Pre-Season Pro

You scroll for twenty minutes trying to find something that’ll make tonight’s session feel fresh, because deep down you’re worried they’re bored. Bored of the same warm-up, bored of the same three drills you’ve been running since pre-season, bored in a way that’s starting to show up as flat on the court too.

So you find something. It looks good, it looks different, it goes in tonight’s session. And for a minute it works, because new is exciting.

But you already know, before you’ve even run it, that next week you’ll be doing this again.

Scrolling for drills, patching together a session. Hoping this one looks better again.

You know your girls have potential. You watch them at training and you can see it, the speed, the hands, the instinct. But you also know, that their potential doesn’t turn into performance just because you found one good drill on Instagram.

It turns into performance when there’s an actual, legit plan behind it.

When this week’s session is actually building on last week’s, and next week builds on this one, instead of every Tuesday being its own random session.

Right now you’re trying constantly, you’re always researching and planning. It’s kinda exhausting tbh. But when you’re trying harder with no structure behind it, it just means more of your time spent… for the same result. 🥱

Progressive overload is a requirement for a team that’s still improving come finals… not one that plateaus in about round 10.

You need strength that builds. Skills that layer. Sessions that have pressure built in so that match day feels easier.

The best programs in the world aren’t run by coaches with better instincts than you.

They’re run by coaches with a system doing the time consuming stuff for them, so that you can focus on the actual ex*****on. So your training doesn’t get left to whatever they found last night at 10pm.

You don’t need to google a fancier drill. You need a plan that already knows what this week is building toward, and what next week does with it.

Thats exactly what we’ve created for you.

DM or comment the word FLAG to do it differently next season. 😉

Here’s a plyo drill every netballer should be doing… and yes, there are levels for every single person, because there is really no excuse to not be doing some lateral plyometric work. 😉

Beginner: Skater jumps
Intermediate: Lateral jump → pogo hop
Advanced: Lateral jump → plate pogos

Why this combo? ✨

Netball just isn’t a straight-line sport… this ain’t a 10km fun run… you’re dodging, jumping, and changing direction, reacting over and over, every game. Most training programs are obsessed with straight-line speed and completely skip the sideways stuff, which means the exact movement pattern you use the most in a real game is the one you’ve trained the least. 🫣

• Lateral strength + stability: AKA the stuff that helps protect your ACL and ankles when you land, dodge, or play on that pushy girl who loves a cheeky elbow to get you off balance.
• Faster take-off speed: so when you explode for the ball, you’re actually winning it, not chasing after your player.
• Better agility + change of direction: because netball is played in every direction, we have to react to soooo much happening, so your body needs to keep up.

Ya know that split second where you plant to change direction and your knee just… wobbles? Or you get beaten wide off the centre pass because your first step sideways is slower than your player’s?

That’s why we train the sideways power, not just the straight-line stuff.

Your knees and netball performance will thank you later. 💅

If you’re the type of netballer who wants an edge, not just a workout, this is exactly what’s inside the Pre-Season Pro training app. 📲

DM us or comment APP and we’ll DM you with a free trial 😏

Norma Plummer: “If a shooter is shooting over the top of you [easily,] you’re ineffective.” 😮‍💨💯

Defending the shot isn’t one skill, it’s actually having different tools in your toolbox, and then bringing them out at different times to be the most disruptive. 😈

We’ve broken down some variations, from the standard two-hand lean right through to the late arm swap that changes the shooter’s visual read a split second before release.

Here’s a few you can add to your kit:
1. Standard Front Lean — two hands up, feet anchored, straight into the shooter’s line of sight.
2. One-Hand Reach Lean — one arm only for more reach, and the ability to block an outlet pass too.
3. Side Lean — 90 degrees side-on, changes the visual angle and can double as a block on the second shooter. The slightly off-centre hand here is a gamechanger!
4. The Windmill — set up one arm, swap to the other as the shooter releases.
5. Straight Vertical Jump — timed dead straight up as the shooter is about to release.
6. Forward-Intent Jump — jumping slightly forward (legally) to tilt over the flight path for a tip.
7. The Calf-Flick Jump — small, minimal-effort jump used purely to rush the shooter’s timing.

