Drop Landing → Stick
Trains the safe landing that prevents ACL tears
How to do it well
The set-up and the rep in full, then the cues the app shows on the exercise card — the short version, for the moment you are standing in front of the bar.
Set-up
Stand on a low box or a step, feet hip width, arms relaxed. Start low; a step is enough. The height is there to load the landing, not to test your nerve.
The rep
Step off the edge and land on both feet together, touching down through the balls of the feet and rolling to the heels. Sink the hips back with the knees bending in line with the toes and the chest over the knees. Freeze in that position for a full second without any wobble, then stand up and step back onto the box.
On the exercise card
- Knees track toes
- Soft + quiet
- Freeze 1s
What goes wrong, and the fix
| What goes wrong | The fix |
|---|---|
| The knees caving inward on landing | This is the position the drill exists to remove. Lower the box, slow down, and push the knees out over the toes. |
| Landing stiff-legged and loud | A soft landing spreads the force through the hips and knees. Bend more, land quieter. |
| Landing flat-footed or on the heels | Touch down through the forefoot and let the heels settle. |
| Wobbling out of the hold | Freeze for a full second. If you cannot, the drop is too high. |
Make it easier, or harder
- Easier
- A smaller drop, or practise the landing position from a small jump on the floor.
- Harder
- A slightly higher box, landing on one leg, or adding a quarter turn so you land facing a new direction.
How Train Smart prescribes it
The sets and reps below are the authored starting point. The actual weight you see is calculated from your own last top set and the week you are in within your four-week block.
Netball is decided on the landing: every catch ends in one, often on one leg and under pressure. The program gives landing its own block in the strength session, and this is the two-footed base of it, before the single-leg hop and stick.
| Program | Session | Sets × reps | Load |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netball | Strength + Landing | 4 × 5 | BW |
If you cannot do this one
Rack taken, kit missing, or it does not suit you. These are the swaps the app offers, matched by movement pattern and body region — each with the reason it is a fair substitute.
| Alternative | Why it works as a swap |
|---|---|
| Countermovement Jump | The baseline jump — measure it, then chase it |
| Vertical Jump → Stick | Land and freeze: teaches the knee to absorb force instead of collapsing |
| Depth Drop → Stick | Step off a box and absorb — the purest landing-mechanics drill there is |
| Split Jump → Stick | Scissor the legs, land in a lunge and hold — decel in a running position |
| Broad Jump → Stick | Horizontal force then a dead stop — the hardest landing to control |
| Single-Leg Hop → Stick | One leg absorbs everything, exactly like it does in a game |
This exercise, in a program that knows why it is there
Train Smart puts this movement in the right session, at the right point in your block, at a weight calculated for you — and swaps it automatically if you do not have the kit.
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