How You Can Use the Roses Test Series To Improve Your Own Performance

We are so lucky to have the international game back on our screens and even luckier that the test series was held in the UK this time around, so you may have even been lucky enough to watch the game in real life. 

But other than being caught up in the hype and enjoying some of the best players in the world showcase their talent on the court, how else can we benefit from watching The Roses play?

Well you have been lucky enough to watch the best player in the country play YOUR position. You’ve been able to see how they move, where they move, where they pass the ball, how they connect with other players, when they rest, how they clear the space and everything else you could possibly imagine so why not learn from them?

Below I have given you some tasks you can complete to help you to improve your own game. All you need to do is grab a pen and paper and re-watch the game on YouTube (so that you ca easily pause, rewind, slow down etc), and then put your tasks into action at your next training session. 

Task 1 – Tracing movement patterns

Choose a player that you think played your position well in the match and have a look at their movement patterns from a ‘dead ball’ or static position. 

This might be:

• Their movement over the line from a centre
• Their movement to get free from a back line
• Their movement to stop their player reaching circle edge
• Or anything else

Find two or three instances where this happens in the game and concentrating on their feet, draw their movement pattern on the court. Be as precise as you can when tracing the pattern. Do they drive to the sideline, do they hover in the middle of the court, do they clear completely away from the space?

Once you have done this, head out to the part or your local court and look to recreate these movement patterns. Think about why they were moving there, what were they trying to do etc. You can then start to work with a ball and defender/attacker to make the movement more game specific. 

Task 2 – Bringing the ball through the court

Find a section of the game where there is good transition of the ball from a defensive turnover into the shooting circle. This is usually one of the most pressured types of through court attack so it is interesting to see how the players bring the ball up the court. 

Watch the ball and map on your paper how the ball is brought through the court. Think about where it is placed, where the players drive from, where they drive to, what options there are for each pass, the pace of the ball, how many passes it takes to get to the shooter etc. 

Once you have done this for 2 or 3 different plays, take it into your next court session and try it out with your team. Start with just the attackers then slowly introduce defenders into the drill to make it more difficult. 

You might want to discuss what made the play successful e.g speed of pass, quick release of the ball etc and try to replicate this into your own game.  

Good luck!