Circuit Training Enhance Reaction Time, Engagement and Strength.
I think that using circuit training in Netball is the best option for me this is because I’m able to do a range of activities to enhance my reaction time, keeping me more engaged during training which will result into the better results. Other training methods such as: Fartlek, interval and continuous training isn’t appropriate for improving reaction time as they improve aerobic fitness and fitness components such as cardiovascular endurance. By doing circuit training I can also focus on other aspects such as muscular strength in the leg muscles as I’m going to bind plyometrics into some of the stations as to improve reaction time I must also improve other fitness components.
Table of Contents:
- #1 Defensive Drills
- Making over the ball with your arms
- Restriction
- Intercepting
- #2 Visual Guidance
- Drill 1 restriction drills
- Drill 2 interception drills
- Drill 3 intercepting/restricting drills
- Drill 4 marking over the ball
- #3 Intrinsic Motivation
- #4 Extrinsic Motivation
Defensive drills – Within defending there are multiple phases that must be followed in order to gain turnovers.
Phase 1 – Marking over the ball with your arms (when 3ft away), making it harder for the player to make an effective decision on who to throw too as vision is obstructed.
Phase 2 – Restriction, making sure your on their body making is parallel to theirs and obstructing their ability to move from changing direction or driving into a space, this phase is to prevent the offensive from driving into space.
Phase 3- Intercepting, making sure that turnover is made and possession has been gained over the ball, if the previous 2 phases have been executed accurately, this stage will be easier to achieve.
Before undergoing the drills I will make sure to complete the same warm up I done for my reaction time and do a cool down at the end.
Visual guidance will be the best form of guidance to show people how to perform the drill with the correct technique and intensity. It can be done by using a: demonstration, image, video or an observation. The one which will be the most beneficial to my circuit training is the demonstrations as it will allow me and the other participants to picture the drill and the that objectives need to be met whilst doing it, it allows me to see the technique involved and allows me to understand it better as I am a visual learner. It will be accompanied with verbal guidance, this will be given by my coach who will walk around my training and give us advice on how to improve it and will allow me to identify where I’m going wrong and as a result will improve my technique within the game. If I have a poor running technique the importance of exercising is vital when doing sprints, my coach assess what I’m doing and address the problem, in hopes that I use that advice the next time I sprint.
DRILL 1 – Restriction drills
- Participants must be in pairs and must label themselves defence or offense. The attacker must start behind the backline with the defender in front and the attacker must pretend to throw an overhead ball (this mirrors a backline pass that would be made if a call is made in the offensive circle), once that move is made the defender must lock into the other player with feet shoulder width apart, and making sure they’re not using their arms to mark (as within a games situation that would be called out as contact. The defender now must be around a few inches away from the player (but must not have their body on them as that too would be contact). The aim of the attacker is to move down the court using a variety of movement to lose the defender who is restricting, such as dodging, change of pace etc. Both participants must start the drill with effort levels at 50%, then once the 5 minute timer is up they must increase to 80% and then 100%. This allows defenders to know within a game if they must be putting in more effort in and as a result will be more likely to be alerted within a game situation and gain the turnover, players can switch between the attacker within the 5 minutes. When doing this the players can feel a sense of the anaerobic.
DRILL 2 – Interception drill
- Participants must be in groups of 3. One person stands around 5-6feet away and faces the 2 other participants, the other 2 must be standing behind one another. The aim of this drill is to use 2 hands when grabbing the ball and improving the ability to jump to a high altitude whilst in a stationary position. The reason for the person standing behind is to put body pressure onto the person jumping, as chances are as a defender when marking the front position of an attacker we will need to outjump the player we’re marking to make sure that the turnover isn’t given to the other team. In this drill the thrower must throw a high ball to the jumper, making it increasingly harder each time. This tests their explosive strength within their quadriceps and it allows them and also makes them react to the way their body is positioned to get that ball, forcing them to go onto the balls of their feet to maximise reaction time and the ability to grab hold of it. It forces the jumper to use both hands, as otherwise the ball isn’t securely taken in and as a result the ball may be thrown away to the other team as you’ve got an attacker behind you, giving them a goal advantage.
Drill 3 – Intercepting/restricting drills
- This drill will improve my timing of my interceptions as many times within a game I may be too early or too late for my interception, dependant on externally paced factors such as at what pace my player is running at and how quick my reaction time is, it would also include some factors such as man to man defence. This will involve a larger group of around 20-24 people. The court will be split up into half and a defender must stand in between the cones in their own sections, each section will have a new defender. People will get into pairs and will throw chest passes down the court, as they go down the court they’ll have a defender who will obstruct their passage of play. As a defender I must time my drive as they go down the court and anticipate whatever pass their planning on using (whether it be a shoulder pass, chest pass etc.). The aim is to keep on trying to create a turnover and must continue too until they’re out of your section. Once they’ve reached the end of the court they’ll go down the otherwise and face 4 new defenders. This allows me to focus on my placement within the court and how I react to my stimuli (the players coming up the court).
Drill 4 – Marking over the ball and placed within match play.
- After putting in all the other skills into practice with my drills we must put it into a games situation as then we’ll have to react to a variety of externally paced and open skills within the court. This will involve my coach as well. We must prevent ourselves from obstructing and making sure that we’re doing a good enough restriction. If we get called up for obstruction when marking over the ball or marking the ball when a shooter is about to shoot the ball will automatically go to the other team. As in the real game situation if I was to be pulled up for obstruction I wouldn’t be able to put in place the other phases of defence such as intercepting and restriction as I’ll have a delayed start and they’ll be able to drive into the space, leaving the GD or the GK (whoever is left after the call) to mark 2 players which is increasingly difficult.
INTRINSIC MOTIVATION
- Motivation that comes within inner self, relies on a person’s internal values and the reward of feeling proud of getting an award or a medal rather than the award itself.
EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION
- Motivation that is driven by external rewards such as: money, trophy, praise (from an audience).
Remember: It’s important to be motivated when training, as this will allow me to push myself as much as I can within my training, meaning I’ll be able to achieve and improve more and at a faster rate.
In order to gain a good amount of intrinsic motivation, I make sure that I have breaks in between my drills and that I have a break from training sessions too. This allows me to not overwork myself or burn myself out. At home I’ll watch and analyse netball matches from the Commonwealth games to become inspired and learn from the best. It’s important to install extrinsic rewards, for example I get externally motivated when my teammates or the crowd cheer when I get an interception or when I get player of the match. That feeling of success is what drives me to work my hardest during training.