How to Defend a Shooter in Netball
How Goal Keeper and Goal Defence defend a shooter in netball: contesting space in the circle without conceding contact or obstruction.
Defending a shooter means winning position early, staying goal-side, and contesting the shot with a legally timed jump — reaching in with the arms or closing inside 0.9m almost always concedes a penalty instead of stopping the shot.
Defending a shooter — the core job of Goal Keeper and, further out, Goal Defence — is one of the most rule-constrained defensive tasks in netball, since it happens in the smallest, most contested area of the court.
Winning position early
The contest starts well before the shot — getting and holding a goal-side position as the shooter works to get free is what makes an effective contest possible later. A defender who's already lost position by the time the shooter receives the ball is defending from behind rather than contesting properly.
Legal distance while they hold the ball
The moment a shooter has the ball, the same 0.9m distance and arm-position rules apply as anywhere else on court — see obstruction. Closing in too tight while they're still holding the ball is one of the most common ways defenders concede a penalty shot before the shooter has even released the ball.
Contesting the shot itself
Once the shooter releases the ball, a defender can legally contest with a vertical jump timed to the shot — but reaching toward the shooter's hands or arms during the release very often results in a contact call. The safest and most effective technique is a straight, disciplined jump that contests the ball's flight rather than the shooter's body.
After the shot
Whether the shot goes in or misses, defending doesn't stop at the release — see how to rebound for winning the ball back after a miss, which is often more valuable than the contest itself.
Practising it
Practise contesting shots from a variety of angles and distances with a live shooter, focusing on clean vertical jumps rather than reaching, and review video where possible to spot arm-position habits that concede penalties in matches.
Common mistakes
- Reaching toward the ball during the shooter's release instead of contesting with a clean vertical jump.
- Losing goal-side position by ball-watching instead of tracking the shooter's movement.
- Closing inside 0.9m while the shooter still holds the ball, conceding obstruction before the shot is even taken.