I need some help with quarter & halftime talks

Ian MarshCoach, England

Hi Linda, there's different types of goals you can set a team%3A

1. Outcome goals (win or lose a game)
2. Performance goals (completing passes, working hard).

Because by the sounds of it your team are beyond the stage where they can 'get back into the game' I'd suggest you set them realisitc performance goals that they can still achieve (complete a certain amount of passes, have at least 5 shots on goal, make 3 interceptions each).

This way you can (hopefully) still give your team some positive feedback come the end of the game, as well as setting them future goals they can continue to try and achieve - so you can see some improvement in their play.

Lee-annes NetballCoach, Australia

everything that Alex said i double with, but also remind that netball is about having fun and meshing as a team.  some of these teams may have been together for awhile and hence why there is a big difference is scores.

when there is a big difference is scores i take that time to have some fun with the kids.  i randomly handout bibs or throw them in the middle and let the kids play positions they wouldnt normally be able to play.

but pick a skill they are lacking ie not running onto the ball, or spreading out, or basic passing, and concentrate on that one thing at training until you can see the improvement in a game.

also get the girls to talk about each others strengths.  the things they each can see each other doing well.  that might help them recognise that they are doing things well, its just that the other team is doing them better at the moment.

you might also want to consider getting them put down a grade so that they could play teams that are more their own skill level.  losing every week is hard no matter how well you coach them.

Janet Coach, Australia

Ditto to all the above.  A BIG part of your role as a coach of this age group is to encourage enjoyment of the game and the improvement/learning of skills is always more easily achieved when players are having fun.  Be upbeat at breaks, praise the good things that you see and there will always be some even if a little hard to find at times.  Note down the specific things going wrong during the games and use that to guide your training sessions.  Individual skill development takes time and team development takes more time but try to leave all that all for training sessions and try not to be too focused on improving things during the game. If you have been graded too highly let your team know that you are all working towards improving for next season and give each player a goal or two to achieve for current season e.g. learn to balance while covering ball, run with arms active and outstretched for loose balls, learn to front cut, learn correct shooting technique and so on.  Good luck Linda.

Linda RobersCoach, New Zealand

Thanks for your answers! They have another game tomorrow night so we'll see how they go! It's just a summer netball competition with girls put together from various winter teams. But although they say it's a fun competition - its not much fun if they keep losing!!  I'll keep up with the encouragements!! 

heather Coach, Australia

I agree with all of the above one thing I did to try and get some fire into our team, I told them for every goal they got over the other team I would run the court they won 35 to 10 so I had to run the court 25 times the girls loved it on the flip side for every goal they were under they had to run the court you could also do sit ups press ups or skipping and change it to for every centre pass they get from the other team or baseline to your goal but set them little goals that you know they can achieve and they will get a kick out of learning they can do it