Netball and sports specific training

Netball is what is referred to as a "multiple sprint" game, which means it requires frequent explosive bursts of activity, often out of a complete stop, and also lots of instances of actual sprinting over short distances. This means that from a training perspective, Netball is in a similar category to sports like football, hockey or basketball. Netball requires regular exercises and drills which work to develop the explosive bursts of activity, as well as all over strength, endurance and cardiovascular exercises. Members of the English Netball team continually train throughout the year and regularly meet up in small groups to train together during the off-season. As Netball is such a demanding sport, training throughout the year is essential for maintaining performance and preventing injury.

This sport places a series of demands on the player, including:

• Frequent sprints lasting from 5 seconds to 1 minute.
• Explosive Activity, lasting from 1 second to 10 seconds.
• Sustained Intense activity lasting from 1 to 3 minutes
• Agility and flexibility
• Endurance

Activities like the pylometric circuit are great for helping players develop and enhance the variety of the explosive bursts of energy that are needed during a match. The pylometric circuit is constructed of a circuit of various different activities, from sit-ups to free weights to lunges to jumping rope, which are all performed very intensely over short periods of time. Yoga and Pilates are great activities for increasing strength, flexibility and muscle suppleness. Cardiovascular exercise is paramount in this sport where endurance is key. Weight training is also of great importance, though less from the perspective of building muscle mass, and more for building endurance capacity. This means that athletes should aim to have a balance of muscle mass over the entire body, which can be achieved with lighter weights and greater numbers of repetitions. Also vital to training for this sport are eye-hand co-ordination drills and ball handling drills.