Our Fit Experts at The Athlete’s Foot understand the demands of Netball, particularly when it comes to providing you education on what shoes to wear to ensure that you are fit for your position (for on AND off the court). 

For anyone who has played Netball, they will understand that it is a fast paced, high intensity, power-based sport that requires an athlete of any level to be able to “Run – Stop suddenly – Recover – Go Again” all in the space of a few minutes, at varying intensity levels each time. 

Not to mention the additional movements of changing direction, jumping, landing and pivoting all thrown into the mix.  It is important that any successful pre-season training program is tailored to replicate the movements of what is required on the court to ensure that you are preparing your body effectively.

Did you know?

• In a game of netball an average netballer can run anywhere between 2.4km to 6km a game, dependent on their position*.
• An elite netball player on average will jump and land up to 200 times a game!**

Our #1 Tip for your pre-season training is to ensure that you have a pair of shoes that are fit for the activity you are using them for!

Running and netball shoes are built to function differently.  If you wear your netball shoes for a run, you will notice that it will feel firmer underfoot. This will mean, as you start to pick up the pace, you will find that your feet are having to work harder transitioning through the gait cycle. This is due to the construction of a Netball shoe being more focused towards the multi-directional movements that Netballers take.

To reduce the risk of injury during pre-season, it's important to start with the correct footwear.

Our #2 Tip for your pre-season training is how you can tailor a 5km timed run like parkrun to enhance your netball performance.

How can you use parkrun as a motivating and FUN, training tool to prepare you for the demands on the netball court?

This training tip is to turn your 5km parkrun, into a 5km interval session. You can achieve this by trying the following:

• Warm up (first 5-7 minutes of low intenstity jogging).

• Interval Sets (3-5minutes):
• 2-minutes of high intensity running
• 1-minute of low intensity jogging
• 30-seconds to 1-minute rest (walk/jog)
• Repeat (untill your 5km is complete)

It is okay to take a longer break in the ‘rest section’ if required.  As your cardiovascular fitness improves, you will find that your body will recover quicker and you will be ready to go again.

When starting out with this method of training, ensure that you work between a safe intensity range (using a guide like a heart rate monitor can help you monitor your intensity).

Our #3 Tip for your pre-season training is to find a training partner and/or resources that help you map out your training plan, as well as focusing on nutrition and wellbeing to provide you a holistic approach to your training pre-season plan.  Our friends at NETFIT Netball have developed an amazing online training tool to support netballers of all ages, abilities and skillsets.  Looking to find a community that is as passionate about Netball as you are?  Check out their World First Netball Online Training Program.

References:

*Alanna Antcliff, Australian Netball teams’ Head Physiotherapist – The Athlete’s Foot and NETFIT Netball Training Video.

**Alanna Antcliff, Australian Netball teams’ Head Physiotherapist – The Athlete’s Foot and NETFIT Netball Training Video.