And that’s before you even get into hangs, or the two-player stuff like holds, lifts, double jumps, where you can work with your other defender as a unit.

There is no limit to what you can do with these. Left hand, right hand, inside hang, single jump, double jump, a lift, even just angling your hand slightly left of their vision. If you’re not exploring every tool in your toolbox, to figure out what your opposition hates the most… They’re getting easy shots on goal.

Mix them, stack them, change them possession to possession.

Because the moment your defence becomes predictable, the shooter stops thinking and starts scoring. The beauty of these is you can mix them so the shooter genuinely doesn’t know which version is coming next.

(Obvs, stay inside the intimidation and obstruction rules while you’re doing it. Disruptive doesn’t mean illegal!)

Did you know all of these? What are you trying next game? 👇

Original clip from SEN Netball

Confession: we’ve probably all been doing butt kicks and high knees wrong our entire netball lives. 🫣

We’ve been taught to bring that heel up and smack it into our glutes, right? Arch through that lower back to get the knees as high as humanly possible?

Yeah, we need to have a chat. 😬

Because when we crank into these aggressively, (and cold,) we’re not doing what we think we’re doing. Forceful stretching under load has actually been shown to temporarily reduce force output in the muscle you just stretched, so you could be quietly switching off the exact power you need in the next five minutes, not switching it on.

But instead if we make the movement more purposeful… actually IMPROVES speed and performance. 🏃‍♀️💨

The best runners in the world implement running mechanics like this because they’re rehearsing the EXACT pattern they’re about to be working with. There’s a whole body of research on something called post-activation performance enhancement, basically your muscles perform better a few minutes after doing a version of the exact movement they’re about to be asked to do.

This is because your body fires muscles based on what it thinks you’re about to do. Warm up sloppy, and your nervous system preps for sloppy. Then you wonder why you’re a bit slow for the first five minutes of the game, or why your legs feel like they haven’t turned on yet even though you’ve technically “warmed up.”

Do it properly and you’re basically pre-loading your sprint mechanics before you’ve even sprinted. You’ll feel faster off the mark, you’ll waste less energy overextending joints that didn’t need it, and your hip flexors and lower back will thank you for not smashing them before the game’s even started.

Knee tracking under the hip instead of pointing at the ground. Staying tall instead of arching. Punching through the ground instead of just flopping around like a fish.

Such small changes. But biiiiiiig payoff.

Steal this before your next warm up. 😏

You took on the coaching job because you wanted to help players and make a difference.

You didn’t realise you’d also become the canteen roster’s emergency contact, the lost property department, the equipment manager, the committee liaison, and the one fielding “running late” texts mid-warm-up. 🫠

Then on top of all that, you still have to plan trainings every single week that actually move the needle, oh, and also adjust them on the fly when numbers change, players are late, or the committee forgot to mention they’re pulling the girls out early for a fundraiser chat.

It’s a LOTTTT. 😳

At an elite level, in any sport, there are whole teams of people doing this stuff for you. At grassroots, there’s no extra personnel, no spare resources, and barely enough volunteers to go around.

Some of you didn’t even plan to be here, you just happened to be the one who put your hand up when no one else would. (MVP’s, all of you!!) 🙌

This is why we built our coaching resources.

We’ve been exactly where you are. We know how much time it takes to hunt down drills online, build sessions that genuinely improve your players, and not want to throw your phone in the bin every time another message rolls in and blows up the plan you spent an hour putting together.

Our session plans move the needle. They’re built to develop your players and easy to adjust when the numbers change on you last minute. Best of all, you get hours back in your week, EVERY WEEK.

