Korfball drill: shot shapes for supporting players

Inshort: practise all kinds of forms of the shot from a supporting position.

Organisation: pairs per basket, always one person under the basket and one person in front of it. Change after about 1 minute.

a ) One person in front of the basket at about 6 meters, the shooter stands under the basket. The shooter starts away from the basket (backwards), gets the ball and shoots immediately. The striker catches the ball.

b ) As exercise a., but the shooter only threatens with a shot, lets the defender jump in and then continues with an "underhand pull ball": a kind of private penalty throw from about 5 meters diagonally behind the basket. The Germa-ball - so called by me after Germa Woldhuis of Nic. who had success with this on a regular basis - is practised here. The server catches the ball.

c ) The starting situation is the same, but the shooter now gets a defender with him (some pairs cancel each other out). The defender's task is to decide which of the two possibilities (a. or b.) the attacker will have: he reacts deliberately too late (after which a shot must follow), or he follows the shooter too closely (thus giving the opportunity for an underhand draw). In exercises d., e. and f., the attacker plays free with one simple movement. An efficient way, which however requires a lot of technique (and therefore practice).

The first three exercises form the basis for creating shot opportunities in the post zone (e.g. in reaction to forward defending).

This ball only has a chance of succeeding when the defender is not too attentive, and must be executed as secretively as possible. The attacker should therefore not orient himself on his position by looking backwards or similar.

Situations as described in h., i. and j. occur in match situations, when the defender of the receiver under the basket has more eye for what is happening elsewhere in the box than for his direct opponent. Especially people who do a lot of catching work can benefit from these exercises.

d ) Exercise as b., but the shooter now walks away sideways and has to make a turn of almost 180 degrees towards the basket at the moment of catching the pull ball. In the learning phase, this exercise can also be started from a standing position, whereby the shooter stands still approximately 5 metres next to the basket and the server stands a few metres in front of the basket. The ball must be played on the outside.

e ) As d. now with the defender near the shooter (some pairs cancel). The defender comes running in quite fiercely.

f ) The shooter stands on the 'ideal passing position', half a metre from the basket. His defender stands between him and the post, without actually defending (i.e. with his hands downwards). The shooter throws the ball backwards into the basket with two hands.

g ) The 'shooter' stands about half a metre behind the basket with the defender in front of him. The defender defends well with his hands up and facing the attacker. The attacker now feints above the defender's head, as if he were trying to pass to someone in front of the basket. The defender reacts to this by turning around and lowering his hands, i.e. takes up a front defence position. As soon as he does so, the shot is made from half a metre behind the basket.

h ) The "declarer" stands about 5 metres in front of the basket. He shoots, but on purpose, a little bit over the basket. The archer who stands under the basket, catches the ball by taking one or two steps backwards from under the basket, and shoots immediately in one fluent movement.

i ) As h., but now the person under the basket shoots directly from a jump. The timing is very important now, and it's more like tapping the ball than shooting. Compare it with a set-up in volleyball.

j ) The 'attacker' stands about 7 metres in front of the basket and shoots over the basket again on purpose. The 'catcher' lets the ball pass over him, then runs after it and shoots with a half turn (bouncing the ball first).