Assessment
Your physiotherapist discusses your symptoms, goals, medical history and lifestyle, then completes a thorough assessment. Initial appointments are typically 45 to 60 minutes, so there is time to do it properly.
What We Treat
Lacrosse & Netball Injury Treatment in London
Netball and lacrosse share the two things that make a sport hard on knees and ankles: landing from height on one leg, and stopping dead to change direction. Both are trainable. Neither is trainable by playing more matches.
Overview
Lacrosse and netball injuries
Our team has worked with England Lacrosse and NSL Netball, and Emma Spong's background is in female team sport across cricket, rugby and GB hockey. These are sports we know rather than sports we have read about.
What we treat most:
- ACL and knee injuries: netball has one of the highest ACL rates of any sport, from the landing and pivoting demands.
- Ankle sprains: the most frequent injury in both sports, often on landing or contact.
- Patellar tendon pain: from repeated jumping and landing.
- Shoulder injuries: from the lacrosse shot and stick contact.
- Hamstring and calf strains: from sprinting and rapid deceleration.
- Low back and hip pain: from repeated rotation and asymmetric loading.
The footwork rule in netball, which stops you taking a step once you land, is a big part of why the knee takes so much. You have to absorb the whole landing and any change of direction through one leg with no run-off. That is a strength and landing-mechanics problem before it is an injury problem.
Physiotherapy leads the plan. Soft tissue therapy supports recovery through a season. See also knee pain, foot and ankle pain and shoulder pain.
Excellent
From 4 five-star Google reviews
Source: Google
I first started using Tom last year to help relieve back pain, he has been extremely helpful and now he's supporting me with sprint and fitness training, whilst helping with any minor injuries. Can't recommend him and his team more highly.
I went to Tom with a shoulder injury that had not improved for several months. Tom is very knowledgeable and quickly identified the issue and put me on a course of exercises that, in conjunction with a couple more sessions, steadily resolved the problem. I would highly recommend him.
Parinita was brilliant! Identified my knee problem immediately, used a range of equipment and exercises not only to strengthen my knee, but to maintain it and improve my running long-term.
Excellent service! Sanchez is a true professional who helped me heal a previous injury. Highly recommend!
Lacrosse and netball physiotherapy can help to:
Work with people who know the sports
Our team has worked with England Lacrosse and NSL Netball, and Emma Spong's background is in female team sport across cricket, rugby and GB hockey. The landing and footwork demands are familiar rather than something we generalise about.
Reduce the ACL risk, not just treat it
Structured strength and landing programmes are among the better-evidenced interventions in sports medicine for pivoting sports. It takes consistent work rather than a warm-up drill, and it genuinely moves the numbers.
Land better on one leg
The netball footwork rule means you absorb a landing and a direction change with no run-off. That is a strength and mechanics problem before it is an injury. Our clinics are inside gyms, so we can train it with real load.
Fix an ankle that keeps rolling
Repeated sprains are a control problem left over from the first one, not ongoing damage. Balance and proprioceptive work restores what the ligament used to do, and it is one of the quicker wins in either sport.
Settle a jumper's knee
Patellar tendon pain from repeated landing responds to progressive loading and to managing jump volume. It is slow, taking months rather than weeks, and shockwave is available in clinic where it has already dragged on.
Return on testing, not on feel
After a knee reconstruction you get cleared on restored range, strength, gait and at least 90 per cent symmetry between legs, not on a date. In sports with this much pivoting, that distinction protects the other knee as well.
Why it happens
What causes lacrosse and netball injuries?
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Single-leg landing from height, the dominant mechanism for ACL injury in netball
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Stopping dead and changing direction, with the netball footwork rule removing any run-off
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Repeated jumping and landing, which loads the patellar tendon
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Contact and stick collisions in lacrosse, producing shoulder and hand injuries
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Sprinting and rapid deceleration over a match, loading hamstrings and calves
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Playing matches as the main training stimulus, with little strength work between them
What happens at your first physio appointment?
Initial appointments are typically 45 to 60 minutes. You leave with a clear explanation of your condition, treatment recommendations, a report explaining it in simple language, and a personalised rehabilitation plan.
Follow-ups run 30 to 45 minutes, and we reassess at every visit rather than selling you a block of sessions up front.
