Immediate balance after receiving a pass.

When a player ( one that has played Netball for some years ) receives a pass how do you stop her from taking a giant step and taking time to control balance, instead of a shoulder width step and have control stright away?

This type of landing is unsafe for the player concerned as well as frustrating for the team and may be a result of poor core strength and balance as the whole body needs to be utilised to stop momentum on receiving the pass so as not to overload the knees.  There are many drills on Sportplan that you can use to practice technique and try to overcome old habits.  Encourage your player to catch ball in air lifting chest and hips up in the jump to keep centre of balance over or slightly behind legs and landing with bent knees and hips to cushion the land. A big step is reqired to stop momentum if upper body balance is ahead of legs/feet and this should be discouraged to prevent injury. Explaining the situation to your player in a way that they can understand (verbally and visually) and showing a willingness to help her change is about all you can do as bad habits take a determined effort by the player to overcome.

hi Elizabeth

i had this amazing player last year who had very good ball skills, was speedy fast, and read play like no other in her team, but she stepped constantly, due to taking very large steps on landing (due to her speed, but also incorrect body position when landing).  to rectify this, i had her try and slow down for one, land on both her feet, and try and get her to keep her chest up in order to reduce that forward momentum (turn it into lift instead of forward) and that wide stance, which led her stepping, a knee injury, and unbalanced passing.  

as Janet mentioned there are many drills in here to teach good balanced landing, but for now you could just say that she needs to land with 2 feet grounded and keep her chest up and see how that helps.

Thank you Janet and Lee-anne for your answers. Old habits die hard but I'm sure with persistance we will win through!