THE DEMANDS OF NETBALL

Introduction

Having grown up playing numerous sports, netball was always the one that captured my heart; the game I have played to the highest level, and the only game I now play competitively. The teamwork, intensity, and tactics used in netball are the things that always keep me coming back however, as most sports do, it takes a toll on your body. As a young athlete around 9 years ago, I developed patellar tendonitis, an inflammatory condition due to repetitive overuse. Repetition being something that netball sees a lot of; constant jumping, landing, changing direction and speed changes, were all things my knee did not like! I worked closely with my physio, completing necessary rehab and the dreaded time off sport. Not only did my physio enable me to return to the court stronger, but he sparked my interest in my own physiotherapy career!

Netball Positions, Their Role and Specific Attributes

The game includes 7 players, all with a section of the court that they must stay in. Running down the court from attack to defence, you have Goal shooter (GS) and Goal attack (GA). These are the only two players on court who can run into your attacking D to subsequently take a shot at goal, adding a layer of strategy to the game. These positions require shooting accuracy and the ability to create space within the D. Further on from this is Wing Attack (WA) and Centre (C). Their role is to drive the ball through the court, requiring significant speed and agility, along with precision to effectively deliver a pass to the shooters. Wing defence (WD), Goal defence (GD) and Goalkeeper (GK) are at the defensive end of the court, focusing on intercepting the ball and disrupting the opposition’s play.  GD and GK specifically are the only positions allowed in the opposition’s attacking D; therefore, they are responsible for protecting the area using discipline, the ability to read the game and fast footwork to prevent a goal from being scored. Despite these positional attributes, netball is an end to end game, meaning that all positions require a blend of these skills to be an effective team, using communication, fitness and tactical awareness.

Rules of Netball

Netball’s extensive rulebook is often one that can confuse new starters. The rules promote fast, skilful and structured play where each of the seven positions have specific areas of the court that they are able to move into, meaning teamwork and tactical movements are crucial. Rules that specifically define netball are that players cannot run with the ball, they must stand a minimum of 3 feet away from the player in possession of the ball and contact on a player that interferes with the game is penalised.

More rules include the ‘over a third rule’, which prevents players from throwing the ball from one end of the court to the other, and the ‘three second rule’, forcing players to pass the ball to another player within 3 seconds of catching it.

Demands of Netball

The nature of netball means that relative strength controlling the acceleration and deceleration of your bodyweight is crucial through sprinting and change of direction (Thomas et al., 2017). Fox et al., (2013) found that the average working duration is <6 seconds on average across each position, where a majority of this work is completed within 1-2 seconds. The stop-start aspect of the game therefore creates the requirement to accept a larger frequency of repeated high-intensity exercise, along with greater eccentric forces at a more frequent rate (Thomas et al., 2017).

Aerobic capacity is a demand that is shared across many sports. Netball being a 60 minute game split into 4 quarters, means the aerobic capacity of a player must be profound. This being said, the activity differences based on positions is great. Gogh et al., (2020) found that the percentage of time spent in a high heart rate zone was between 7.0% and 62.6%, emphasising the variation of the demand of cardiovascular fitness dependent on the position. The distance C covers on court is significantly greater than that of GK, mostly due to the areas in which these positions are allowed in. C must cover a significant amount of court space, delivering the ball from end to end, taking part in attacking and defensive play. Whereas GS and GK have a small area of court to cover, and therefore they spend a larger amount of time working at a low-level rate, preparing for when the ball reaches them (Gogh et al., 2020).

Explosive power is another critical skill that netball players require to enable interceptions, the ability to reach the ball on a stretch, and beating your opposition to the ball. Research found that netball players’ squat jump height was greater than that of female basketball players, showing the power and strength a netballer must have (Thomas et al., 2017).

Netball Injuries and Injury Prevention

Writing as a physiotherapist, it is necessary that I write a section on netball’s common injuries and a way to prevent this through strength and conditioning!

