Netball: Jump Higher, Move Faster and Reduce Injury Risk
One of the big wants I’ve found Netball players have is to jump higher and move faster. Going to the gym and getting stronger gives the body more ability to produce more force. But ultimately power is force and velocity or speed. So having delt with being able to produce more force we need to deal with producing it faster.
Training to be faster
One simple action in the gym that is often forgotten or overlooked is jumping and/or hopping. These explosive action performed well and appropriately combined with a lifting program can increase speed, change of direction and jump height. Combining both jumping and strength training together is more effective at increasing speed and jump height then individually (Carvalho et al, 2014; Zghal et al, 2019). Effectively in the gym lifting is producing more force and jumping is learning to apply that force faster.
Perform jumping and hopping alongside strength exercises.
In addition to jumping and hopping throw some weight balls around. Whether that be chest passing to a wall, slamming one into the ground or throwing sideways to a wall it won’t matter a massive amount. This upper body explosive work will enhance throwing speed (Singla et al, 2018), meaning pass should start zip across the court. Although accuracy will need to be practiced in training.
Throw some weighted balls around for more powerful throws.
Transfer to court
Once the base work has been performed in the gym it all needs to be applied to the court. This means performing acceleration, deceleration, change of direction and jumping drills on the court. Without any ball or opponent distraction so focus is on putting 100% force and speed into the drill. Then add in ball handling and opponents to shadow or evade.
Practice putting in 100% to movement drills on the court.
Then add in opponents and a ball.
How much to do?
6 is a magic number for this type of velocity emphasised work. Much of the research points towards total reps per session, however with time being a limiting factor around 6 reps gives enough stimulus to develop without going into excesses where form or soreness in the following days is detrimental. This goes for the jumping, throwing and repetitions per drill. Each repetition should be aiming for highest quality and 100% effort to increase speed.
6 reps per set of jumps, throws or speed drills.
Added benefits
With regards to Netball research has shown that the plyometric raining has benefits in making players more resilient towards injury, especially ankle sprains (Caldemeyer et al, 2020). The stability and control learnt when training jumping and sprinting or change of direction in closed environments really helps. Obviously nothing can totally prevent injuries but you’ll find some of the awkward positions caught in after training are not as serious or even injurious as both. With how simple these movements are to integrate into training sessions why would you not do it?
So all in all, don’t get blinkered by lifting weights or machines in the gym and get some explosive movements like jumps and throws in combination with lifts for higher jumps and quicker throws. Then get on court and drill for faster movement around the court.
References:
Caldemeyer LE, Brown SM, Mulcahey MK. Neuromuscular training for the prevention of ankle sprains in female athletes: a systematic review. Phys Sportsmed. 2020 Nov;48(4):363-369. doi: 10.1080/00913847.2020.1732246. Epub 2020 Feb 28. PMID: 32067546
Carvalho A, Mourão P, Abade E. Effects of Strength Training Combined with Specific Plyometric exercises on body composition, vertical jump height and lower limb strength development in elite male handball players: a case study. J Hum Kinet. 2014 Jul 8;41:125-32. doi: 10.2478/hukin-2014-0040. PMID: 25114739; PMCID: PMC4120445.
Singla D, Hussain ME, Moiz JA. Effect of upper body plyometric training on physical performance in healthy individuals: A systematic review. Phys Ther Sport. 2018 Jan;29:51-60. doi: 10.1016/j.ptsp.2017.11.005. Epub 2017 Nov 11. PMID: 29174999.
Zghal F, Colson SS, Blain G, Behm DG, Granacher U, Chaouachi A. Combined Resistance and Plyometric Training Is More Effective Than Plyometric Training Alone for Improving Physical Fitness of Pubertal Soccer Players. Front Physiol. 2019 Aug 7;10:1026. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2019.01026. PMID: 31447705; PMCID: PMC6692572.