They both involve a ball and a basket but how are they different.

One thing that always struck me growing up was the similarities between the look of both netball and basketball. It was only when I started looking into both of the sports that I realised that there were some big differences. Essentially the similarities centre around the fact that both of them involve a ball and a basket and the aim of getting your ball down the other end of the court and into your opponents’ basket or net. The dedication given by the players in both sports is also a common theme with netball teams often watching Netball Training drill Videos like those you can find at www.sportplan.net/drills/Netball/Warm-ups/10-Balls-Anywhere-TBN0044.jsp and basketball teams will undertake similar training.

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Here are the key differences between the two sports:

• Number of players – In Basketball there are five players and it has in the past been a predominately male sport although female teams have been increasing in popularity over many years. Netball teams consist of seven players and in comparison, to basketball, it is a predominately female sport.
• Playing positions – In Netball each player a specific playing position that requires certain skills and these include positions like Goal Attack, Wing Attack, Goal Keeper and Goal Shoot to name just a few. Not every player can shoot a ball through the basket. In Basketball every player can shoot the ball into the opposing teams’ basket, they are not determined by playing position.

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• Movement around the court – Players in basketball are free to move around the court in any area that they wish whereas the movement of players in Netball is determined by their playing position.
• Controlling the ball – The aim for the players in netball is to pass the ball between themselves and moved their way across the court, whilst staying in their designated playing position areas and get the ball to their shoot at the opposing teams end of the court for them to take a shot on target. Once the players are passed the ball they must stop travelling and may only move to pivot and pass the ball onto another player. In Basketball the players must dribble the ball whilst they are moving across the court area and if for any reason they move without dribbling they may have a play violation called against them.
• Contact with others – Basketball is a contact sport whereas netball is not. A netball player must remain at least 0.9 metres away from the player who has the netball in their hands.