Training methods

Netball is a game commonly played by females. Netball is a fast paced game involving the players to use many skills as well as having a good communication between the team players. Depending on the position that is being played, the game of netball will rely heavily on the anaerobic energy system with the aerobic energy system assisting in recovery between each energy burst. The duration of netball is 60 minutes consisting of four quarters of 15 minutes where there is a 3 or 5 minute break. The netball court is 30.5 meters in length and 15.25 meters wide. Although the netball court is divided into three sections measuring 10.17 meters and there are restrictions on which sections of the court particular players can be in. The player that I am training, Sophia, plays the centre position. The centre in the game is allowed over all sections of the court with the restrictions of the goal circle. The centre is one of the most important positions to play in the game as they start with the ball and support all the other positions. Their main task is to link the defence players to the goal or attacking players and is to play the role of both defence and attack.

In training Sophia there are three types of training that needs to be taken into account. The first type of training is aerobic. Aerobic training refers to the breathing that controls the amount of oxygen that helps the muscles to burn fuel and move. The types of training methods best suited for the centre position is fartlek training.

Fartlek training also known as ‘Speed play’ is a type of training that involves a higher intensity of interval running involving no rest period and focuses on improving speed and cardiovascular endurance. Fartlek not only works on the aerobic energy system but also the anaerobic energy system which is a skill that needs to be developed for all netball players. This is relevant to the centre position due to the fact that they are constantly running around the court with short