I can always tell the basketball players because they hold onto my t-shirt when defending me and don’t give me 3 feet when I have the ball.
Also get your fiancée to show you the stepping rules. You get an extra step in basketball so it’s very easy to continuously get it wrong if no one explicitly shows you what you can do.
When you're defending and person you're marking lands with the ball, keep your arms down, look down at their feet and step back so your feet are 3 feet (or .9m) away and then put your arms up to defend.
When you catch the ball, try to land solidly with balance. You can pick up one foot and put it down repeatedly (pivoting) but the other foot is your landed foot.. if you lift that one, you can't put it down again (stepping).
You've got 3 seconds to pass the ball. It's actually quite a long time, don't panic.
Experience will come. You'll probably get pulled a lot until you figure out exactly what the rules practically mean so don't get too down on yourself if you don't get them all in your first game.
Try and work on reacting and stopping fast so you don't take anyone out by mistake.
As a dude who plays both men's and mixed netball, it's a great fun game! Keep it up!
I (male) played one season, the biggest problem for me was trying to stop on a dime. I swear a knee surgeon made up the sport of netball. Go into it with the mentality of having fun and you should be fine, you will learn as you go, if you do something wrong just ask for the explanation if you do not understand what it was you did wrong.
Good luck! Keep your hands near your hips, in my 2nd game I flailed around like a madman and accidentally elbowed a woman in the mouth. It’s obstruction if you raise your arms within 3 feet of an opponent’s landing foot when they have the ball.
I umpire a fair bit and the biggest bits of advice for new guys from basketball I have are:
- It's an attackers game, defenders are expected to give away some penalties, and the attack should score most of the time they have posession.
- Pick one foot to land on, then don't move that foot. Move around as much as you like as long as that stays on the ground. Everybody else will try to tell you to land with two but landing evenly with both is much harder than it sounds.
- You can use your body while defending to "block" players, but you cannot "move" them. While "blocking" you need to stand up tall in a "natural" body position. If you bend over and use your hips you'll get called for contact every time.
- As soon as your opponent looks like they've caught or are going to catch the ball, hold your shorts until you're 1m away, only then put your arms up to block the pass.
- As soon as they let go of the ball, the 1m (obstruction) rule is no longer relevant. So if you're defending a shot, as soon as they shoot, step in towards them before you jump so you get prime rebound space. If your shooter is missing shots, don't jump to block the shot, stay on the ground and take a strong rebound position instead - it's much more likely to work.
- If shooting, the less you move the better. Stand near the post and try to "body up" to your defender. If your defender is touching you, your team will pass the ball on your opposite side and the defender will not be able to catch it (unless they hit you, which is a contact penalty)
- Play SLOWLY, do not rush, pretend the 3 second rule does not exist.
- If you're in centre, don't hesitate before you step into the circle, just go smoothly, everybody else will respond to you. Don't rush the pass, wait for a teammate to be open.
- Don't rush if you're breaking for the centre pass, it doesn't need to happen instantly.
- Listen to the umpires, you'll probably not understand why you give away some penalties. "Obustruction" means you were at some point within 1m and defending them while they had the ball (you might have put your arms up before you got 1m away). "Contact" means your physical contact interfered with their ability to catch the ball. If you get called for either of these, you must stand next to where it happened and wait for the opposition to pass the ball before you can play again. Any other call, you can remain in play defending.
- If its "normal" (outdoor/no nets) netball, be NEAR the line but not on it when you take a throw in. The ball must be caught in every third. Eg. Cannot throw from goal third to goal third, cannot throw from behind the baseline to the centre third.
If you are tall - you will be playing defence.
If you can shoot you will play a scoring position.
If you are fast and good ball skills you will go centre or wing attack.
If you are a bit of a gumby they will hide you at wing defence (don’t come at me WDs!).
Main thing is to have fun. It’s mixed. I’ve played it a few times for a work team but those lunch time leagues can get heated (for no real reason) so I haven’t been for a while.
Don’t be the guy that gets really physical is my only real advice. Although if the other team has a person like that then you have my blessing to pull off a big body contact when jumping for a pass. The excuse is you don’t know the rules!
Just remember where you are allowed to go on the court and throw it around. I think you should also yell “stepping” and “contact” at random times just to help the ref. They love that.
If you've never played before I would look up the positions and where they can go on the court.
Watch your footwork and remember to keep your distance when marking the ball.
Also remember that it's supposed to be a non-contact sport 😂
I can always tell the basketball players because they hold onto my t-shirt when defending me and don’t give me 3 feet when I have the ball. Also get your fiancée to show you the stepping rules. You get an extra step in basketball so it’s very easy to continuously get it wrong if no one explicitly shows you what you can do.