Ankle and knee injuries are the most common injuries sustained by a netball player (Toohey et al., 2022). A study completed in 2024 focusing on ankle injuries in university netball players found that netball players’ ankle strength was generally below average (Jolingana-Seoka et al., 2024). This therefore makes netballers more susceptible to ankle sprains through awkward landings after a jump or stepping on other players feet causing the ligaments, often on the outside of the ankle, to overstretch or tear. 

Knee injuries, such as ACL and meniscus strains/tears, are another concern for netball players due to the constant pivoting, change of direction and fast paced acceleration and deceleration, putting significant strain on the joint.

Through various training modalities, injuries can be prevented. We know (Liv and I probably bang on to you all about this) that strength training is key for injury prevention. For netball players, it facilitates an increase of strength and stability capacities through building support of muscles needed to protect joints such as the ankle and knee, which are of highly vulnerable.

Additionally, plyometric training is a key focus point. This includes explosive movements to enhance a players’ landing ability and capability to absorb high impact. Agility drills are also very beneficial, allowing athletes to practise controlled change of direction, using speed but maintaining proper body alignment to reduce excessive twisting or unsupported landing and explosive acceleration to protect lower limb joints. As with a majority of sports, fitness training to increase aerobic capacity through Tabata running, sprint sessions, and endurance running are training areas which enhance your performance.

If you are reading this as a netball player or someone wanting to improve team like fitness, here are some good exercises for injury prevention. These exercises are available on Google to look at in more depth if you are interested in trying them!

Plyometric exercises:

1.     Box jumps

2.     Lateral bounds

3.     Split jump lunges

4.     Broad jumps

Strength exercises:

5.     Squats

6.     Lunges

7.     Bulgarian split squats

8.     Pallof press

9.     Calf raises

10.  Deadlift variations

11.  Single-leg Romanian deadlifts

12.  Medicine ball chest press

13.  Lat pulldowns

14.  Overhead press

15.  Nordic hamstring curls

16.  Ankle eversion and inversion with resistance bands

Speed and agility:

17. Netball-specific repeat sprint training

18. T-drill for change of direction and speed

19. Cone drills for agility and change of direction

20. Acceleration drills (e.g. 10m jog, 20m sprint, 10m jog and repeat)

Thank you for reading my blog! I hope you have found it interesting and have learnt something about netball! However, despite this blog being netball-focused, if you are an athlete playing sports, lots of the exercises and information are very transferable, so give them a go!

Ellie

BSc Hons Physiotherapy CSP

07949544959

ellielewisphysio@icloud.com

www.injuryrecoverycentre.co.uk

@injuryrecoverycentre

---

References

Fox, A. et al. (2013) ‘Activity profiles of the Australian Female Netball Team Players during international competition: Implications for training practice’, Journal of Sports Sciences, 31(14), pp. 1588–1595. doi:10.1080/02640414.2013.792943.

Jolingana-Seoka, T. et al. (2024) ‘The relationship between ankle landing kinematics, isokinetic strength, muscle activity, and the prevalence of lower extremity injuries in university-level netball players during a single season’, South African Journal of Sports Medicine, 36(1). doi:10.17159/2078-516x/2024/v36i1a16918.

Patellar Tendinopathy (no date) NHS choices. Available at: https://www.nhslanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk/services/physiotherapy-msk/patellar-tendinopathy/ (Accessed: 18 November 2025).

Thomas, C. et al. (2017) ‘Strength and conditioning for netball: A needs analysis and training recommendations’, Strength &amp; Conditioning Journal, 39(4), pp. 10–21. doi:10.1519/ssc.0000000000000287.

Toohey, L.A. et al. (2022) ‘Epidemiology of injuries sustained in professional Australian Netball: A three season cohort study’, Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 25(4), pp. 294–299. doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2021.12.004.

van Gogh, M.J., Wallace, L.K. and Coutts, A.J. (2020) ‘Positional demands and physical activity profiles of Netball’, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 34(5), pp. 1422–1430. doi:10.1519/jsc.0000000000002388.