Improve Your Netball Game Through Diet

Netball is one of the most fun and popular sports in the world. Children, teens, and adults love teaming up with their friends for a match. There’s nothing like the will to win, competitive spirit, and desire to have fun, that netball provides.

With all that being said, how does one become the best netball player possible?

Well, the answer to that question does not all lie on the court, but rather in the kitchen. Diet is one of the most important components that can contribute to a netball players success.

Here are three ways that Diet can help a netball player improve:

Reduction in body fat — A good diet can help a netball player lose body fat. This is important because a netball player with a lower body fat percentage can run faster, be more agile, and stay healthier, than a player with a high body fat percentage.

Help Build Muscle – A netball player that eats a well-rounded diet with a high amount of protein will have an easier time building muscle. Building muscle is important for netball because it allows the player to be more physical on the court. A player with more muscle is also at lower risk of injury than a player that is all skin and bones.

Reduce Performance Anxiety— Eating the right food at the right time can improve netball players confidence and reduce performance anxiety.

There’s nothing worse than lining up for a match with your stomach growling and your nerves making you nauseous. A good diet can help reduce this anxiety by providing the player’s body with the essential nutrients it needs to play at a high level.

A netball player should have a diet which is rich in carbohydrates. This ideally should be coupled with a low to moderate amounts of healthy fats in the meal plan, while including a balanced amount of protein based on the individual. The roll of the team’s nutritionist plays an important part here, and may be player based in approach. Additionally on those hard days of training and play, the normal meal intake should be in smaller quantities more like the recommended 5 – 6 instances for the day.

Sometimes a netballer will need something to snack on just ahead of their game:

• A bit of fruit salad with some Yogurt
• A fistful of Almond nuts along with a Banana
• Some Rice Cakes with Peanut butter

These are just a few suggestions and may be used as a simple guide for persons looking for ideas. Also consideration must be given to requisite portion sizes.

It’s easy to see why a netball player can improve at the sport by improving their diet. The diet is the foundation for athletic success and as soon as netball players figure that out, improvements on the court will follow.