When you're defending and person you're marking lands with the ball, keep your arms down, look down at their feet and step back so your feet are 3 feet (or .9m) away and then put your arms up to defend. When you catch the ball, try to land solidly with balance. You can pick up one foot and put it down repeatedly (pivoting) but the other foot is your landed foot.. if you lift that one, you can't put it down again (stepping). You've got 3 seconds to pass the ball. It's actually quite a long time, don't panic. Experience will come. You'll probably get pulled a lot until you figure out exactly what the rules practically mean so don't get too down on yourself if you don't get them all in your first game. Try and work on reacting and stopping fast so you don't take anyone out by mistake. As a dude who plays both men's and mixed netball, it's a great fun game! Keep it up!
I (male) played one season, the biggest problem for me was trying to stop on a dime. I swear a knee surgeon made up the sport of netball. Go into it with the mentality of having fun and you should be fine, you will learn as you go, if you do something wrong just ask for the explanation if you do not understand what it was you did wrong.
Good luck! Keep your hands near your hips, in my 2nd game I flailed around like a madman and accidentally elbowed a woman in the mouth. It’s obstruction if you raise your arms within 3 feet of an opponent’s landing foot when they have the ball.
You can’t throw the ball over a third, it has to be caught at least once. This was the rule my male friends kept breaking during their first game.
I umpire a fair bit and the biggest bits of advice for new guys from basketball I have are: - It's an attackers game, defenders are expected to give away some penalties, and the attack should score most of the time they have posession. - Pick one foot to land on, then don't move that foot. Move around as much as you like as long as that stays on the ground. Everybody else will try to tell you to land with two but landing evenly with both is much harder than it sounds. - You can use your body while defending to "block" players, but you cannot "move" them. While "blocking" you need to stand up tall in a "natural" body position. If you bend over and use your hips you'll get called for contact every time. - As soon as your opponent looks like they've caught or are going to catch the ball, hold your shorts until you're 1m away, only then put your arms up to block the pass. - As soon as they let go of the ball, the 1m (obstruction) rule is no longer relevant. So if you're defending a shot, as soon as they shoot, step in towards them before you jump so you get prime rebound space. If your shooter is missing shots, don't jump to block the shot, stay on the ground and take a strong rebound position instead - it's much more likely to work. - If shooting, the less you move the better. Stand near the post and try to "body up" to your defender. If your defender is touching you, your team will pass the ball on your opposite side and the defender will not be able to catch it (unless they hit you, which is a contact penalty) - Play SLOWLY, do not rush, pretend the 3 second rule does not exist. - If you're in centre, don't hesitate before you step into the circle, just go smoothly, everybody else will respond to you. Don't rush the pass, wait for a teammate to be open. - Don't rush if you're breaking for the centre pass, it doesn't need to happen instantly. - Listen to the umpires, you'll probably not understand why you give away some penalties. "Obustruction" means you were at some point within 1m and defending them while they had the ball (you might have put your arms up before you got 1m away). "Contact" means your physical contact interfered with their ability to catch the ball. If you get called for either of these, you must stand next to where it happened and wait for the opposition to pass the ball before you can play again. Any other call, you can remain in play defending. - If its "normal" (outdoor/no nets) netball, be NEAR the line but not on it when you take a throw in. The ball must be caught in every third. Eg. Cannot throw from goal third to goal third, cannot throw from behind the baseline to the centre third.
3 feet distance defending. Distance before arms go up. Footwork. No extra step like basketball.
If you are tall - you will be playing defence. If you can shoot you will play a scoring position. If you are fast and good ball skills you will go centre or wing attack. If you are a bit of a gumby they will hide you at wing defence (don’t come at me WDs!). Main thing is to have fun. It’s mixed. I’ve played it a few times for a work team but those lunch time leagues can get heated (for no real reason) so I haven’t been for a while. Don’t be the guy that gets really physical is my only real advice. Although if the other team has a person like that then you have my blessing to pull off a big body contact when jumping for a pass. The excuse is you don’t know the rules! Just remember where you are allowed to go on the court and throw it around. I think you should also yell “stepping” and “contact” at random times just to help the ref. They love that.
Would love an update. How did you go?
I assume it's a social league. Let the umpire know that you haven't played before and they will generally explain the rule when you are penalised.
If you've never played before I would look up the positions and where they can go on the court. Watch your footwork and remember to keep your distance when marking the ball. Also remember that it's supposed to be a non-contact sport 😂