Fitness Tips For Netball Players

Athletes are some of the healthiest and fittest persons in the world. After all, they need to be in excellent form and condition physically, mentally, and emotionally if they want to excel in their sport. In addition, if they are not physically fit and healthy, they will simply be plagued by various injuries and aches during and after they play a game.

Netball players need to be perfectly fit as well. If they want to avoid injuries and excel in this sport, they need to be in tip-top form and condition all the time.

Below are some fitness tips netball players would do well to follow:

Work on your speed. Speed is one of the key skills netball players need to have. You need to have great speed to sprint into position quickly, change direction suddenly, and to jump up when you need to intercept a ball. You can work on this skill by including plyometrics in your training. These include jumping up the stairs, leaping sideways, and jumping over low hurdles. Fartlek training is also highly recommended for netball players. This type of training focuses on explosively sprinting over short distances. Keep in mind that to be quicker, you have to improve your power and your leg strength.

Improve your endurance. If you want to maintain your pace for one whole game of netball, endurance is crucial. To work on this, train by building up to running continuously for up to 20 minutes. Slow down only when you need to then speed up for a sprint.

Boost your core stability and balance. Stability and balance helps greatly with almost every aspect of attack and defense. Whether you are a defender leaning in to guard the ball, the shooter standing on one leg, or you simply want to be able to jump and change positions quickly, having balance and core stability will help improve your game and aid you greatly with avoiding injuries. You can strengthen your balance and stability by doing strength exercises for the arms, chest, and shoulder while standing on the opposite leg. Twisting lunges while holding a medicine ball or dumbbell should also be part of your workout regimen. Performing exercises on a Swiss ball or by standing on a wobble board (or on one leg for one minute, building up to doing it with your eyes closed) are also great ways for improving balance and stability. Just make sure you include holding the plank position for up to one minute at a time in your strength regime.