How to Land in Netball
How to land in netball: one- and two-foot landings, landing softly and balanced, the outside foot on a lead, and how it sets up the footwork rule.
Land softly — toes, then heels, bending the ankles and knees — with your feet about shoulder-width apart, body upright and head up. On one foot, that foot is your landing foot; on two, it's the one you don't move first. You can step with the other foot and even lift the landing foot, but must pass or shoot before it touches down again.
How you land after catching the ball shapes everything you can legally do next. World Netball's coaching material treats it as a foundation skill in its own right: good landing technique lets you gain balance quickly before passing, and it minimises the risk of injury.
How to land well
World Netball's coaching points:
- Feet about shoulder-width apart — whether you land on one foot and quickly bring the other down, or on both feet at once. On one foot, bring the other down quickly to spread your weight over both.
- Body upright, head and eyes up.
- Bend the ankles, knees and hips slightly as you land, to cushion the impact.
- Knees in line with the feet, not in front of them — knees ahead of the feet show the weight is too far forward.
- Shoulders level, weight evenly spread.
- Land "softly", in sequence: toes, then heels, bending the knees and lowering your centre of gravity, staying in control throughout.
One-foot landing
When players catch on the move, they usually land on one foot first. That foot becomes your landing foot. Under the footwork rule you may then:
- step with the other foot in any direction, as often as you like, pivoting on the landing foot;
- lift the landing foot — but you must pass or shoot before it touches the ground again;
- jump from the landing foot onto the other foot and jump again, passing or shooting before either foot is re-grounded.
Two-foot landing
If you land on both feet at the same time, the landing foot is the one you don't move first — the other foot becomes the stepping foot, and from there the options are the same as for a one-foot landing. World Netball's manual says it doesn't matter whether players land on the left foot first, the right, or both at once; what matters is landing balanced and ready to pass.
Which foot to land on
On a lead to one side, land on your outside foot: leading to the right, land on the right foot as you catch; leading to the left, the left. That lets you turn away from your defender by pivoting on the outside foot (see how to pivot).
What you can never do
While holding the ball you may not drag or slide the landing foot, hop on either foot, jump from both feet and land on both feet, or — under the 2024 rules — fall to the ground and re-ground the landing foot. An off-balance landing that forces an extra step to steady yourself is the most common way players break these rules without meaning to. See footwork for the full rule.
How to practise
Practise landings on their own before adding a decision: jump, catch, and hold a balanced landing for a moment before passing. Then build up from jogging, to running, to sprinting — World Netball's guidance is to start movement activities slowly so the correct technique is learned before speed is added. The footwork, landing and pivot drill combines all three.
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 — "Balance & Landing" and "Movement & Agility".
- World Netball: Foundation Coaching Card 1 — Movement Skills — one- and two-foot landings.
- World Netball: Rules of Netball — for the footwork rule, as explained on our footwork page.
Common mistakes
- Landing off balance and taking an extra step to recover — a footwork infringement.
- Landing stiff-legged instead of bending the ankles and knees to absorb the impact.
- Knees ahead of the feet on landing, a sign the weight is too far forward.
- Losing track of which foot landed first under pressure.