Players Perspective

Players Perspective  

Laura Langman ONZM is a retired New Zealand International Netball Player. She is a former captain of the New Zealand Silver Ferns World Cup winning Team.

 

Laura was involved in the initial transition of a specialist netball shoe. She is a consumet professional and her dedication and work ethic are truly world class.

 

Number of consecutive tests Laura playted for the Silver Ferns is 141.

 

We thought it would be beneficial to get Laura’s professional perspective on her transition from traditional runners to Netball Shoes and how she found her experience to be beneficial. We hope this helps others best determine the footwear they choose for Netball.

 

·         What did you initially notice in the transition from runners to Netball Shoes or moving to a Netball specific shoe?

-       Change of direction, stability, durability, and number of games you can get out of shoes, “less black toenails”.

 

·         What did you notice from others in the teams around the changes?

-       With increased education around the benefits of Netball Specific shoes, the majority of players followed suit.

 

·         What is the single feedback you would give to young players on footwear selection and Netball?

-       As a netballer your feet, knees and legs are valuable assets. To best be able to train the play with limited time out on the sidelines with niggles and injuries netball specific shoes are the number 1 choice. As my dad would always say, you wouldn’t pick your gummy’s (gumboots) to go running, footwear to Netball is no different. Pick the best footwear for the job!

 

·         Do you still utilize the Netsmart warm up drill before playing (casually or with a Team coaching)?

-       Absolutely, activations and preparing for how individuals play and what they may encounter is a continuous work in progress. This has become non-negotiable component of training and game prep.

 

·         What are you doing in the Netball Space now?

-       Grass root Netball is where I have landed with coaching the UniSC team in a domestic competition and providing content for NETFIT NZ/Aus.

-       Providing specialist centre advice for Silver Ferns.

 

 

M&S BANK ARENA, LIVERPOOL, UNITED KINGDOM - 2019/07/16: Laura Langman (NZ) in action during Vitality Netball World Cup 2019 at M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
New Zealand beat Ireland: 77-28. (Photo by Graham Glendinning/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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Special thank you to Laura for all the Information!

Graphic showing the bio-mechanics of a runner

Bio-Mechanical Assessment & Gait Analysis

By Andrew | October 23, 2020

The arrangement of the bones, intrinsic muscles of the foot, extrinsic foot muscles in the leg and presence of powerful ligaments all work together to maintain a strong, stable foundation. Weaknesses in the structures maintaining foot integrity can result in problems such as fallen arches. Hypomobility = stiff and inflexible, Hypermobility = excessively flexible Everyone…

1 Comment

  1. andrew Jones on June 30, 2023 at 11:53 am

    One of the highlights of my podiatry career to date is , meeting and being heavily involved with Laura’s Journey over several years .
    there where a lot of ups and downs that she endured through out her career , but she was always steadfast in her resolve to be the best she could be . Barring nothing !!.
    A Proud Hamiltonian and very proud Silver Fern
    Truely a special person and one tough lady .

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