Written by TIC Gym Strength Coach Mason Spikers
When considering Strength and Conditioning for any sport, be it an individual sport, or a team-based sport, we must consider both the environment the sport is played in, and the demands of the activity.
SO WHEN LOOKING AT NETBALL…
Netball is a 60 minute court-based sport that involves repeated bouts of high intense athletic skills such as sprinting, acceleration, deceleration, jumping, landing and change of direction.
Each of these athletic skills requires a substantial amount of anaerobic capacity, strength, power, speed and agility. Without these skills, netballers are unable to maintain a high quality performance for the duration of a game.
Unfortunately, the sport of netball sees high injury rates. Evidence has reported that injury rates during a regular netball season are as high as 20% in recreational players and 37.5% in elite players (approx.). The majority of these are ankle, foot and knee injuries (1).
Strength and Conditioning plays a critical role in preparing netball players for the demands of their sport. With appropriate programs from Strength and Conditioning Coaches, players are able to dramatically reduce their risk of injuries, and develop key skills that will enhance their performance.
KEY TRAINING QUALITIES FOR NETBALL:
ANAEROBIC CAPACITY
- Netball consists of 4 x 15 minute quarters of multiple stops, starts and changes of direction; this makes anaerobic training incredibly important. Anaerobic training allows netballers to maintain a high level of performance throughout the game, reducing the effect of fatigue
- The anaerobic energy system is most dominant from 10 seconds to 60 seconds,therefore training for improvements in anaerobic capacity should be at sub-maximal levels for no longer than 30-60s per repetition.
- Improving players’ lactate threshold is also important as it allows them to maintain repeated efforts of high quality performance at high intensities for long periods of time whilst under fatigue
STRENGTH AND POWER
- Strength training is important as this will improve a players’ tissue capacity and tolerance to the high demands of netball.
- Players must also possess the ability to produce tremendous amounts of force quickly; the development of power will improve running speeds, passing, jumping and overall explosiveness.
- Strength and Conditioning coaches can periodise maximal training to ensure that each session comes with appropriate recovery allowing for adaptation to training.
- Training at high intensities should be limited to 2-3 x per week to allow adequate recovery.
SPEED AND AGILITY
- Players need to be able to move quickly and respond to multiple stimuli such as passing, tracking and defending opponents.
- Specific speed training is important to develop explosiveness, and maximize acceleration speed.
- Agility is improved with the development of strength, coordination, balance, and biomechanics.This includes the skills of deceleration.
PLYOMETRICS
- Plyometrics are a series of explosive resistance exercises which involve jumping for height, jumping for distance, and hopping.
- Prescribed plyometric training will improve running speeds, change in direction, jump height and distance. Plyometrics will also improve a player’s ability to be more reactive to specific stimuli.
- As netball is a high demand sport, it is important to control the volume and intensity of plyometric training performed outside of netball training to ensure athletes aren’t overloaded.
SUMMARY
In summary, netball is a high intensity sport which involves significant strength, fitness and tissue capacity to tolerate the high demands. There are multiple key skills that can be developed to improve a player’s performance and reduce the likelihood of injuries.
So if you’re looking to improve your netball performance, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Strength Coaches at TIC Gym Geelong.
References:
- Downs, C., Snodgrass, S.J., Weerasekara, I. et al. Injuries in Netball-A Systematic Review. Sports Med – Open 7, 3 (2021).
- Pickering Rodriguez EC, Watsford ML, Bower RG, Murphy AJ. The relationship between lower body stiffness and injury incidence in female netballers. Sports Biomech. 2017 Sep;16(3):361-373
