Netball might be the most under-served sport in teen strength and conditioning — and it's the one that needs it most.
Think about what the game actually asks of a teenage body. Sprint three steps, stop dead. Land on one leg from a jump, pivot on the spot. Change direction at full speed, over and over, on a hard court, for four quarters. There are few sports that put more repeated stress through knees and ankles.
And here's the part that should get every netball parent's attention: teenage girls tear their ACLs at several times the rate of teenage boys playing the same sports. That's not bad luck. It's a combination of landing mechanics, hip strength and how the body develops through adolescence — and almost every part of it is trainable.
Why netballers specifically need strength work
When a netballer lands from a rebound or stops to honour the footwork rule, the force going through her landing leg can be several times her bodyweight. The question is simple: do her muscles absorb that force, or do her joints?
A teen who has never trained tends to land stiff — knee collapsing inward, hips not contributing, all of it loading the knee. A teen who has spent a few months learning to squat, hinge and land properly absorbs that same force through her glutes, hamstrings and quads. Same game. Completely different stress on the joints.
That's the injury-prevention case. But strength work isn't just armour — it's horsepower:
- First-step speed. Getting to the ball before your opponent is mostly about how much force you can put into the floor. Stronger legs, faster first three steps.
- Vertical jump. Rebounds, intercepts, shooting over a defender — netball is played in the air more than parents realise. Jump height responds beautifully to basic strength training in teens.
- Repeat efforts. The girl who is still sharp in the fourth quarter isn't necessarily fitter — she's often just stronger, so every effort costs her less.
What netball-specific training looks like at Young Knights
"Sport-specific" doesn't mean we make netballers do netball drills with weights. It means we look at the demands of the game and build the physical qualities underneath them. For our netball girls, a typical week includes:
1. Landing and deceleration work
Before we chase a bigger jump, we teach the landing. Low box drop-downs, single-leg landing holds, controlled hop-and-stick drills. This is the single highest-value thing a teen netballer can train, and almost none of them have ever been taught it.
2. Lower-body strength — both legs, and each leg
Squat and hinge patterns build overall strength, but netball happens on one leg at a time. Split squats, step-ups and single-leg deadlift progressions make sure each leg can hold its own — and they expose the left-right gaps that often sit behind niggling injuries.
3. Hip and trunk strength
The knee usually gets the blame, but the hip often deserves it. Strong glutes keep the knee tracking where it should when she lands and pivots. Side planks, banded work and lateral movement drills round out the picture.
4. Acceleration and change of direction
Short sprints, shuffle-and-cut drills, reaction work. Not endless shuttle runs — sharp, high-quality efforts with full recovery, because that's what the game is made of.
"Won't she get bulky?"
I'll answer this one directly because mums ask it quietly and often: no. Teenage girls don't have the hormonal profile to accidentally build bulky muscle, and nothing in our programming chases it. What strength training gives a teen netballer is visible in how she moves, not her size — she gets springier, faster off the mark, and far more confident in her body.
If anything, the bigger change parents report is posture and presence. Strong girls stand differently.
We can't strength-train away every injury — but we can stack the odds heavily in her favour. Most ACL prevention programs show risk reductions of 50% or more when done consistently.
When in the season should she start?
The honest answer: whenever she can start, start. But if you're planning ahead:
- Pre-season (the ideal): 8–12 weeks of foundation work before round one means she starts the season stronger than she's ever been, with landing mechanics already grooved in.
- In-season: Completely fine — we just manage the load. Two well-placed sessions a week maintains and builds strength without leaving her flat on game day.
- Off-season: Where the big jumps happen. No games to plan around means we can push harder blocks of strength and speed work.
If you're wondering whether your daughter is ready for the gym at all, our guide on when teens should start lifting covers exactly that — spoiler: if she can follow a coach for 45 minutes, she's ready.
The bottom line
Netball asks more of teenage knees and ankles than almost any sport, and the standard club season does very little to prepare them for it. A couple of properly coached strength sessions a week fills that gap — fewer injuries, more speed, more spring, and a teenager who carries herself differently on and off the court.
Want to see how it works in practice? Book a free session, bring her down to Lawnton, and watch from the side. Most netball parents tell us they wish they'd started a season earlier.