Alcohol and Sport – A Bad Match
It may seem harmless to have a quiet beer or wine the night before a game. Or perhaps you go all out and even turn up to your netball game hungover. Either way the effects of alcohol – long and short term – do not mix well with sports of any kind.
Alcohol is so detrimental to your game it’s almost designed to make you bad at sports. It drastically reduces reaction time, dulls your body’s ability to process food into energy, increases body heat loss, leaves you dehydrated and puts you in greater risk of developing debilitating muscle cramps. In other words, even the most basic netball drills will leave you confused and exhausted.
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The Best Thirst Quenchers for Netball Athletes
Hydration is a very important factor in any athlete’s life, and with a high-intensity sport like netball it’s a must. The body loses about 2 litres of water everyday – and that’s without even exercising. Imagine how much you lose after an intense netball training session! Water is an essential component of our body, indeed it’s the most plentiful ingredient. Without it our blood wouldn’t flow to our muscles (or brain), we wouldn’t be able to cool ourselves or regulate temperature at all.
Keeping hydrated before, during and after sports wards of dreaded dehydration. We’re at risk if we lose as little as 3% of our body weight through sweating. but it’s not just surrounding games that athletes need to take in fluids. Using thirst as an indicator is a sign that you’re not drinking nearly enough fluids.
Water is the number one best choice for hydration. Not sweetened, flavoured, coloured or otherwise sullied water. Pure, simple water is what your body needs. Any other liquid is only ever effective for hydration because of the water it has in it.
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Shoot Like a Pro – Netball Shooting Tips and Techniques
You can catch, throw, pivot and block like a pro, but when it comes to shooting that ball are you the team champ? Being able to shoot a ball is a specialised and important talent to have on a netball team. Out of tall the netball player positions, only the Goal Shooter (GS) and the Goal Attack (GA) have a chance at scoring for your team, and if you’re one of them, you’re going to want to have a pretty high success rate. In the three seconds allowed to shoot the goal, knowing you have proper netball shooting technique and practice on your side will be invaluable. Make sure you’re the hero in your team by following these great tips for netball shooting:
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3 Off-Season Netball Training Programmes
When the final whistle of the netball season blows and your team is left with another off-season to wait through until the next game starts, how do you make sure they’re going to be just as fit and ready when the time comes? Of course, there are Summer leagues if you want to keep going all year round, but a break is probably the best idea as it gives your body a chance to recover from such regular high-intensity netball sessions.
Ideally, you’re going to want to focus on core strength, muscular and aerobic stamina and overall flexibility in your off-season. Injury rehabilitation should also be a focus here. If you’ve been injured on the court you should ask your physiotherapist about an off-season training programme that’s suited to you.
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4 Tips for Choosing a Netball Shoe
Footwork is one of the most important skills when playing netball. It makes sense to wear shoes that will give you safety and comfort. General sports or running shoes are not going to be adequate for the particular needs of the netball court. So if you’re serious about performing to the best of your ability, here’s some tips to help you find the perfect shoe:
- Movement. Think about your motion during netball practices and games: a lot of running and quick stops, lateral movements and sudden changes in direction. The support your shoe offers needs to reflect these ranges of motion. Regular running shoes are designed for straightforward motion, providing support that focuses on your heels and toes. Netball shoes need to offer an all-round support as well as maximum comfort and cushioning for the sides of your feet.
How to Return to Sport after an Injury
An injury is always bad news, but for a netball player, somebody who needs their body in peak position, it can throw their lives onto a different tangent altogether. We don’t like to think about it, but an injury can spell the end of an athlete’s career, especially when it’s a recurring problem that is consistently pulling them from the game. Proper care immediately after an injury and the rehabilitation that comes after it is important to get a player back in the game. Healing times vary for each case, and re-inserting yourself into a training regime takes a lot of careful thought.
As soon as your injury occurs, apply R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression, elevation) to cut down the long-lasting effects. From there you need to think about recovering from your injury as best you can before you can even think about taking the court again.
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How to Prevent Common Sports Injuries
To an athlete, especially in a fast-paced game like netball a sports injury can be a debilitating nuisance that puts you out of commission for weeks, months or even years. Sports injuries can happen at any time, and although some injuries are through no fault of the athlete’s, many injuries can be attributed to poor preparation before a game or other physical activity. Careful methods of prevention are key. Your body needs to be prepared for the strain it will be undertaking. Here’s a few tips to help you prevent sports injuries:
Warm up and stretch
The netball warmup and stretch are the single most important steps to take before your perform any sport. Warming up may involve a few laps around the court or riding a bike to training or the game itself. Regardless of what you choose, a low-intensity, full body workout is essential to get blood flowing through your body and raise your adrenaline levels.
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The Athlete’s Diet – A Guide For Netball Players
Netball is a game that requires a certain discipline and this extends to nutrition. Fuel is important for the body to function properly. Whilst a normal diet may do for a single game a week, getting the most out of your body’s capabilities is going to take a bit more effort. And if you’re attending several training sessions a week along with games, nutrition is an extremely essential part of your regime. Eating the right foods at the right times will not only prepare you for the game, it will also aid recovery. Taking control of your diet will have you in fighting form for your game and leave you with enough energy for the rest of your life.
Look at the week ahead to plan your meals. Often it’s a good idea to cook a large batch of food and subsist of this for a few days. When you come home from a gruelling game or netball training session it’s good to know that you can simply microwave or heat up a meal that’s healthy. This is also a great way to avoid junk food, which we often crave after heavy physical exertion. Another way to avoid the junk food is to try re-organising your days to have your main meal either during the day or prepared during the day so you can have it soon after returning home from training or your game.
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The Benefits of Team Sports for Young Women
It’s been proven time and time again that the benefits of team sports such as netball extend well beyond the court or field. Physical activity, bonding and the promotion of strategic thinking as well as quick decisions are all things which promote a healthy mind and body. Young women, from children to pre- and post-adolescence can often find guidance in their lives from the sports they play, drawing from the structure and support that they receive. Here’s a quick guide to the many benefits of team sports:
Health
It’s no secret that physical activity is the only way to keep fit and there’s no better way to keep up with a regular exercise regime than to be in a team sport. With the support of other team members and their reliance on you to be there and perform at the top of your game provides incentive to keep fit and healthy.
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Starting Young – Netball Drills for Children
Getting your children involved in sports at a young age is a great way to get them interested in keeping fit and healthy throughout their adult lives. Depending on how young your children are, their bodies will be still developing, so an adult training regime will not only exhaust them, it could also cause some damage.
Essential skills in netball are foot speed and passing speed and accuracy. Your basic training drills should focus on honing these skills.
Warm up and stretch
As with any physical activity, a warm up and stretch is imperative to get blood circulating and keep the body limber. Start with a few laps of the court. Nothing too strenuous, what you’re looking for here is just enough to get a sheen of sweat. Dynamic stretching is a great way of combining stretching with a warm up. These are stretches that are combined with movement, such as lunges, hamstring walks, arm swings, squats and torso twists. Have your kids complete a few sets of these. The great thing about using these exercise with kids is that, frankly, they look silly and your kids will enjoy them all the more.
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