While our Putney netball classes may have to have been put on hold for the time being because of the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown meaning that we all have to stay close to home to slow the spread of the outbreak, this doesn’t mean that you can’t do a lot of practice yourself at home so that you can keep your skills alive for when classes do resume once again.
The good news is that there are lots of drills that you can do even if you’re all by yourself and with the weather as lovely as it is right now, there’s no excuse not to head out into the garden to throw some balls around.
If you have a brick wall at your disposal, what about practising some wall rebounds? Simply draw a mark on the wall in chalk and then practice throwing the ball, trying to hit your target. Make sure there’s enough power behind the throw that you’re able to catch the ball when it bounces back. As you get better, step further and further away from the wall.
Agility is key when it comes to netball and you can practise this by placing cones (or whatever you have at home) in a straight line around 1m apart. Weave through them and practise a sharp change in direction at the last cone.
You’ll also need good core strength and now’s the perfect time to make improvements in this regard.
Straight leg raise holds are great for building core muscles – lie on your back with legs straight and hands by your side. Keeping legs straight and feet together, lift your legs off the ground to a 45 degree angle, holding for between 20 and 60 seconds. Repeat three times!
Find out more about keeping active while at home with the Join the Movement campaign from Sport England.