Dodge and drive
Netball drill · Age 8 and up
A junior netballer standing still with a defender beside them will not get the ball, however loudly they call for it. Getting free is a skill: take the defender one way, then go hard the other way, towards the ball, at the moment the passer is ready. This drill teaches that timing in pairs against a marker, and it is the movement that every centre pass and every feed into the circle is built on.
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- Time
- 12 minutes
- Players
- Groups of 5: a feeder, two attackers and two defenders
- Equipment
- 1 ball per group
- Position bibs (C, WA, GA, WD, GD)
- The centre third and attacking third of a court, or cones for an 8-metre-wide channel
Setup
- The centre (C) stands in the centre third with the ball, facing the attacking end.
- The wing attack (WA) starts about 6 metres away in the centre third, with the wing defence (WD) marking them on the goal side.
- The goal attack (GA) starts in the attacking third, outside the circle, with the goal defence (GD) marking them.
- The WA dodges first and the C passes to them. As soon as the WA has the ball, the GA dodges and drives for the next pass.
- Rotate after every rep: feeder to WA, WA to GA, defenders swap in, so everyone works in each role.
Coaching points
- Sell the dodge: two or three quick steps with the head and shoulders, not a lean.
- Plant the outside foot hard and push off it, so the change of direction is sharp, not a curve.
- Drive towards the ball, not away from it. A lead that runs away from the passer makes a long, slow pass.
- Feeder: pass into the space in front of the driving player, as they come clear, not to where they started.
On the run sheet: Take the defender one way, plant the outside foot, drive back hard towards the ball, hands up early, the feeder passes into the space in front of you
Progressions
- Defenders go from passive (follow only) to half pace to trying to intercept.
- The attacker must use a different dodge each time: a fake, a double dodge, a roll, a change of pace.
- Give the feeder a defender at 0.9 m with arms up, so the pass has to beat a hand as well as a marker.
How it runs
The wing attack takes two quick steps inside, the wing defence goes with them, and the wing attack plants and drives back out, towards the ball. The centre passes into the space in front of them, and the wing attack catches it a step clear of the defender. Then it is the goal attack's turn: a fake towards the circle, a sharp change of direction, and a drive back out towards the wing attack, who passes to them. The animation shows both, with each defender a step behind at the catch.
Netball is a non-contact game, and this is a non-contact drill. The defender follows and tries to stay goal-side, but nobody holds, pushes or blocks.
The rule it is practising
The offside rule by position. The wing attack may play in the attacking and centre thirds, the goal attack in those two and the goal circle, and the drive has to stay inside them: a wing attack whose dodge carries them into the circle, or a goal attack who drives back into the defending third, gives away a free pass. Every movement in the animation stays in its own areas.
It also practises contact. A dodge that ends with a shoulder in the defender, or a defender who stands in the attacker's path with no chance of getting to the ball, is penalised. Junior formats such as Bee Netball and NetSetGO usually rotate positions, so every player learns which areas each bib may enter. Check how your league runs it.
The mistakes to watch for
Dodging when the feeder is not ready, so the attacker is free with no ball to receive. Driving in a curve, which the defender can follow. Leading away from the ball. And calling for it while standing still, which tells the defender exactly where the pass is going.
More netball drills
Put Dodge and drive in Tuesday's session
It lands on your practice plan already timed, with the coaching cue printed under it, next to your own plays.
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