Learn how NetballSmart is empowering our future generation of netballers
The 2018 Netball season is upon us. All around the country, netballers from school age to elite, are putting on their netball shoes, going through their netball training drills and getting ready to hit the court.
As a long time supporter of Netball NZ, ASICS has always been passionate about encouraging the sport that Kiwi’s love so much.
We wanted to find out how we can help players – both amateur and professional – make the most out of their training so sat down with NetballSmart Programme Manager and former Silver Ferns physio, Sharon Kearney to learn more about the NetballSmart programme.
What is the NetballSmart programme and who is it for?
NetballSmart is the official injury prevention programme for Netball in New Zealand and funded by ACC.
Not just for the elite level, this programme is designed to guide younger players, such as the futureFERNS and secondary school players, towards a smarter training programme in order to prepare them for the netball season and their future netball careers.
“Our ultimate goal is to decrease the injury rate among all netball players,” says Sharon. “In this sport, season after season, we’re seeing significant injuries, particularly around the player’s knees. These are what we call ACL injuries and can take a player out of the game for a whole year and significantly affect their quality of life, so it’s important for us to prevent these injuries the best we can.
“This programme is designed for players across all levels. With NetballSmart, we want to lead the way in the world of netball injury prevention and strategy. New Zealand is small, but that also means that we can be more flexible and have the freedom to influence more change, compared to the larger countries.
“Ultimately, we want people to keep playing our game and for Netball to continue to be the highest female participation sport in the country.”
Why are ACL injuries so common in Netball?
ACL injuries occur most frequently in pivoting sports. Because of the court layout and the restrictive stepping rules of the game, netball players are doing a lot of sudden decelerations and pivoting movements, as well as controlled jumping and landing.
According to Sharon, the game has changed significantly in the past couple of decades. “At the elite level, the game has become a lot more physical. In the last 15 years, the demands on the body have grown and this has led to an increase in ACL injury rate.”
It’s an issue, Sharon points out, that is affecting the younger players as much as the older.
“You see young players looking up to their Silver Ferns role models and they try to copy them out on the court, but without the proper strength and training, making the risk of injury much higher.”
So how can players train for the upcoming season?
The NetballSmart programme offers a comprehensive training programme for all players, with 6 main elements:
- Smart preparation
“This is all about preparing for individual training sessions: from netball shoes, to hydration, to food, to balancing your training load during pre-season training,” says Sharon. “We see a significant increase of injury between April and May. May is when the competition starts and because players haven’t done the right preparation, they’re at a greater risk of injury.”
- Smart warm-up
“Our NetballSmart warm-up programme is all about tried and tested warm-up techniques. This warm-up meets the physiological needs of a warm-up while preparing players for jumping and landing. It’s been proven internationally that by doing this warm-up 2-3 times a week, you’re more prepared for the game and at a lower risk of injury. Our goal is for this warm-up to become part of every netballers routine as they evolve throughout their netball career.”
- Smart movement
“When it comes to smart movement, we focus on simple movement patterns, like squatting, lunging, jumping and landing. This is so players can improve and prepare and get better at all the movements they’ll be using throughout the game.”
- Smart training
“This is all about fitness and strength. Netball is a power-based sport so players need to be strong. In our smart training programmes, we focus on core, hamstring and glute strength, as well as overall fitness. From warm-ups, to netball training activities, to techniques on game day – we believe that if we can educate players on ways to minimise injury, we can improve the game overall.”
- Smart injury management
“As well as an injury prevention programme, within NetballSmart, we like to focus on educating players on what to do with injury and ways to minimise the impact the injury has on lifestyle and playing the game.”
- Smart player welfare
“This is a very important aspect of the programme and comes down to making sure the players are fully prepared for the season ahead. We have so many talented young players out there, but what we often see is that they’re loading too much on their plate. We ask coaches and players to assess loading levels and how they’re going to balance their sport with school, work and life. The goal is to find a sustainable balance that will see them through the season.”
What have you learnt in your career with the Silver Ferns and Netball NZ?
Having been involved at the high-performance level for over 15 years, Sharon has become one of the leading experts when it comes to netball training.
“The thing I learnt working at that elite level, is that you really have to look after the players,” she remarks. “Especially here in NZ, where we don’t have a huge pool of players like Australia, for example. I loved working at the elite level and it was inspiring to see our players compete on the world stage.”
But after working with the Silver Ferns, Sharon felt she wanted to educate and empower the younger players and coaches in the sport.
“I thought to myself, what can I do at a community level that can help the high-performance level?. Moving into this role at Netball NZ, I wanted to teach young players and their coaches about injury prevention in order to create more opportunities for players to succeed without injury holding them back.”
“A key thing I learnt is that more isn’t always better. Rather, you need to be better prepared and be smart about your training. Emphasis should always be on quality of training.”
What’s your advice for players heading into Netball season?
With so much experience to draw on, what would Sharon say are her 3 key pieces of advice for players?
“The first thing I would say to players is that you need to be able to land well to play our game. That means landing on one foot as well as two. Netball is a game where players spend a lot of time on just one leg. That means control is paramount. Players need to continually practice landing and smart movement.”
“My second piece of advice would be that core strength is fundamentally important to be able to play netball. This is a type of strength that’s not often natural to us, so players need to work on it and be strong enough to control their body when moving, changing direction, jumping and landing.”
“Lastly, you need to be smart about your training. Netball season is demanding, so make sure you prepare yourself enough to play. Find that balance between not too much and not too little. You should progressively prepare yourself over 6 weeks in order to build tolerance and make sure you can perform at your best and minimise any risk of injury.”
As a long-time partner of Netball NZ, ASICS is proud to be the top netball footwear brand in the country. Our range of netball shoes is designed to support your every movement so you can perform at your best.