Become a better netballer
Practice makes perfect = a fallacy
If you practice a specific technique a lot you will become perfect in executing that technique. However if the technique is not the best there is to achieve the result, you will be not be perfect when trying to achieve the result. Thus
Perfect Practice makes Perfect
The S.P.E.E.D. Lite Netball program focuses on developing the most effective techniques for playing netball so as to achieve the required results.
Winning is currently the main focus of sport participation in schools. This means that most coaches will spend most of the time training in the “Training to Win” stage for athlete development and in doing this they do not spend enough time in developing the basic skills required. In sport development it is known that this type of coaching is not conducive to producing top athletes at the senior level. Ultimate Coaching, through the S.P.E.E.D. Lite Netball program, aims to address the lack of basic skill development inherent in most schools’ programs.
S.P.E.E.D.
- Speed – the main ingredient of any top class athlete
- Physical Development – develop the correct platform to build for the future
- Excellence – Learning to do everything in the best possible way
- Enjoy – have FUN while training
- Durable – create an athlete that can play his/her chosen sport with the least amount of injury interruptions.
Catching and Passing skills
Both these skills are dependent on a number of basic capabilities of the human. Things like kinesthetic awareness (also called muscle sense), vision, strength and mobility of joints are just some of the capabilities. For example, a lot of the speed of the ball travelling as well as its accuracy are determined by the strength and flexibility of the wrist. The flick of the wrist will determine the speed and path of the thrown ball. The stronger the wrist is and the bigger the controlled range of motion the more momentum can be transferred to the ball. This will allow for a higher quality pass.
Vision, especially depth perception, will allow for better judgement of where the ball is thrown. Kinesthetic awareness (muscle sense) is the ability to know how much strength to put on the pass, called weighting the pass.
Landing and turning
Landing is a major component of netball due to the nature of the sport. Since female athletes generally are more susceptible to knee injuries, the program spent a lot of time developing landing techniques to reduce the chance for injuries. Part of the program is spent strengthening the muscles controlling the hip, knee, and ankle joints. The program also incorporates a lot of proprioception development as it has been shown by numerous studies to strengthen these joints more effectively than traditional strength training.
Agility
Built into the program is a lot of activities designed to improve the athletes multi-directional speed or better known as Agility. There are some techniques that is inherent to the human body, but due to a number of factors this techniques has been suppressed. Lack of playing discovery games, climbing objects, and incorrect training techniques are all factors that play a role. A simple thing like foot plant can be the difference not only between beating an opponent but also reduce the chance of injuries developing over a long period.
Jumping higher
By improving the athletes’ jumping capabilities their acceleration usually improves at the same time. However, horizontal (sprint faster) and vertical (jump higher) acceleration requires different muscle groups to work in cooperation. The S.P.E.E.D. Lite program allows for this and incorporates exercises that develop these muscles in different ways.
Living healthier
Ultimate Coaching is able to advise on healthy living and eating habits. We do not prescribe specific diets. If athletes require specific diets they will be referred to specialists.
The Program
The S.P.E.E.D. Lite Netball program is a long term program designed to improve an athlete’s ability to play better netball. This program is run in conjunction with the Trinity Junior Netball Club and the Stellenbosch High School.
Because most of the skills required to play netball are movement based, the conditioning will take place through partial participation in the S.P.E.E.D. Lite program. This participation will allow for an improved ability to execute the skills of netball correctly.
This program is currently in redevelopment. More news coming soon.
Francois Nel will be the person overseeing the program. He has extensive knowledge of coaching and netball in particular. Read more about him here.