickiest parts in playing the game, but it can be worked on simply through placing cones down at home and moving between each one.  A great way to fasten up your child’s footwork and agility can be achieved through the following two simple netball drills:

Figure of 8

Place two cones approximately 1 metre apart and get your child to keep their body faced forward whilst they step around the cones in a figure 8 motion.  Keep steps short and sharp.  Repeat this process to appropriately warm up whilst improving their footwork skills.

Larger Figure of 8

This is a modified and more complex version of the figure of 8 drill which needs two more cones and a larger area.  Place the cones in a square shape, with each cone approximately 2 metres apart from one another.  Sidestep from cone to cone and circle around each cone as you go.  The cone order is as follows:

1. Bottom right (start) to top left.
2. Top left to top right.
3. Top right to bottom left.
4. Bottom left to bottom right (starting position).
5. Repeat.

Correctly doing this drill can also be seen in the following video.

Passing Drills

There are numerous ways you can pass the ball to your teammate in netball.  Whether it’s a chest pass, one-handed pass, overhead pass or lob pass, all need to be done with accuracy and power.  A great way to improve on these types of passes is through these following simple netball drills and the use of a wall:

Chest and Overhead Wall Pass

Get your child to stand approximately two metres away from the wall and get them to throw chest height and head height passes into the wall.  Marking an ‘x’ on the wall with chalk or tape will help your child throw more precise passes.  Get them to do 15 of each and then to move onto the next drill.

One Hand Alternating Wall Pass

Standing at a similar distance away from the wall as the previous drill, instruct your child to now throw one-handed passes.  If they can’t make the distance, get them to step closer to the wall.  Make sure each pass is done at around head height and then caught at a similar height.  Get them to aim to make a total of 20 passes.

Catching Drills

A wall provides plenty of flexibility when it comes to doing passing and catching drills.  Rarely, a netball player is standing still when they catch the ball, so to have a wall outside with plenty of room will maximise your child’s ability in making the following drills relevant to in-game situations.  Learning how to catch the ball with the correct landing technique is important and can be done in a couple of ways:

1. Two-feet landing
2. One-foot landing

Two feet landing can be hard for juniors as they may not have the core strength to support their weight when they land.  One-foot landing, however, allows easier control of balance as their second foot (once planted) is used to absorb some of the impacts of landing.  When doing the following simple netball drills, your child should, therefore, be focused on landing on the one foot:

One Hand Along the Wall

If area permits, running along the wall and throwing one hand passes is a great netball exercise for your kid. Then catch the ball with two hands.  However, landing on just the one foot is necessary to keep the drill flowing. It involves your child jogging or running, as they keep moving along the wall throwing their passes.  Then, doing it the opposite way will work their opposite hand and foot.  A video on how to do this drill can be found below.

Catching and Turning

This drill is similar to the drill above.  However, after the pass is thrown and caught, get your child to quickly alternate and turn the other way.  This does not require as much space but can be more difficult and tiresome if your child does not have the best agility skills, as your child will switch directions with each catch. A video displaying both of the above drills can be seen here:

So, as you can see a ring is not always necessary when your child wants to practice their netball skills at home.  All you need is a ball, cones and a wall, and your child can significantly increase much-needed skills such as footwork and catching for netball.