Netball is one of the best sports for maintaining an all-round high level of physical fitness. It requires agility, balance, strength, and stamina. It’s a demanding and high-intensity game, and professional players spend a lot of time off the court honing their abilities. Here’s a look at some of the exercises that can help to improve your netball performance.
Balance exercise
Balance is one of the most important skills for a netball player, because you need to be able to jump and turn at speed without stumbling. If you have never done much exercise before, the NHS recommends starting off with gentle exercises twice a week, wearing comfortable clothing. This will reduce your chance of incurring injuries, such as pulled muscles.
The first exercise involves simply taking a series of steps sideways, with ten steps in each direction. Bring one foot to join the other, rather than crossing them over. Keep your movements slow and controlled. Once you feel comfortable doing this, You can then progress to crossing one foot over the other, with five steps in each direction.
This can be followed by practicing standing on one leg. If you need to, stand near a chair wall, and touch it with your fingertips to help you balance. Start with your feet together, and then lift one leg in front of you, and hold for 5 to 10 seconds then change over legs. Engage your core muscles to help you stay balanced.
If you are already of a more advanced level of fitness, you could practice jumping and landing on one leg. It is important to keep the foot and knee aligned to avoid injury. Next, practice jumping with one leg extended behind you, so that it is aligned with the back.
This exercise is great for strength and balance, and you can incorporate catching a ball at the same time once your strength and agility improve, as this is a useful skill to have on the court. Squats and single-leg squats are also common exercises for netball players to do.
Other exercises which increase the core strength, such as the plank, bridges, and sit ups, will also help to improve balance.
Strength exercises
Upper body strength can help when passing and catching the ball, and leg strength is important for speed and balance. If you have access to a set of dumbells, these are excellent for improving the bicep and tricep muscles. For example, you can do overhead lifts, bicep curls, chest compressions, and tricep dips.
Aerobic fitness
Good aerobic fitness helps will agility and stamina on the court. Running and swimming are great ways to provide aerobic conditioning. When you are running, incorporate spells of intense sprinting with jogging, and work on increasing the length of your sprints through your run.
The length of your sprints may depend on the position you play on court. For example, players such as the Goal Keeper and Goal Shooter are restricted to one third of the court, while Centres can move over the whole court, apart from in the goal circles. Therefore, Centres should work on longer sprints to build up speed and stamina.
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