Goalball Tactics
Senior 2 · Physical Education
Goalball Tactics
Lesson 3 of 3
22 min
In goalball every player defends, and every throw is a test of the whole team. A defence that listens well, talks well and covers the goal without gaps can hold even a powerful thrower to very few goals. This lesson covers the four parts of good defence, then shows you how to run a full game in class.
Between throws, defenders wait in a low, ready position in their team area: on their knees or crouched, facing the throw, hands ready. When they hear the throw, they lay out: slide onto one hip and stretch the arms above the head and the legs out, making the body as long as possible across the path of the ball. Some players block with the chest and absorb the ball; others block with the legs and let the ball roll up into their hands. Keep the arms up to protect the head. Part of the body must stay in the team area, or it is illegal defence.
Talk before and between throws: call where the thrower is ("right wing throwing!"), who takes a ball that stops between two players ("mine!"), and when the ball is held ("got it!"). Short, agreed words work best, and every player must know them before the game.
Listen for the thrower's footsteps, the release of the ball and the bells as it rolls. Move early into the line of the ball rather than waiting until it is close. Learn each opponent's habits: some always throw to the same corner or always use the same kind of throw.
The usual formation is a triangle: the centre near the front of the team area, the two wings further back towards the goal, one on each side. Staggering the players stops them colliding when they dive towards the same ball, and lets their laid-out bodies overlap so that no gap is left across the goal.
Figure 2. The triangle formation. The shaded bars show how much each player covers when laid out; the bars overlap. Diagram: Ganzaa.
If one player is down or out of position, the others shift to cover the gap and call out what they are doing. After each block, everyone returns to their position using the tactile lines.
The centre, Mutesi, dives left to block. The ball bounces off her and rolls towards the right wing's space.
Decision. The right wing calls "mine!" and controls the ball, while Mutesi returns to her mark. Without the call, two players might dive for the same ball and collide, or both might leave it.
Inclusion. Goalball is one of the few team sports in which a classmate with a visual impairment and a sighted classmate play on exactly equal terms. Everyone wears eyeshades. Explain the court aloud, let players walk and feel the lines before playing, and when guiding someone, offer your elbow and ask before touching.
Tip
Memory hook: "Listen, call, lay out, recover." These four actions happen on every defensive throw, in that order.
Why is the centre usually placed in front of the wings, not level with them?
Solution. So that players diving for the same ball do not collide, and so that their laid-out bodies overlap and leave no gaps.
Describe a layout block in two sentences.
Solution. The defender slides onto one hip, stretches the arms above the head and the legs out, making the body as long as possible across the ball's path. Part of the body must stay in the team area.
The right wing is still getting up after a block. What should the centre do?
Solution. Shift towards the right to cover the gap, and call out that she is covering, until the wing is back.
Give two jobs that out-of-play students can do in a class game.
Solution. Any two of: goal judge, ten-second timer, scorer, referee.
Remember
Sources and credits
This lesson adapts CC BY-SA material and is shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.
