A good netball training program builds the things the game actually demands: landing, stopping, changing direction and repeating short sprints. Here is the six-week pre-season program we use, and how it changes once the season starts.

Netball looks like a running game. It is really a stopping game. Players land, brake and change direction hundreds of times a match, and that is where most knee and ankle injuries happen.

So the program starts there.

What a netball training program needs

• Landing and deceleration. Soft, controlled landings on one and two feet. Knees tracking over toes.
• Single-leg strength. Split squats, step-ups and single-leg deadlifts. A netballer spends most of the game on one leg.
• Change of direction. Short, sharp cuts, done well before they are done fast.
• Repeat sprint fitness. Short efforts with short recoveries, the way the game is played.
• Calf and ankle capacity. For the constant jumping and the hard court.

The six-week pre-season netball training program

Weeks 1 and 2: a healthy person. Landing drills, balance, ankle and hip mobility, and bodyweight strength. Get the basics right while the legs are fresh.

Weeks 3 and 4: a healthy athlete. Add load to the strength work. Introduce jumping and bounding. Change of direction at medium speed.

Weeks 5 and 6: a healthy netballer. Full-speed cuts, reactive drills, and repeat sprint sets that mirror a quarter of netball.

A week 3 session looks like this: ten minutes of landing drills, then split squats, single-leg Romanian deadlifts, lateral bounds, a side plank, and 6 x 20 m change-of-direction runs with a walk back between each.

Three sessions a week is plenty alongside team training. Our post on preseason conditioning for netball explains the fitness side in more detail.

In-season: keep it short

Once games start, drop to one or two 30-minute sessions a week. Keep the landing and strength work, cut the fitness, which games and training now cover.

Players who stop all gym work in season tend to finish it slower and sorer than they started.

Junior and adult netballers

For juniors, the priority is movement quality, not heavy weights. Learning to land, jump and change direction well at 13 pays off for the rest of their sport. Our athletic development program works with high school athletes from across north Brisbane.

For adults coming back to social or club netball after years away, start with the first two weeks and repeat them. Your tendons need longer to catch up than your fitness does. Read our guide to injury prevention training for netball players before you return.

Get a program written for your season

We assess how you land and move by video, then write your netball training program around your team training and game day. Fill out the form below to get started, or see all our online fitness programs.