NetballExplained

Planning a Netball Season

How to plan a netball season: reviewing the last one, working backwards from your key event, building the plan, choosing squads, and setting goals.

Written by Claire McDonald · Last updated

Start by reviewing the season just gone — including your own coaching. Then work backwards from your key event and break the year down into the season, months, weeks and days. Put every event, holiday and training session on one master planner, with rest days built in, and set team and individual goals.

A season is more than a run of separate sessions. World Netball's coaching manual puts it in two phrases: "proper prior planning prevents poor performance", and "failing to prepare is preparing to fail". It suggests planning a yearly programme from season to season, and spending time on the year ahead before pre-season starts.

Start with a review

The most important part of the planning, according to the manual, comes first: a review of where you've been. A few weeks after the end of the season, gather your support staff — assistant coach, manager, whoever you have — and go through the year step by step. If you don't know where you've been, it asks, how can you know where you're going?

Review your own coaching too. The manual suggests rating yourself out of ten on:

  1. knowledge of tactics, strategies and rules;
  2. communication and feedback;
  3. keeping variety in your training;
  4. willingness to take on new ideas;
  5. availability to players;
  6. individual time with players;
  7. the team's performance;
  8. your overall performance.

Then ask a trusted coaching colleague — or the players — to rate you on the same list. Do the same for your support staff, or decide whether you need some and where they might come from. Finish by sharing what went well and should be kept, and the problem areas that need attention.

Work backwards

Planning a season backwards Top: a timeline running from the review of last season, through pre-season and the season, to the key event or final destination. A dashed arrow runs back from the key event to the start, showing that planning starts at the destination and works backwards. Bottom: nested boxes showing the plan broken down from year to season, month, week and day. Review last season Pre-season Season Key event Plan from the destination backwards Year Season Month Week Day
Work backwards, then break it down. Start with a review of the season just gone, decide where the team needs to be by its key event, and plan backwards from there — then break the plan down from the year to the season, month, week and individual session.

The manual calls the next step periodisation: look at the season ahead, start from your final destination, and work backwards. Its checklist:

  • sit down and start at the beginning;
  • review the year just gone;
  • target areas for improvement;
  • start at your final destination and work backwards;
  • plan the yearly cycle, the seasonal cycle, month by month, week by week and day by day.

What goes in the plan

  • Events. Every competition and tournament — plus anything else that affects the team: a school event involving players, or a social event that changes who's available.
  • Holidays. Public holidays and festivals that take players away from training.
  • Training sessions. List every session for the season, and make sure there are rest and recovery days in the plan.
  • Squad or team. Decide whether you're picking a squad or a team; if a squad, when it becomes the team; when squads and teams are announced; how far ahead of an event selection happens; and who the next line or reserves are. Give every player a fair and equal opportunity.

Write it all on one master planner, then step back and study it — it may need changes. It's always easier to take something out of a plan than to add it.

Goals and the to-do list

Before the season starts, the manual suggests listing:

  • your objectives and key performance indicators;
  • team goals and individual goals;
  • what each support staff member needs to do for the players;
  • team organisation, equipment and uniforms.

Keeping skills sharp in-season

Once matches start, it's easy for every session to become match preparation. Keep the foundation skills in every session — World Netball's manual stresses that even coaches at the top level make sure the basics are done consistently — and use what you see in matches to decide what to work on next (see session planning and skill progression).

Sources

All information on this page is given to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing (October 2026), after referring to the official sources below.

Coaching points

  • Hold the season review a few weeks after the last match, with your assistant coach and manager if you have them.
  • Put too much in the plan rather than too little — it's easier to take things out than to add them mid-season.
  • Schedule rest and recovery days, not just lighter sessions.

Common mistakes

  • Planning session by session with no picture of where the season is heading.
  • Skipping the review, so last season's problems carry straight over.
  • Forgetting school events, holidays and social events that affect who can train.
  • Leaving squad selection timings vague, so players don't know where they stand.