Defending A Shooter who Splits before shooting

Lee-annes NetballCoach, Australia

there are some things in netball that are very difficult to defend. and the split land is one of them. the only way to try and defend it, is to have very good footwork and blocking/zoning skills as a defender, and then you are just trying to keep the shooter as far away from the ring so when she does split she will have to do it twice to shoot and the defender might be skillful and fast enough to see what she is setting up and be ready to get the intercept. my advise is do some blocking drills with the defence to keep them high and when the pass comes in that they are ready to get their feet around at least to the side but preferably in front to take an intercept or at least get a tip to it. watch you tube to see some high grade games to see what the defence are doing and then look for some drills that helps strengthen those skills in your players.

Janet Coach, Australia

With the shooter that attempts to split after catching in the air, I encourage players to watch the flight of the ball and attempt the intercept if it is being passed within reasonable shooting distance. Defending a shot close to the goals usually equals a successful shot so there is nothing to lose by trying for the intercept first and covering the shot second.

With the shooter on the outer area of the circle that likes to pass out, split and gain ground closer to the goal post, I ask my defenders to block from behind to prevent the step back and hopefully force a sideways movement but they must be active and ready with the outside arm. I find if they defend from side on in that situation the goalie just slips through to the free side whereas when blocking from behind the defender can cover the step back and possibly both sides if they are quick (might also attract a contact penalty on a pushy shooter trying to push their way towards the goals). Defenders need to be aware that it is not always necessary to step back .9m to allow a goalie to gain that ground if they are not looking to shoot and that they must close up distance immediately there is a turn to pass the ball off. They only need to be .9m from a player with the ball if not interfering or attempting to defend and can sometimes get their distance too early giving the shooter space to move into.