Defending exercises: marking, intercepting and defending the shot – Netball Game Situation (Senior 3 Physical Education) | Ganzaa

Netball Game Situation

Lessons

Senior 3 · Physical Education

Netball Game Situation

3 lessons

Lesson 2 of 3

Defending exercises: marking, intercepting and defending the shot

25 min

Every pass is a chance

A netball team needs about a dozen passes to take the ball from one end of the court to the other, and every one of them is a chance for a defender to intercept. Good defenders win the ball back by reading the play, getting a hand to the ball first, and pressuring passes and shots without breaking the rules on obstruction and contact. This lesson refines those skills.

Definition

Player-to-player marking: each defender marks one opponent all over her area. Zone defence: defenders guard spaces in a third and pick up whoever enters them.

Interception: catching or deflecting an opponent's pass.

Obstruction (Rules of Netball 2024): defending a player who has the ball from closer than 0.9 m (3 ft), measured on the ground from her landing foot to your nearer foot.

Contact: physical contact that interferes with an opponent's play, whether accidental or deliberate. It is penalised, and any contact with the head or neck is treated seriously.

Defending in three stages

Stage	What you do
1. Mark the player	Stay close (front, side or behind your opponent), watching her and the ball; deny her the space she wants.
2. Defend the pass	When she receives, step back to 0.9 m at once and raise your arms over the ball to block the pass or make it hard.
3. Defend the shot	From 0.9 m, lean forward with one or both arms stretched up over the ball; time a jump to the release; then turn and rebound.

Intercepting

Watch the eyes and shoulders of the player with the ball to read the next pass.
Stay just off your player's shoulder, ready to go.
Decide early: go for the ball only if you can reach it first; otherwise stay with your player.
Take off from the outside foot, reach with the inside hand, and catch with both hands if possible.
Land in balance; you now have 3 seconds and the footwork rule applies to you.

The 0.9 m rule

Figure: a defender may stand closer than 0.9 m only if she makes no attempt to defend the ball. A defender at 0.9 m may jump towards the ball and land within 0.9 m, as long as she does not interfere with the pass or shot.

Penalties

Free pass, for minor infringements (footwork, 3 seconds, offside, short pass).
Penalty pass, for major infringements (obstruction, contact). The infringer stands out of play, beside but away from the thrower, and takes no part until the ball is released.
In the goal circle, a major infringement against the Goal Shooter or Goal Attack gives a penalty pass or shot.

Exercises

Mirror marking: defender copies a moving attacker in a 4 m square for 20 s, staying within an arm's length.
Three-player intercept: two feeders pass across a 6 m channel; the defender in the middle times one interception in five.
Circle defence 2 v 2: GK and GD against GS and GA; WA feeds; the defenders win a point for every intercepted or rebounded ball.

Video: "Netball Defending - Vision & Intercepting - 8 activities", Netskills. Try the first three activities, and notice how the defenders watch both the ball and their opponent.

Worked example

Worked example: legal or not? Three defenders and a Goal Shooter who has just landed on her right foot in the circle:

Defender 1 stands with her nearer foot 1.0 m from the shooter's right foot and stretches both arms over the ball. Legal: 1.0 m is more than 0.9 m.
Defender 2 stands 0.6 m away with her arms down by her sides, making no attempt to defend. Legal: she is close but not defending.
Defender 3 stands 0.7 m away and raises her arms over the ball. Obstruction: she is defending from less than 0.9 m. The shooter's team gets a penalty pass or shot, and Defender 3 stands out of play.

Tip

Step back, then up. The moment your player catches the ball, take a quick step back to 0.9 m, then reach up. Defenders who reach first and step later give away obstruction.

Warning

Safety. Contact with the head or neck, and dangerous play such as pushing a player in the air, are punished severely under the 2024 rules: keep your hands on the ball, not the player. Land on both feet after jumping to intercept, and call "Mine!" to avoid collisions.

✦

Practice

Explain the difference between player-to-player marking and zone defence.
From where to where is the 0.9 m distance measured?
What is the difference between a free pass and a penalty pass?
What does "standing out of play" mean?
A defender stands 0.5 m from a shooter with her hands by her sides. Is that obstruction?
The GK jumps from 0.9 m towards the ball and lands 0.5 m from the shooter without touching her or the ball. Is it legal?
Your team keeps losing the ball on passes into the circle. Suggest a defensive plan for your GK and GD.
Evaluate player-to-player marking against a zone defence for a team whose players are fast but short.

Show answersHide answers

In player-to-player marking each defender follows one opponent; in zone defence defenders guard spaces and pick up whoever enters them.
On the ground, from the nearest part of the attacker's landing foot to the nearest part of the defender's nearer foot.
A free pass is for a minor infringement and the infringer stays in play; a penalty pass is for a major infringement and the infringer must stand out of play beside the thrower.
Standing beside but away from the player taking the penalty pass, without moving or taking part, until the ball is released.
No: she is within 0.9 m but making no attempt to defend.
Yes: a defender at the correct distance may jump towards the ball and land within 0.9 m, as long as she does not interfere with the shot.
Example: GD fronts the GA to deny the space, GK plays behind the GS to take lobs; both call to each other; when a feed comes, one goes for the interception and the other covers.
Fast, short players may do better in player-to-player marking, using their speed to deny space and intercept early passes; in a zone they would face taller attackers in the air in front of them. A zone could still work in the centre third, where speed in covering spaces matters.

Remember

Mark, then defend the pass, then defend the shot; rebound.
0.9 m from the landing foot to your nearer foot before you defend the ball.
Free pass for minor infringements; penalty pass (or penalty pass or shot in the circle) for major ones.
Play the ball, never the player: contact with head or neck is punished severely.

Sources and credits

Netball, Wikipedia contributors, Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted by Ganzaa.
Rules of Netball, 2024 Edition, World Netball: obstruction, contact and penalty rules, summarised.
Photo: Netball at Namboole, Joekyabby1, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Video: "Netball Defending - Vision & Intercepting - 8 activities", Netskills, embedded from YouTube.
Distance diagram, exercises, worked example and practice: written by Ganzaa.

This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.

1Every pass is a chance

2Defending in three stages

3Intercepting

4The 0.9 m rule

5Penalties