Netball Session Planning

World Netball's coaching manual is direct about this: anyone can write down a few drills, but you don't do drills for drills' sake. You need to know why you're doing each activity and where it fits into play on court. Before planning, it suggests thinking about the length of the session, the venue, the equipment available and the aim of the session. One to one and a half hours, depending on the age of the players, is enough if the work is good quality — training is about quality and relevance, not quantity.

The five parts of a session

World Netball sets out five components. Their order can change with the aim of the session, but most often stays like this:

1. Warm-up (about 15 minutes). Raise body temperature so the muscles are ready for what follows. Vary warm-ups from session to session so they don't become boring, and make them enjoyable. Stretching should be dynamic — lunges, squats, leg and arm swings, upper-body twists — not static. Build from easy movements to faster, stronger ones, and use netball movements: jogging, running, sprints, jumps, changes of direction, slides and side steps. The give-and-go warm-up is an example.
2. Movement and agility, or fitness (about 15 minutes). How much fitness work depends on age: juniors need little. Keep it relevant to netball — an explosive game of repeated short bursts, needing endurance, strength, power and speed. Interval or circuit work, built from netball movements, fits better than long-distance running.
3. Skill development (about 30 minutes). The most important part of the session, because nothing substitutes for skill. Introduce new skills or reinforce ones already taught. Vary it: players working alone, in pairs, small groups or as a team, with or without a ball. Be flexible — if players need more time on skills, take it, even if it means dropping strategies altogether.
4. Team strategies or minor games (about 20 minutes). Discuss new strategies or tactics, then put them into match-like situations. Make the patterns a framework, not a script, so players can add their own creativity.
5. Cool-down (about 10 minutes). Low-intensity movement such as walking or slow jogging, then static stretches held for 20–30 seconds.

The timings are only a guide; your judgement of what the players need decides the final split.

What makes a session work

World Netball's checklist for planning and delivering a session — it should:

• be fun;
• spend a large share of the time on the topic of the session;
• keep players actively involved as much as possible;
• group players according to their level of ability;
• let players see and hear instructions and demonstrations;
• be safe, with equipment that suits their stage of development;
• set high but supportive expectations;
• flow forward smoothly;
• encourage players to take responsibility and ownership.

Above all, it says, training should be enjoyable.

Plan around a problem

The best sessions start from something you've seen. The manual's advice is to watch players in action — isolate one or two and follow their footwork and movement patterns — and build activities that fix a fault seen in matches. Don't lose sight of the basics while you do it: check the landing foot, the hands on the catch, what the arms are doing when players sprint. Left alone, small faults grow into big ones.

Its worked example starts from a problem: the Centre, Wing Attack and Goal Attack are struggling to get free and find the right space when the ball comes out of defence. The session goes back to a basic set-up and rebuilds the skill step by step, until it's an on-court situation:

1. Two attackers in the middle keep moving and offering leads, while the ball travels end to end through them.
2. The attacker who passes from the end then drives through into space for the second pass.
3. Add one defender in the middle, then a second.
4. Attackers offer short, medium and long options.
5. Move it onto the court, with the ball going through to the Goal Shooter.
6. Restrict the space, and only allow leads into space not already taken by another attacker.
7. Add more defenders, starting the ball from the defensive transverse line.

See skill progression for the principle behind building a session like this.

When numbers or space are short

Keep a few activities in reserve that work with fewer players or less space — the triangle passing drill needs three players and no goalpost — so a small turnout doesn't wreck the plan.

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.

• World Netball: Foundation Coaching Manual — "Conducting a Training Session" (components, timings and the worked example) and "The Role of the Coach".
• World Netball: Foundation Coaching Cards — "Conducting a training session".