9 Awesome Netball Defense Drills

Defending is one of the most important parts of netball and can completely change the outcome of the game. This is why we’ve compiled nine netball defence drills to help to greatly improve your netball performance.

Whenever the opposing team has the ball, your team is defending. Every player has a part to play no matter how far they are from the ball. A good defense will slow down the pace of attack, limit passing options, force errors and create opportunities to gain control of the ball.

The Three Stages Of Defending

1: marking an individual player

At this stage the objective is to prevent the player from receiving the ball. This is accomplished either by defending the ball so well that the player with the ball chooses an alternative pass, or by intercepting the pass.

when marking a player you have to be ball side. That means standing between the player with the ball and the player you are marking. You need to be in a position to see both the player you are marking and the ball simultaneously.

To achieve this you’ll need to be close to your opponent with your body angled so you have sight of both the player with the ball and the player you’re marking. You need to stand in a body position that’ll allow you to rapidly readjust to react to the changes in the other players movements.

You should have your feet be shoulder width apart. Your weight should be balanced and on the balls of your feet. Your head should be up and your arms should be at a comfortable position ready to intercept the ball.

2: marking a player who has the ball and is attempting to pass

The aim at this stage is to slow down the attack, limit the players options and if possible force the player to make an error.

To mark a pass you need to stand a minimum of 3 ft away from the passing players landing foot. You need to get into this position as quickly as possible.

Keep your weight on the balls of your feet and have your knees slightly bent ready to jump. Have your arms outstretched to obscure as much of the passing area as possible. Remember if you’re closer than 3 ft you can’t raise your arms until you’re back at that position.

Watch the players eyes to see where they’re aiming to pass and be ready to intercept. Also be sure to watch out for fake passes.

3: aftermath of the pass being released at stage two

Once the player you’re marking has thrown the pass, your job is to legally delay that players advance to receive another pass. At stage three you need to maintain your position and angle your body so it prevents the other player moving to the space they’re trying to reach.

Alternatively you can channel the player into a certain direction or try to hold them up. The point is to make their movement difficult.

To channel an attacker effectively, you need to be aware of the ball and be able to judge where you think the attacker will run. Stage three should only be a momentary phase of defending, where you take advantage of the stage two defending position before returning to use stage 1 marking.

Netball Defence Drills:

Hands Over Netball Drill

A great netball defence drill to help players with their marking and interception skills.

• Place three cones in a triangle formation and create a large triangle space

• Have one player stand at each cone

• Have one player in the middle of the triangle

• The players standing at the cones all pass the ball to each other

• The player in the middle (the defensive player) has to try to intercept the players passing

• Make sure the defensive player has their arms outstretched ready to try to intercept

• It is very important the player follows the rules and never marks a player with their arms outstretched more than 3 ft

Here is a video demonstration of this netball defence drill.

Man To Man Netball Defence Drill

A great practical netball defence drill.

• In this drill there are two throwers at a distance of about five meters

• There are two workers in the middle

• The throwers pass to each other and the workers try to intercept these passes

• When marking it is important that you cover half of the body

• Don’t stand fully in front otherwise you’ll lose your opponent by having to turn your head

• Give the throwers virtually one option

Here is a video demonstration of this netball defence drill.

Anticipation Drill

This drill is great for helping players with stage three of defence.

• Place two cones a short distance apart from each other

• Have there be one player at each cone

• Opposite the middle of the distance between the two players there should be a thrower

• Have a worker in between the two players at the cones

• The thrower throws to the two players at the cone and they pass back

• The worker should move side to side of the two players at the cone and should anticipate the passes to try and intercept

Here is a video demonstration of this netball defence drill.

Protect The Cone Netball Defense Drill

This drill will really help your players with their defence.

• Place a single cone down

• Draw a circle around the cone making it about the same size as the center circle

• Place a defender just outside the circle

• Have two passers stand horizontally a short distance opposite each other a short distance in front of the cone

• Have the passers start off slowly and pass to each other

• The defending player should make sure they put their body between the cone and the ball at all times (ball side)

• Focus on light feet and make sure the defender has their eyes up

• Encourage the defender to try and stay outside the circle

Harder Variations

first variation

• In this variation the passers try to knock away the cone by throwing the ball at it

• The passers pass to each other and work together to try to knock the cone down

• The defender has to remain ball side and should try to stop this

second variation

• This time the passing players are allowed to move all around while trying to knock the cone like before

• Again focus on the defender remaining ball side

third variation

• To make this drill even harder, add another passer

Here is a video demonstration of this netball defence drill.

Vision Drill

This netball defence drill helps players work on their vision of the ball.

• Have a thrower stand to the side of a worker

• The worker stands facing forward

• The thrower passes the ball in front of the worker who catches it and passes back

• You can also have the the worker pivot on their front foot to face the thrower when catching the ball

Here is a video demonstration of this netball defence drill.

Circle Vision Netball Defence Drill

One of the simplest netball defence drills to help players with their peripheral vision skills.

• Have the players stand in a circle formation

• Players should focus their vision on a player in front of them

• A ball is passed around the circle

• Players can pass to anyone in the circle except to the person next to them

• Focus on vision being fixed and using peripheral vision to follow the movement of the ball

• Start off slowly and increase the passing pace as players become better at this drill

Here is a video demonstration of this netball defence drill.

Outside Arm Drill

One of the best netball defence drills to help with interception skills.

• Two players stand a distance opposite each other

• These players are the thrower and a stationary player

• A defender then stands in front of the stationary player

• The thrower throws the ball at the stationary player

• The defender should work around the stationary player and use their outside arm to push the ball away

• Focus on the defender staying close to the body of the stationary player

Harder Variations

first variation

• This time instead of pushing the ball away, the defender tries to softly block the ball then collect it

• The defender should stay close to the stationary player and use fast footwork

second variation

• This time have the player try to fully intercept the throw and catch the ball

third variation

• This time the stationary player is allowed to move a couple of steps forward, backwards etc

• The defender can use any of the previous variations to defend the stationary player

• Focus on the defenders anticipation and footwork skills

• Encourage the defender to stay close to the body of the stationary player

Here is a video demonstration of this netball defence drill.

Backup And Instruction Netball Defence Drill

A netball defence drill which helps players to learn how to intercept high balls.

• Have three throwers form a triangle formation

• Have a player in the middle

• The throwers should throw high passes and the middle player should try to intercept these passes

• The middle player should try to get under the ball before they jump

• To do this the player should either sidestep or turn and run whilst still keeping their eyes focused on the ball

• The middle player should never run backwards

Here is a video demonstration of this netball defence drill.

Three On Three Netball Defence Drill

A great netball defence drill to help players learn to communicate when defending and to help players learn how to defend as a team.

• Create a rectangular space no greater than one half of a third court area using cones

• There are two teams of three players

• When in the rectangle the attacking team should all pass to each other

• The defending team should try to gain control of the ball

• The defenders should each mark a player, attempting to stick with them

• The defenders should remain ball side

• Focus on good communication between players

• You can use zone defense as players get better at this drill (players mark an area instead of a player)

Here is a video demonstration of this netball defence drill.