You get to just show up and do what you’re actually there to do, coach the players.

Comment or DM BLUEPRINT and we’ll take a massive chunk off your to-do list, for the whole season. 😉

When we see zones taught, it’s usually the same sort of basic instruction: “stand in your space, hands up, confuse the area, go for anything that goes up into your space.”

But Jamaica showed us that’s barely scratching the surface of what a zone can ACTUALLY do. 😮‍💨

Watch the Comm Games semi back and you’ll see a defensive box that never stood still. Hands up over the ball, yes, but also constant cover rotations, shape-shifting depending on what Australia threw at it, players trusting each other enough to leave their space and know someone had their back.

That is a defensive system that’s been drilled until it’s second nature. 🤌

And the result? Australia were worn down… mentally and physically. Jamaica forced them backwards, forced them wide, made them use wayyyy more passes than they wanted just to get the ball into their circle.

I think we only think of zones only to get turnovers and intercepts… But a good zone, at its core, is just really frickin disruptive. It makes the opposition change their game style. You saw Australia hesitate on passes, not settle into their fast, dynamic style of play, their rhythm was disrupted, the coach even made positional changes to try and combat what Jamaica were doing. ALLLLL of those things are examples of what a good zone defence can actually do.

So if you’re only teaching your defenders to occupy space passively, you’re leaving so much on the table. A zone can be fluid like this. It can be relentless. It can press forward. You can adapt it to target the strengths of different oppositions. It can dictate the entire tempo of a game.

You can win games with them, when they’re done well.

Should we do a full breakdown on how Jamaica built it, how they set up, their footwork, their body positioning… and how to beat it if you’re facing one? Drop us a YES in the comments if you want to see us break this down in depth on our YouTube Channel! 🙂‍↕️

And if you want to get you hands on a copy of our Set Plays & Systems resource, where we teach you how to implement zones properly (and how to beat them) drop the word FLAG below. 🚩

Alright faves, ‘I don’t have a gym’ is not a reason to skip netball pre-season. 😉 Research is v. clear that a specific S&C program can cut netball injury risk by over 30% and improve your jump, sprint and change of direction speed. Soooo let’s stop sleeping on that, shall we?

All you need is a bit of space and 20-30 minutes. Here’s exactly what we’re doing.

1. Front Foot Elevated Lunges — 3 sets x 6-8 reps (each leg)
Add dumbbells and slow the tempo down to level it up. This builds single-leg strength through the exact range you’re in when you’re getting down for a loose ball or taking off for a lead.

2. Bodyweight or Goblet Squat — 3 sets x 10 reps
Or grab a dumbbell, kettlebell, or progress to a barbell back squat if you have equipment. Squat strength is your base for every jump, land and change of direction on court… Also super important if you want to stay strong in a hold.

3. Single Leg Elevated Glute Bridge — 3 sets x 8 reps (each side)
Modify to a regular glute bridge or slow the lower and explode up for more challenge. This fires up the glutes and hamstrings that stabilise your hip every time you land or push off one leg.

4. Romanian Deadlift or Good Morning — 3 sets x 10 reps
Banded or progress to a dumbbell RDL. This is your hamstring and glute strength for decelerating landings and protecting your knees, a legit non-negotiable for netball.

5. Skater Jumps — 3 sets x 10 reps (each side)
These are training the lateral power you need to change direction quickly and the mechanics to make sure you land safely to stay off the injury list.

6. Deadbugs — 3 sets x 8 (each side)
Core control that keeps your body stable under fatigue, so your technique doesn’t fall apart in the last quarter. Think holds, contests, strong passes and getting shots up accurately, you need good core strength for alllll of them.

And that’s it, that’s the session. Imagine doing something as simple as that (properly programmed, progressed and structured ofc 😉) for 8 weeks straight before your season starts.

That’s the difference between rocking up undercooked in round one and walking on court feeling unreallll.

Comment LEAP to make this season different 😏