M´odulo de diferenciales

A netball team consists of seven players. Each player has a limited area within which to operate. Every player is allocated a specific role in the game which corresponds to the area in which they operate. The object of the game is to attempt to score as many goals as possible. To achieve this requires team cohesion, co-operation and understanding between all the team members. A skilful game of netball relies on effective passing to maintain possession of the ball.

Figure 8.12 Schematic diagram of a soccer pitch showing suggested divisions of the playing area into a grid for notation

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8.3.3.1 Method

Before outlining the system, it is necessary to ensure that you understand the basic rules of the game.

Essential rules of netball

Like any other team game, netball has its own specific set of rules which must be adhered to throughout the match. Before a system of notational analysis can be designed it is important to be familiar with these rules:

1 There is a 3 s limit on the time it takes a team member to pass the ball or attempt a shot at goal.

2 The ball must be caught or touched in each third of the court during play.

3 The centre pass must be caught or touched by a player allowed in the centre third of the court (Figure 8.13).

4 When a ball goes out of court, it can only be thrown-in by a player allowed in that particular area.

5 Only the goal-shooter or goal-attack can score a goal. The ball must also have been wholly caught within the goal circle.

6 A player must keep within the limits of area prescribed by her position.

8.3.3.2 Notation symbols

The symbols to be used will record the following:

1 The team member in possession of the ball and the position on the court where they received the ball.

2 What happens at the end of the passing sequence before reverting back to the centre pass or change of possession.

3 Out-of-court shots where the ball has been passed outside the side line.

Each player wears a vest with letters representing their roles (each one is self-explanatory):

GK = goal keeper GD = goal defence WD= wing defence C = centre WA = wing attack GA = goal attack GS = goal shooter

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The court was divided into five areas so that a simple view of the path of the ball can be deduced (Figure 8.13):

1= goal circle 2= goal third 3= centre third 4= goal third 5= goal circle

Each player has a prescribed playing area – these are designated in Table 8.8.

Figure 8.13 Schematic representation of the netball court for divisions of the playing surface

Table 8.8 Each player has designated areas within which they must play Player Areas for team playing from area 1 towards area 5

GK 1 2

GD 1 2 3

WD 2 3

C 2 3 4

WA 3 4

GA 3 4 5

GS 4 5

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Actions:

/

/ /= goal scored (should be followed by a centre pass) X = goal attempted but missed

O= out-of-court shot (the appropriate team is given a free throw from the side line where the ball went out)

C = centre pass (no court position number is added since it is always taken from within the centre circle).

Continued notation within the column implies a successful pass.

8.3.3.3 The record sheet

It is necessary for the recording sheet to contain descriptive details of the match or practice session so that the information obtained is available for analysis and for future reference if required.

1 Match or practice session?

2 Venue 3 Date

4 (If possible) names of players.

The recording sheet consists of vertical columns under the headings of red and blue (referring to the team colours). Play is recorded in the appropriate column according to the team in possession of the ball. Play is recorded from the top to the bottom of the column. The score is shown at the left side of each column.

8.3.3.4 Recording a sequence

Each sequence begins with the centre pass represented by the symbol ‘C’. The centre pass is always taken from within the centre circle. Play continues and the player and position are notated. The sequence is completed when a goal is scored and represented by the symbol ‘V’. An example of a record sheet is shown in Table 8.9.

8.3.3.5 Results

The results (Table 8.10) showed that the red team were more successful at retaining possession once they had got it. The red team averaged three passes

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per possession and had only two passing errors. Both passing errors were caused by the red centre player passing the ball out-of-court.

The blue team had more possessions but that did not compensate for their passing errors since they only managed 1.6 passes per possession and incurred more passing errors. From this short example of data, few conclusions can be drawn about the play. Much more data is needed. But the notation exercise enabled an assessment of the notation system. By examining the record sheet there are several factors that can be analysed without a great deal of effort:

1 The number of possessions by each team. A possession is defined as a single player or sequence of players following each other simultaneously in the team’s column on the record sheet.

2 Related to the number of possessions is the number of passing errors induced by a team and the frequency of passing errors by a particular player. To obtain a percentage of passing errors it would be necessary to evaluate the Table 8.9 Example of a record sheet for simple data gathering for notation of netball

Score Red Blue Score Red Blue

C O

Table 8.10 Data processed from a notated netball match (part only)

Red Blue

Number of possessions 7 10

Number of passes 21 16

Average sequence 21/7 = 3 16/10 = 1.6

Number of passing errors 2 4

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number of touches by that player. It is then also possible for the coach to assess whether the team is making good use of all the players in the team although this is somewhat dependent on their accessibility at the time. The latter information would need to be combined with the coaches own subjective observations.

A passing error would be defined as the ball changing possession or going out-of-court. A touch would be defined as the ball actually being caught and passed or being touched as it travelled through the air.

3 It is possible to calculate the average number of passes in a sequence. This is important when assessing the path of the ball particularly from the centre pass to an attempt at goal. A common strategy outlined in books is a three pass attack down the centre although a two pass attack is possible. The greater the number of passes incurred the greater the opportunity for defenders to break the attack.

4 A percentage success rate of goals by the goal shooter and goal attack can be calculated. It allows the coach to assess which, or if both, players need goal-shooting practice.

5 When analysing who attempted the most shots at goal it could be beneficial to work backwards and see the shots leading to the attempt. With sufficient data it may be possible to outline a common attacking strategy.

Although the record sheet appears ‘simplistic’, a great deal of information can be gleaned from it. It is possible to assemble a quick summary after the match. Given more time more detailed information may be extracted. Once the notation is sufficiently rehearsed it is easy to modify the system to take into consideration a number of other factors.

Possible improvements

1 The court could be subdivided into smaller sections to outline a more accurate path of the ball which can then be transferred to plans of play. For example, this would be useful when tracing the path of the ball from centre pass – a common strategy advocated in coaching books is an attack down the centre. By recording the team’s patterns with their centre-pass, the coach can conclude whether the centre line attacking strategy is successful for them or whether the team tends to play more down one side than the other. On the other hand, having more position cells will mean that more matches will have to be analysed to produce significant amounts of data in all the cells.

2 Players can be penalized for foot-faults, but this is not a common occurrence in experienced players. So it would be only relevant when notating novices.

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3 A throw-up is called for when a player of each team gains possession of the ball equally at the same time. A throw-up is then called for and the success of gaining possession by a particular team could be notated.

8.3.4 A motion analysis of work-rate in different positional roles in