Passing in pairs
Netball drill · Age 7 and up
Most turnovers in junior netball are not interceptions. They are passes thrown at the wrong height or speed, or to where a team-mate was standing a second ago. Passing in pairs fixes the basics before anyone is chasing the ball: the right pass for the distance, thrown to a target, caught in two hands and moved on inside three seconds.
Adding it to a session puts it on your run sheet with its time and cue. It does not use up one of your saved plays. No account? Add it to a practice plan and print the run sheet for free.
- Time
- 10 minutes
- Players
- Pairs, one ball each
- Equipment
- 1 ball per pair (size 4 for juniors, size 5 from about age 11)
- Position bibs, or any two colours
- 4 cones to mark the ends of each pair's lane
Setup
- Pair players across the width of the court in the centre third, about 5 metres apart, one ball per pair.
- Start with chest passes: ball at the chest, thumbs behind it, step and push both arms out so the ball arrives flat at the partner's chest.
- After ten passes each, one player takes three steps back to about 8 metres and the pair switch to shoulder passes.
- Then the other player walks in to about 3 metres and the pair finish with bounce passes, the ball landing two-thirds of the way to the receiver.
- Swap roles so both players move back and in, and both throw every pass.
Coaching points
- Receiver: hands up and showing a target before the ball is thrown, fingers spread, thumbs nearly touching.
- Passer: step towards the target with the opposite foot to the throwing arm, and follow through so the fingers point at the target.
- Choose the pass for the distance: chest pass for most work, shoulder pass when it has to travel, bounce pass close in or past a tall defender.
- Catch, land, and get the next pass away. No juggling, and no clutching the ball to the chest while you decide.
On the run sheet: Target hands up, step into the pass, chest pass for five metres, shoulder pass for eight, bounce pass when it is close, catch in two hands and move it on inside three seconds
Progressions
- Two balls: both players hold one and pass at the same moment, one chest and one bounce, so nobody can switch off.
- Count passes in 30 seconds, and only count the ones caught cleanly in two hands.
- Add a third player in the middle as a passive defender with arms up, so every pass has to go round them.
How it runs
The centre (C) and wing attack (WA) stand across the centre third, five metres apart. The centre throws a chest pass. The centre then backs off to about eight metres, so the wing attack sends a shoulder pass back, and the wing attack walks in to three metres and takes a bounce pass. The animation shows one of each, every pass to a player who is standing still with hands up, and nobody moving while they hold the ball.
In training the pair stay on each distance for ten passes or so before they move. Swap the ball to the other player each time the distance changes, so both throw every pass. It is a non-contact drill, and the first thing to run in any netball session, from the youngest group up.
The rule it is practising
The three-second rule: once a player has caught the ball they have three seconds to pass or shoot it. A pair that catches, lands and throws in one smooth movement never gets close. It also practises the short pass rule. At the moment of the pass there has to be room for a third player to move between the hands of the thrower and the receiver, which is why the bounce pass at three metres is as close as the drill comes. Hand the ball over and the other team gets a free pass.
Junior formats such as England Netball's Bee Netball and Netball Australia's NetSetGO use a smaller ball and a lower ring, and some of them give beginners a little more leeway while they learn. Check the version your league plays, and coach the full rule anyway.
The mistakes to watch for
Passing to where the partner was rather than to their hands. Shoulder passes that loop high and slow, which a defender would read a mile away. Bounce passes that land too close to the passer and come up at the receiver's knees. And the receiver who catches the ball against their chest, then takes an extra second to get it back out.
More netball drills
Put Passing in pairs 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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