Andy Dawson's Netball Resources Website

Passing drills

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Contents:

Types of passes

Brief list of basic pass types and techniques

Roll drill

Basic 2-person roll and pass drill

Reaction drill

2-person face-to-face retrieve & return

Left, right, up and over

Thrower and line multi-pass drill

Figure 8

2-person running pass drill

Box drill

4-person pass and move drill

Diamonds

8-person square-crossing 2-ball drill

Cut the cake

Group circle passing drill

Lots of passing

Group (8+) cross-ball passing drill

Two balls in the circle

Working one player inside a circle

Star drill

Group passing drill - bit complicated!

Receiving on the Run

Pairs, working on leading the receiver.

Six Catches

Team drill, use of space and passing into space.

Three Posts

Group passing drill (Word document)

Shoulder pass

Flat, hard pass. Step forward with left foot (if ball is held in right hand)with ball held high and push the ball straight ahead from the shoulder. Hand behind the ball and follow through with fingers pointing in the direction of the pass, eye on the receiver and head up.

Chest pass

Flat pass. Using both hands, fingers behind the ball, thumbs touching and with elbows in push through while stepping forward with either foot.

Overhead

High pass. Release ball from above head, while stepping forward (footwork rule). Power from wrist to the elbow.

Push pass

Associated with bounce pass. Starts at waist, hand behind the ball pushing from the waist and stepping forward, follow through with fingers pointing in the direction fo the pass.

Bounce pass

Low pass used over a short distance to feed the circle. Release is low, push towards receiver, fingers pointing to the ground. This pass should note raise above the ground.

Lob

Power and speed. Ball held high, step forward and push form the waist, angling the ball up.

Progression:

• Vary passes, lob, chest, shoulder and bounce
• Vary side and length of pass (short left or long right), worker must run onto or up to attack the ball

• Ensure worker pushes off with correct foot
• Arms out to attack the ball and pulls ball into the chest
• Move out to meet the ball at 45 degrees

Coaching points:

• Worker must attack the ball and pull it into the chest
• Eye to ball contact
• Stance is balanced, not too broad and ready to move

• Thrower has two balls, one in either hand, passes are pushed back and forward with one hand (thrower’s right hand to worker’s left etc)

Coaching points:

• Worker must drive onto the ball, not just a couple of steps toward it
• Worker must maintain eye contact with the ball and drives should be at 45 degrees

Coaching points:

• Worker must maintain eye contact with the thrower at all times
• Ensure correct foot is used for push off

Coaching points:

• Ensure players sprint out for each pass
• Pass should be to space into which receiver must run
• Watch for balance and proper use of feet on landing/push off
• Ensure good pass technique used

• Walk through exercise at first, then gradually build up pace to full speed.
• Require varying types of pass (suggest start with chest pass, then overhead, then shoulder pass)
• Give target number of successful complete rotations at full speed, then reverse direction of players.

Diamonds

Points to remember : Always receive the ball from the left and throw straight ahead. All girls always stay on the same diagonal they started on. If one player falls out of time, the whole drill is out.

Start by walking through it a few times then build up speed.

from Jennifer Robson
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Cut the cake

Keep on going around until there are no drops, intercepts, bad passes. Ensure full concentration.

Points to remember : Concentrate on good passing technique!

Also useful as a general warmup.

from Natalie Cruise
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Lots of passing

• timid catching the ball or
• just have trouble catching a hard pass or
• you want to incorporate some ball work with fitness

Requirements : At least 8 players, 1 ball between 2 players.
Half the players are throwers. Each thrower has a ball and is positioned in a large ‘cross-ball’ formation.

The remaining players are the workers and form a line at the end of the court. Each worker, in turn, drives hard towards the first thrower to receive a pass, then passes it back to that thrower, then push off quickly and changes direction to head straight to the next thrower. Continue through all the throwers. Walk back to the start, repeat.

Variations:

• Bring the throwers in closer, so players have to change direction much quicker.
• Each pass to the workers could be varied.
• For juniors - have the throwers closer together.
• For seniors - really stress the coaching points below.

Points to remember :
Check for and stress the following key coaching points:

• Work with intensity and make sure you keep driving towards each ball strongly until you have caught it.
• Be balanced when passing back to the throwers.
• Accurate passes back to the throwers are important.
• Strong hard passes by the throwers make the drill very good for practicing catching.

Note: This drill is from CANCoach Netball Essentials One Drill Set where there is also a video showing the drill being performed. Each drill set contains over 60 drills. The Netskills site is at www.netskills.com.au.
from Gillian at Netskills
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2 balls in the circle

Additional Options:
When the worker has grasped the concept speed up the incoming throws.
Add a third ball.

Main Objective:
Peripheral vision.

Other Objectives:
Maintain accurate and skillful passing;
Footwork, in particular pivoting;
Reflexes;
Communication;
Teamwork.

From Amanda Read
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Star drill

          T(1)


   T(2)            T(3)



        W(a) W(b)
        W(a) W(b) 

Hope that makes sense!

Main Objective:
Emphasis on passing in front of players to ensure they run onto ball

From "Shazfly"
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Receiving on the Run

Drill Description:

• Players pair off and stand facing each other approximately 2 meters apart.
• One player runs to the side and the other player throws the ball in front of the running player.
• The running player catches the ball, pivots and throws the ball back.
• The player runs to the other side and the steps are repeated.
• After 5 passes each side, swap over. The thrower becomes the runner.
• Repeat so each persons runs and throws twice.

• Passes must be in front of the running player to ensure they run onto the ball and don't have to reach backwards or stop to catch the pass.

• Speed can be picked up for more advanced players.
• Lob passes can be introduced.
• The thrower can call Left, Right, Front or Back and the runner must respond by running in that direction.

• The main object is to get the throwers aim better at putting the ball in front of the running player.

Six catches

Objective:
One team tries to link together six consecutive catches.

Description of drill:
The defending team (Team A) is trying to gain possession through intercepts. Once team A has possession the roles reverse and team B is now trying to win possession back. Possession also changes with dropped ball and infractions such as out of bounds, stepping and short passes.

Coaching Points:
This drill is about the use of space. Look for and encourage short sharp movements in an attempt to free oneself from the defending player. Passing should be into a space a player is moving into, not where one is standing.

Progression

• I also like to include that one player can not pass back to the player which they received the ball from.
• Decrease the amount of space.
• Include direction in the play by having the team in possession get the ball to one side of the court. Once the ball is pressed on the sideline the same team retains possession and tries to get the ball back to the opposite side of the court.
• Limit the type of pass that can be used.