So you’ve tried netball at school or joined a netball club… but now you’re wondering how you can get better! We’ve asked Centaurs Netball Coach and Singapore National Mens player, Irwin Shah to spill the beans and share his favourite netball skills and drills for beginners – here are his top picks!
Overview of netball
Netball is a pretty complex game for the uninitiated! At the elite level, the players move at lightning speed and score goals that look impossible. These players are moving within the limitations of their positions, (which determine where on the court they may go) and know the technicalities of the rules of netball (which had a major revision in 2024) inside out.
Of course, all these players all started somewhere – and that somewhere was the beginning! They were all new to netball once, and they would have worked on basic netball drills and hone the fundamentals of gameplay.
This article is all about the beginning – netball drills for beginners!
Why netball drills are so important
Netball drills are essential for developing core netball skills – they allow us to work on and improve a skill; increase confidence and proficiency; get players working together as a team and communication. Comprehensive drills build strong foundations, and then we can then add the layers of decision-making, reacting, pressure, mental resilience, and competition.
Types of netball skills and drills for beginners
Warm-up drills for netball
Warming up is an important part of an exercise session. Effective warm ups will physically and mentally prepare a player’s body for activity, increasing heart rate and blood flow, making sure enough oxygen is getting into the muscles you’re about to use in your netball drill, significantly reducing reducing the risk of injury and preparing you for high-impact activity.
Irwin’s favourite drills to include in a netball warm up include:
Movement warm-up including jogging, side-steps, karaoke, high knees, butt kicks and skipping
Dynamic stretching including knee to chest, quad stretching, open and closed hips, hamstring stretches, lunges (front, back and lateral!)
Basic ball handling including ball taps (static, up & down), around the body, figures of 8, figure of 8 (high knees), squat rotating catch
Passing & catching netball drills for beginners: The Essentials
Team passing netball drills
4 corners (for a big group, ideally 12-16 players). Coaches should promote running after releasing the ball, awareness of teammates and communication
Pass & go (for a smaller group, 5-8 players)
Footwork drills
Goalers drills
● How to shoot?
● Shooting drills – these are stationary shooting practices, movement shooting practices… it’s important to practice shooting when you are feeling tired, to mimic game-like situations!
● Shooter Rotation. Working on balancing of the goal circle, awareness of your shooting partner, strong drives to the goalpost
A good one for defenders!
● Foundation skills for defending – shadowing / Intercept / 3-feet distance with hands marking & tracking of ball
Working on foundational skills and drills
Even the pros work on their most fundamental netball skills, starting with basics for beginners and adding on their own progressions. There are so many resources out there to help with netball drills. Youtube, Instagram, the ones we bring into Centaurs training. Even those you can do by yourself at home to keep refining and improving – every little helps when it comes to regularly doing netball drills! Use netball skills and drills to enhance your netball abilities, and we can guarantee the results will show on the court!
Enjoy!