What Is Obstruction in Netball?

Obstruction is easy to confuse with contact, but the two rules cover different things — obstruction is about distance and arm position, not physical touch.

The rule in plain English

A defending player must stay at least 0.9m away from an opponent who has the ball, measured from the landing foot of the player with the ball to the nearest part of the defender. Even from a legal distance, a defender also can't use their arms to limit the space an opponent has to throw or shoot, for example by waving them in front of the ball or the shooter's sightline in a way that goes beyond a genuine attempt to intercept or defend the shot.

A 2024 addition explicitly allows one defender to lift a teammate defender — not the attacker — to gain height when contesting a shot or pass, a move sometimes called "the lift." Both defenders must have their feet at least 0.9m from the player with the ball before the lift begins, and the lifting player must maintain that distance throughout. Once the lifted defender is airborne, with no feet on the ground, the 0.9m rule no longer applies to them specifically, so they can contest from a closer, elevated position — but every other rule still applies, including contact: the lifted defender still can't touch the shooter or the ball while it's in the shooter's hands.

A simple example

An attacker catches the ball and looks to pass. A defender closes in to just half a metre away with arms raised. Even though no contact is made, that's obstruction — the defender is inside the required 0.9m distance.

Legal vs illegal

Legal	Illegal
Marking at 0.9m or more from the player with the ball	Closing to less than 0.9m from the player with the ball
Raising arms to genuinely contest a pass or shot from a legal distance	Using arms to block an opponent's throwing or shooting space unfairly
Moving your feet to stay with an opponent while keeping distance	Shuffling in closer than 0.9m while the opponent still holds the ball

What the umpire is looking for

The umpire is judging the distance between the defender and the landing foot of the player holding the ball, and whether the defender's arm position genuinely limits the space to throw or shoot — this can be called even with zero physical contact between the players.

Restart

Obstruction is restarted with a penalty pass (or penalty shot, if it happened in the circle), taken unopposed from the spot of the infringement. The offending defender must retreat until the ball has been played.

Common misunderstandings

"We never touched." Obstruction doesn't require contact — distance and arm position alone are enough to trigger it.
Confusing obstruction with contact. Contact requires physical interference; obstruction is about distance and arm position and can be called without any touch.
"The ball was already gone." The 0.9m rule applies to the player holding the ball at that moment — once they release it, normal marking distances for players without the ball apply instead.

Player tips

Practise judging 0.9m by eye during training so it becomes instinctive in a match rather than something you have to consciously measure.
Defend with active feet and body position rather than closing distance — a good defensive stance can pressure an opponent without breaking the 0.9m rule.

Umpire tips

Watch the gap continuously as players move, not just at the moment the ball is caught — obstruction often develops as a defender closes in over a second or two.
Be clear about whether you're calling distance or arm position, since players adjust differently depending on which caused the call.

Obstruction and contact together define legal defending in netball. Both are commonly infringed while learning how to defend, and both are restarted the same way — with an unopposed penalty pass or shot.