10 Netball Passing Drills To Help Improve Your Game

Passing is one of the most vital skills needed for netball, and a skill every player needs to work on. These netball passing drills will help to greatly improve this skill and in turn will improve your teams overall possession and performance.

These drills focus on a variety of different types of passes so as to help improve your skills as a whole. Learning all of these different types of passes will help give your team the edge over your opponents. With some hard work and practice these netball passing drills will soon skyrocket your progress.

Netball Passing Drills :

Passing Pairs Drill

• Two players stand a short distance opposite each other

• Each player has a ball

• The players pass to each other

• To ensure the balls don’t collide, make one pass a normal pass and one pass a high pass

• Focus on timing your passes with the opposite player

Harder Variation

• To make this drill harder add another pair of players next to you, so that you’re all in a square formation

• Pass to the player in front of you a set number of times, then pass to the players next to you a set number of times

• You can also pass diagonally to players

Here is a video demonstration of this netball passing drill.

Reaction Pass Drill

• One player known as the feeder stands in a fixed position with a ball

• Another player stands a short distance in front, facing away from the feeder

• The feeder passes the ball to the left or right of the player as soon as the player turns around to face the feeder

• The player must try to receive the pass and then pass back

• The player then faces away again and the process is repeated

• You can also switch the feeder and the player

Harder Variation

• To make this drill harder have the feeder throw wider passes to the left and right of the player

• The feeder can also throw higher and lower passes

Here is a video demonstration of this netball passing drill.

Netball Lob Pass Drill

• Two players stand a far distance opposite from each other

• They pass the ball to each other using the lob pass

• Focus on looping the ball accurately so that it arrives above your partners head

• Stand with knees slightly bent, and with your elbows at a right angle to your shoulder

• Have your hand under the ball with your fingertips resting on the back

• Make sure you transfer your weight forward as you throw the pass and release with full extension

Harder Variation

• Increase distance between players

Here is a video demonstration of this netball passing drill.

Bounce Pass Drill

• Stand a small space opposite your partner with one ball between you

• Bounce pass the ball to each other

• Focus on bouncing the ball two thirds of the distance between you and your partner, so that the ball reaches them at hip height

• Focus on proper bounce pass technique

Harder Variation

• Increase distance between players

• Increase speed of passing

Here is a video demonstration of this netball passing drill.

Hot Potato Passing Drill

• 5 to 10 players stand in a circle formation

• The players all pass to each other

• If a player holds the ball for more than a second or two they are out

Harder Variation

• A great way to increase the difficulty of this drill is by adding more balls

• You can also widen the circle to force players to throw longer passes

In The Square Netball Passing Drill

• Form a square or a rectangle using sports cones

• All the players stand outside the square

• One of the players enters the square then receives a pass

• they pass back to any player then leave the square

• The players take turns entering the square

• No two players should be in the square at the same time

Harder Variation

• To make this drill harder you can add a defender

• You can change the size of the square

• You can introduce more balls

Here is a video demonstration of this netball passing drill.

Passing Diagonal Drill

• Players stand behind each other in a straight line opposite a feeder

• The players and the feeder both have a ball

• The player standing second in line opposite the feeder holds the ball

• The first player runs out on a diagonal and collects a pass from the feeder

• The second player who had the ball then passes to the feeder and runs to the opposite diagonal

• The first player who received the ball at a diagonal then passes to the line of players and goes to the back of the line

• This process is repeated

Harder Variation

• Increase speed

• Have the players each perform a different pass

Here is a video demonstration of this netball passing drill.

Pass And Go Drill

• Players stand in a circle and have one ball

• The players pass the ball to each other

• After passing the ball to someone the player should run next to them in the circle

• This process is repeated

Harder Variation

• The player should try to defend the person they passed to before moving next to them

• Use a variety of different passes

Here is a video demonstration of this netball passing drill.

Netball Trio Passing Drill

• Three players form a triangle formation

• Player 1 is at the top of the triangle

• At the bottom of the triangle are players 2 and 3

• Players 2 and 3 both have balls

• Player 1 passes and receives the ball from the other players one after the other

Harder Variation

• Have the triangle of players pass while moving forwards, backwards or sideways

• Increase the speed and variety of the passes

Here is a video demonstration of this netball passing drill.

Wall Netball Passing Drill

• Two players face a wall and have one ball

• They bounce the ball against the wall to pass to each other

Harder Variation

• Circle around the other player after throwing your pass

Here is a video demonstration of this netball passing drill.