Feeding the Shooting Circle in Netball

Feeding the circle connects everything a team does through court to an actual scoring chance. It's mainly the job of the Wing Attack, who can reach the edge of the circle but never enter it, working with the Goal Attack. World Netball's description of the Wing Attack's role is simply "to feed the GS and GA to give them shooting opportunities".

Feed the space, not the player

World Netball's coaching material puts a lot of weight on ball placement: correct placement lets the receiver catch the ball in the right position. Placing the pass into space can be hard for some players to see, so the advice to coaches is to keep showing where the defender is and throwing the ball into the space away from them.

In the circle, that means watching how the shooter is being marked and where they're moving, and passing to where they'll be — not where they are now.

Choosing the pass

World Netball lists the factors that decide which pass to use and when to release it:

• where the attacker and defender are;
• how long the pass is;
• where your own defender is, at 0.9m;
• the timing of the attacker's movement.

In practice:

• A defender with arms up between you and the shooter leaves room underneath for a bounce pass.
• A defender fronting the shooter leaves space behind them for a lob pass, placed so the highest point of its arc is as it passes over the defender.
• A shooter who is free and close can take a quick, flat pass — the shorter the ball's time in the air, the less chance of an interception.

Timing

A good feed arrives as the shooter completes their move into space. World Netball's material notes that the passer has to choose the exact moment to release the ball — otherwise even a well-timed movement won't link with the pass. Feeder and shooter build that understanding together, in training.

See the whole circle

Much of decision-making depends on what a player sees: if they don't see it, they can't make a decision on it. Feeders who only look at their first-choice shooter miss the free one. World Netball's vision practice for this exact situation: as a centre-court player is about to feed the shooters, the coach stands behind the post or along the goal line and flashes a coloured card. The feeder calls out the colour while choosing the best option.

Managing risk

The circle is crowded, and a turnover there often leads straight to a counter-attack. Feeders have to balance finding the best shooting position against keeping possession — if no clean option is on, it's often better to reset the ball and work it round again than to force a risky feed.

Working together

Effective feeding usually involves more than one feeder — commonly Wing Attack and Goal Attack combining, sometimes with the Centre — so the defence can't simply shut down one passing lane. See circle feeding tactics for how teams structure this, and the circle feeding pressure drill for practice.

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 — "Passing Skills" (choosing and placing the pass), "Timing" and "Decision Making".
• World Netball: Foundation Coaching Cards 2, 5 and 6 — passing, the vision practice and ball placement; and the card introduction for each position's responsibilities.