A thorough, honest, and understandable explanation. Then the best treatment to get you back to a level of activity beyond your pre-injury status. If we can't get you better, we will recommend the world's leading healthcare professionals in London that can.
- Founded in 2015 by Tom Astley: 7 clinicians working across 3 clinics in Crouch End, Marylebone and Henley-on-Thames.
- Our team has successfully worked with local, national and international athletes at 6 major multi-sport events, from London 2012 to Gold Coast 2018, and we bring that expertise to everyone who enters our service.
- Rated 4.9 from 88 Google reviews; recognised by 5 major UK insurers, and self-funded patients book online with no GP referral.
Fees and insurance
Book directly online through Splose. Self-funded patients need no GP referral; if you are claiming through insurance, obtain prior authorisation before booking.
- Physiotherapy with Tom Astley: £85 initial consultation, £77 follow-up
- Sports and dance therapy with Laura Fornoni: £75 initial consultation, £70 follow-up
- Shockwave therapy: £230 for the initial consultation plus 3 sessions, then £80 per further treatment
- Running gait and performance reviews: £80 Base, £135 Intermediate, £185 Expert
- Recognised by Bupa, Cigna, Vitality, WPA and Simply Health
How physiotherapy works
from assessment to return to sport
Book today to get an assessment, advice, a report and a rehabilitation plan. We combine hands-on treatment with gym-based rehab to get you well, today, and we reassess at every visit.
Advice and report
A clear explanation of your condition and a report explaining it in simple language, alongside hands-on treatment: manual therapy, soft tissue techniques and joint mobilisation where they help.
Rehabilitation plan
Exercise rehabilitation tailored to your goals and condition, delivered through Track Rehab. Our clinics sit inside gym facilities, so the plan has the equipment and technology it actually needs.
Return
Structured programmes and return-to-sport testing before you go back, so you return safely and confidently. The goal is a level of activity beyond your pre-injury status, not just less pain.
What our physiotherapists treat
- Manual therapy and joint mobilisation
- Exercise rehabilitation through Track Rehab
- Dry needling for stubborn trigger points
- Shockwave therapy for chronic tendinopathy
- Sensor-based running gait analysis
- Sports massage, scar work and soft tissue therapy
- Women's health, Mummy MOT and postnatal rehabilitation
- Post-operative and ACL rehabilitation
- Return-to-sport testing
Treatment approach
How do we treat lacrosse and netball players?
Physiotherapy & Sports Therapy
From £75Diagnosis, then strength and landing-mechanics work, which is the part that both treats the current injury and reduces the risk of the next one.
See treatment detail →Soft Tissue Therapy
Price on enquiryRecovery work through the quads, calves and shoulders across a season, keeping players available rather than treating them once they drop out.
See treatment detail →Shockwave Therapy
£230 for 3 sessionsFor stubborn patellar tendon pain that has not responded to loading alone, delivered alongside the rehabilitation rather than in place of it.
See treatment detail →FAQ
Frequently asked
questions
Why does netball cause so many ACL injuries?
The footwork rule means you land and change direction without being able to take a step to absorb it, usually on one leg. That puts very high demand through the knee at speed. Landing mechanics and strength work meaningfully reduce the risk, and both are trainable.
Can I do anything to prevent knee injuries?
Yes, and it is one of the better-evidenced things in sports medicine. Structured strength and landing programmes reduce injury rates in jumping and pivoting sports. It takes consistent work rather than a warm-up drill, but it genuinely changes the numbers.
How long before I play again after an ACL reconstruction?
Plan on 9 to 12 months for a return to pivoting sport, with structured testing along the way. You progress on measures rather than dates, including at least 90 per cent strength symmetry between your legs, because going back early risks the other knee too.
I keep rolling the same ankle. What can be done?
Quite a lot. Repeated sprains are usually a balance and control problem left behind by the first injury rather than ongoing damage. Restoring that control is straightforward rehabilitation and it is one of the faster wins in either sport.
Related What We Treat
Get Started
Book a physiotherapy appointment
in Crouch End, Marylebone or Henley.
Tom Astley Physiotherapy • Park Road Pools & Fitness, Crouch End, London N8 8JN
BookAppointments typically available within 1–2 weeks