australian sports camps netball Archives

The world of sport is continually evolving. And, the use of technology is just one aspect that’s had an enormous impact on the way we spectate, play and experience the modern sport. The advancements of technology use in the sport over the last 200 years have not only changed professional sport dramatically, but it has also impacted sports at the grassroots level. Junior netball might not have the action replays and GPS tracking technology that is used by the pros. However, the improvements made in electronic apps, clothing apparel and online information sources, are all examples of how technology is helping junior players in becoming the next generation of Australian Netballer’s!

Let’s discuss some examples of technology use in netball, and how it impacts the sport!

Technology Use In Netball

Netball Shoes

When we think of the word ‘technology’, our brains will usually imagine electronic advancements and its applications. However, the improvements made to clothing apparel in netball over the last century has been 1900s netball uniform revolutionary from an invention standpoint! Did you know that in the early 1900’s netball players would wear everyday sand-shoes (flat-shoes) to play the game?! Just think of the impact that would have had on the players’ feet! The first ‘netball shoes’ were introduced during the 1960’s when the game of netball was moved to be played indoors. These shoes added an upper and white sole, like the picture shown. It wasn’t until the 1970’s that the design of netball shoes began to focus on injury prevention. The increasing popularity of the game of netball and shoe companies influenced the evolution of netball shoes. The intention was to better protect the players and increase their on-court playing performance. Netball 1960 shoes Netball is a high-impact sport that requires rapid acceleration and deceleration, sudden and sharp changes in direction, immediate stops, high-impact jumps and ongoing balance and stability. Because of this, netballer’s are at a high risk of injury. Particularly to the knees, ankles and lower bodies. Today’s netball shoes are engineered with heel counters, gel layers and stability straps to help prevent these injuries to modern players.

So…How Does This Affect Junior Netball?

Although injuries are generally unavoidable in sport, younger players today have the freedom to play netball with the most advanced netball shoes in the history of the game. As mentioned above, the shoes are specifically designed to minimize the impact of stress upon the feet, knees and joints. This will ultimately help keep players safe and injury-free for longer in their playing careers. Netball shoes design Fewer injuries obviously offer many benefits. For example, the skill development of junior players is less interrupted. Instead of sitting out on the sidelines with an injury, players are now active for longer! Additionally, this will enhance the enjoyment for juniors of playing netball itself! Which all leads to more opportunity to develop into the next generation of professional netballer’s! Watch the video to learn about the scientific innovations that are designed within modern-day Netball Shoes Technology!

YouTube, Facebook & Google

The number of internet users worldwide in 2019 is 4.388 billion, up 9.1% year-on-year! (Smart Insights 2019, para 4). The takeover of social media use and the reliability on search engines, like Google, have made information-sourcing the easiest and most diverse it has ever been in the worlds’ history! Think of the number of times you have searched things on google today. How often did you find exactly what you were looking for? Were you able to use the knowledge to better yourself? Perhaps it was a new recipe you’ve been wanting to try, or learn that the Sun is 149.6 million km from the Earth! (it is by the way!) New ideas and new information have never been easier to attain within the modern world! So, how could this technology affect junior netball? One prime example is the way we use sites such as YouTube, Google and Facebook when training or coaching, to find new ways to support our skills development. For example, when we want to practice shooting form, Google and YouTube provide not only visual aids on the topic but also offers a step-by-step tutorial on proper technique. Today’s Netball junior players have exclusive historical access to professional-level coaching and guidance, even when they are not practising with teammates or within a team environment! Players’ in the 1990’s didn’t even have anywhere near the same level of technological access to information at their disposal! And that is less than 30 years ago! This technological advancement assists modern junior players in not-only correcting weaker aspects of their skills, but further developing their strengths and providing direction for how they can reach their full potential!

Mobile Apps

In parallel with the advancements of the internet, are the technological improvements made to mobile apps. By logging in to your app store on your phone, you have access to numerous health and fitness apps! All to better your sporting development! Apps such as “NETFIT Netball”, “Sportplan”, and “MyNetball” are all examples of current popular apps that are available for free! These apps provide coaching videos, video library’s for technique improvement, and even nutrition plans! popular netball mobile apps For junior netballer’s, apps such as these can be very beneficial for skill development! These apps mirror the benefits of search engines, allowing you to have ready access to new information at your fingertips! However, mobile apps have the added benefit of being more personalised & readily available for use. “NETFIT Netball” for example, allows the user to create a user profile. This profile lets you store drills, videos and reading the material, to cater specifically to you! This offers many benefits for junior players as they have instant access to a cost-effective, convenient and personalised information source! Not only do junior players have access to this information, but the coaches of junior netball teams do as well! The development of professional coaching plans can assist coaches in their delivery of structured and fun coaching programs! Which will hopefully provide junior players with positive playing experience, enhancing their enjoyment of the game, and enjoyment is always the main purpose of sport, win, lose or draw.

We hope that you enjoyed this article.

At Australian Sports Camps, our goal is to provide skill-improvement camps, with structure, where participants have fun whilst developing a deeper love and enthusiasm for their chosen sport. Our school holiday camps also use technology to offer video analysis during training! Your child can visually see their personal strengths and areas for improvement in their game! Whilst receiving tips and guidance from our professional coaches! Sign them up for a sporting camp today! Additionally, to find out more about us, please see http://australiansportscamps.com.au/about-asc/.

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:

Bottom right (start) to top left.
Top left to top right.
Top right to bottom left.
Bottom left to bottom right (starting position).
Repeat.

Simple netball drills - advanced figure of 8 diagram for agility and footwork. — A more advanced drill to practice your agility and footwork for netball

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:

Two-feet landing
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.

Tag: australian sports camps netball

How Have Technological Changes Affected Junior Netball?