What Is a Replayed Ball in Netball?
The replayed ball rule explained: why you can't play a thrown ball twice in a row, and the 2024 rule clarifying when you can legally recover your own bat, bounce or missed shot.
A player who throws the ball may not be the next to touch it — another player, the goalpost or the ring has to touch it first — but a player who bats or bounces the ball themselves (rather than throwing it) is allowed to catch it back themselves, and a shooter can always follow up their own missed shot from inside the circle.
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Written for
- Player, umpire
- Rule group
- Ball control
Replayed ball stops a player passing to themselves — but a 2024 rule change clarified exactly which self-actions are, and aren't, allowed, after this being one of the more confusing rules for years.
The rule in plain English
If a player throws the ball, they cannot be the next player to touch it — another player, the goalpost, or the goal ring has to make contact with it first. That core principle hasn't changed.
What the 2024 rules clarified is what happens when a player doesn't throw the ball but instead bats or bounces it themselves. A player is now explicitly allowed to:
- Bat the ball once, then catch it themselves.
- Bounce the ball once, then catch it themselves.
- Roll the ball to themselves.
- Catch the ball themselves if it rebounds off the goalpost.
The distinction that matters is throw versus bat/bounce/roll: a genuine throw to a teammate still requires someone or something else to touch it first if it goes astray, but knocking the ball on with a bat or a single bounce no longer does.
The shooting exception
There's also a specific, separate allowance for shooting: if a shot at goal is unsuccessful and the ball doesn't go through the ring, the shooter is allowed to be the first to regain the ball, provided they're still inside the goal circle and haven't broken any other rule (such as footwork) in doing so. This is what allows a shooter to rebound and reshoot their own missed attempt — see how to rebound for the technique this enables.
A simple example
You throw a chest pass toward a teammate, but it's slightly off target and no one touches it before it comes back within your reach. You can't be the one to catch it — the ball has to touch another player, the post, or the ring first. But if instead you deliberately bat the ball away from a defender and it comes back to you, you're allowed to catch it yourself, as long as you only batted it once.
Legal vs illegal
| Legal | Illegal |
|---|---|
| Batting the ball once, then catching it yourself | Batting the ball more than once before recovering it |
| Bouncing the ball once, then catching it yourself | Throwing the ball and catching your own pass before anyone else touches it |
| A shooter rebounding their own missed shot from inside the circle | A shooter rebounding a shot after stepping outside the circle first |
| The ball hitting the post or ring, then being played by the thrower | Rolling the ball to yourself more than the single allowed action |
What the umpire is looking for
The umpire is distinguishing between a throw (which needs another touch first) and a bat, bounce or roll (which a player can now legally recover themselves, once) — and, for shots at goal specifically, whether the shooter stayed within the circle.
Restart
Replayed ball is restarted with a free pass, taken from where the infringement occurred.
Common misunderstandings
- "Any ball I touch twice is a replayed ball." Not any more — only a genuine throw carries that restriction. A single bat or bounce that you recover yourself is legal under the 2024 rules.
- "It bounced off the ground, so that counts as someone else touching it." No — the ball touching the floor doesn't involve another player; it's the bat/bounce/roll allowance specifically that covers this, not a loophole around the throw rule.
- Assuming the shooting exception applies everywhere. It only applies to a shot at goal, not to open play passes.
Player tips
- After a genuine pass that might not reach its target cleanly, be ready to react to someone else touching it rather than positioning yourself to catch your own throw.
- As a shooter, know that you can legally chase your own rebound — don't hesitate to follow a missed shot back in.
Umpire tips
- Distinguish clearly between a thrown pass and a bat or bounce when judging whether a self-recovery was legal — this is the exact distinction the 2024 rule change was written to clarify.
- Remember the shooting exception specifically applies to the shooter following their own shot, inside the circle.
Related rules
Replayed ball sits alongside held ball and footwork as one of the core ball-control rules that shape how possession moves between players.
Common mistakes
- Throwing a pass and then catching a deflection that has not touched another player, the post, or the ring first.
- Assuming a batted or bounced ball is treated the same as a thrown one — the 2024 rules explicitly separate the two.
- Batting or bouncing the ball more than once before recovering it, which isn't covered by the allowance.
Official source: checked against the World Netball Rules 2024, published by World Netball. Last checked 19 August 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.