What Is 'Over a Third' in Netball?
The over a third rule in netball explained: why the ball can't be thrown over a full third of the court without being touched.
The ball can't be thrown directly over a full third of the court — from behind one transverse line to beyond the next — without being touched or caught by a player standing in the third it crosses.
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Written for
- Player, umpire
- Rule group
- Ball control
Over a third is a rule most players rarely think about, but it's a deliberate limit on how far the ball can be thrown in a single pass.
The rule in plain English
A player cannot throw the ball so that it crosses an entire third of the court without touching or being caught by a player standing in that third. The rule itself says the ball must be caught or touched by a player in each third (Rule 12.3). In practice, a pass thrown from within the defensive third can't sail over the whole centre third — someone has to touch or catch it in the centre third first.
To count as being "in" a third, the player who catches or touches the ball must be standing wholly in it, or — if they catch it in the air — land with their first foot or both feet wholly in it (Rule 12.4). A player who catches the ball and lands astride the transverse line must pass it into one of those two thirds (Rule 12.6).
A simple example
A Goal Keeper, deep in the defensive third, throws a long, high pass that travels the entire length of the centre third and is caught directly by a Goal Attack already standing in the attacking third. Because no player touched the ball while it was over the centre third, this is over a third.
Legal vs illegal
| Legal | Illegal |
|---|---|
| A long pass within two adjoining thirds (e.g. defensive to centre third) | A pass thrown from one third directly into the third beyond the next, with nobody touching it in between |
| A pass that crosses a full third but is touched by a player standing in that third | A pass that clears an entire third with no contact by any player in it |
What the umpire is looking for
The umpire is tracking the ball's flight relative to the transverse lines, watching whether any player makes genuine contact with it while it's within the third it's crossing.
Restart
Over a third is penalised with a free pass to the other team, taken by the transverse line where the ball first entered the third incorrectly. If the ball goes out over the goal line instead, it's a throw-in.
Common misunderstandings
- "Any long pass is illegal." A long pass is completely legal as long as it doesn't clear a full third untouched — most long passes stay within two adjoining thirds and are unaffected by this rule.
- Confusing this with over-the-line rules in other sports. This isn't about a single line, but about clearing an entire third's width without contact.
Player tips
- When passing from deep in your own third, know roughly how far a full-third pass would need to travel, and aim to keep it within two thirds unless you're confident a teammate can touch it in the middle third.
Umpire tips
- Track the transverse lines specifically during long passes, since this infringement is easy to miss at speed if attention is only on the receiver.
Related rules
Over a third and short pass are the two ball-control rules most players encounter least often, both designed to keep passing genuinely contestable rather than allowing the ball to skip large areas of the court untouched.
Common mistakes
- A long pass from deep in the defensive third landing directly in the attacking third without anyone touching it in the centre third.
- Misjudging where the transverse lines actually are during a fast passage of play.
- Confusing this with a simple long pass within two thirds, which is completely legal.
Official source: checked against the World Netball Rules 2024, published by World Netball. Last checked 10 October 2026.
Always check the official World Netball rulebook for the definitive, current wording. This site explains and illustrates the rules; it does not replace them.