With the announcement that the 2020 @NetballSL season will not be completed, I want to draw people’s attention to a number of things about the players at @Pulse_Netball but also applies to most elite netballers here in the UK. 1/8

#netball

Many of our athletes work hard full time jobs or study full time around playing & training. Their daily routines involve long commutes & late nights back before work the next day. Despite this they train / play hard & are an example of what is possible. But it is not easy. 2/8

A key reason why the season has been cancelled is because teams would not be able to access safe training venues in the lead up to fixtures. Contrast this with men’s football/rugby who own private facilities. Women’s sport needs more investment. @WomensSport 3/8

The biggest challenge in the physical preparation of elite netballers is limited time to train & recover around study/work & long commutes. We do a lot with the time we have, but performance will increase & injury rates decrease as more players are able to train full time. 4/8

In a typical week we lift weights 3x. Usually 1 session is heavy lifting, 1 is a power session or a circuit & 1 is heavy upper body work + injury prevention work for the lower body. Conditioning is 3-4x/week & involves: bikes, sled-pushes, runs, skipping & court sprints. 5/8

Our best players can:
Vertical jump 60cm
Standing long jump 250cm
Run 1km in 3:30
Run 5km in 20:45
Squat 170% of their bodyweight
Bench 90% of their bodyweight
Hip thrust 200% of their bodyweight
Pull ups x 10
6/8
#strengthandconditioning

More brands should get to know some of the incredible athletes in the sport. There are so many great personalities & stories to tie your brand to & the sport offers a clear pathway from youth netball through to playing on @SkyNetball @SkySports 7/8

Respect to our team of warriors for all they achieved this year given many challenges. We will keep training. @Lindsaylonglegs @HalimatShadia_x @ZaraJaelE @draynepipe @Adean_Thomas @AshleighDekker @kira_rothwell @Liv_Tchine @sigiburger @chiarasemple @FadojuFunmi Kate Lloyd 8/8