Australian Diamonds and West Coast Fever goal keeper Courtney Bruce is an incredible athlete and one of the best players at the position in the world.
Her ability to out jump taller shooters and her explosive speed allows her to get to balls that few other players can.
While her uncanny ability to read the play and her netball smarts can’t be taught, it’s her hard work off the court that allows her to make the game changing plays that only she can make.
Thanks to Canningvale Australia, we were able to sit down with Courtney and talk to her about her typical workout plan and how those exercises help her dominate her opposition.
Courtney Bruce’s One-Hour Workout
For a normal one-hour workout, we always start off with a ten-minute warm up, plenty of stretching and some work on the foam rollers so that we’re ready to work and reducing the risk of hurting ourselves.
Then we move into the hard stuff.
I start with some heavy lifting and plyometric exercises to help build my explosiveness around the court. Ten minutes of a combination of trap bar jumps and trap bar squats are a great way to start then I move onto some plyometrics which involves lots of bounding, box jumps, single leg jumps and hurdle jumps.
It’s important for me to make sure I’m always focusing on strengthening my back and core muscles, so I move on to some work with a medicine ball. Medicine ball rotations, bench pulls and resistance band exercises.
I always work up a sweat when I work out so we’re super lucky at the Diamonds that we have the best gym towels in the business from Canningvale. I love that they’ve been designed with us in mind, they are super absorbent and fold down small enough to fit in our gym bags easily.
How do these exercises help you play the way you do?
A lot of these exercises and workouts are heavily focussed on the work I do on court as a defender.
Explosive movements and fast reactions are key at goal keeper. I need to be able to react to my shooter moving, have the speed to come out for a flying intercept or out-body the shooters and get up for a rebound or lobbed pass.
Defenders also need to be able to rip a ball in and have the strength to manoeuvre around our shooters without getting pushed off the line.
How are these exercises different from someone playing a different position on the court or even a different sport?
As a goal keeper I need to be fast on my feet and moving on and off the body, so we do a lot more footwork sessions than anyone else on the court.
I also focus on some specific agility drills that help my work inside the circle. Whether that be figure-of-8 drills, change of direction drills using cones to receive balls back at the post or work with reaction balls to make sure I am switched on to what is happening around me.
How do you prepare for a big game?
Getting ready for a big game for the Diamonds or the West Coast Fever is strict a six-step process:
- I love to have my go-to breakfast, smashed avo and eggs on toast.
- Go for a walk and get a coffee, a long black is my go-to and have some me time, just relaxing.
- I then like to watch a bit of footage, just making sure I am clear in what I need to do and what my role will be out on the court.
- Have a shower, start to get ready and have a bit of a stretch, get the body feeling ready and calm.
- Strap my ankles and start listening to my music. I like to stay quite relaxed when I am prepping to head to the court/venue and have a bit of fun.
- Go over my goals one more time and I am ready to go.
The Australian Diamonds are proud to offer our very own range of Canningvale gym towels, which are now available. Get yours now.
