NORTH Melbourne's Jack Ziebell sees his form on the track this summer as a sure sign he has moved on from the injuries that ended his 2009 season.

Soon after Ziebell broke his leg against Adelaide in round 12, the club decided his stint on the sidelines was also an opportunity to have a lingering hip injury operated on.

It meant Ziebell was able to join his teammates for the start of pre-season training, where he feels his time trial results have been similar to last year but his fitness during skill work has improved by 50 per cent.

He added that the program introduced by new coach Brad Scott had a heavy focus on match conditioning.

"It's going to help me come games and hopefully help prevent injuries as well," Ziebell said.

"Everything's holding together. I feel pretty fit for the first time in a long time. I've just got to get through the next four weeks and get to games. I'm very excited and raring to go.

"The leg is 100 per cent. The hip's about 99 per cent. We've just got to make sure we get on top of it (the hip) because if you don't, it can reoccur.

"I'm pretty sure we're on top of it now and will be ready to go round one."

Ziebell, who turns 19 next month, said he tore cartilage in his hip around six months before he was selected by North at No.9 in the 2008 NAB AFL Draft.

The surgery has since given Ziebell greater movement in the joint and he hasn't had any pain.

"They had to go in there and take a bit of cartilage out and sew it back to the bone," he said.

"There was also a bit of chipped bone in my pelvis and they had to take that out and shave a bit of a spur off the actual hip ball joint.

"I walked two days after the operation. Where I'm at now I'm physically better."

Ziebell is aiming to play a full season in the midfield after being used at half-back for most of his 10 games.

While he's keen to maintain the power and size that served him so well at under-18 level, he understands he may have to shed a couple of kilograms before the start of the season to ensure durability in the position.

"It's important to be able to keep your strength and that sort of thing, but it's also important to keep light and be able to run," Ziebell said.

"As the game evolves and gets quicker, I'll need to be able to get quicker and fitter myself.

"I think I'm more suited to a midfield role," he added. "You need an engine and a tank and a fitness base to do that so that's what I'm working on at the minute.

"There are a lot of people fighting for midfield spots and it's not going to be easy, to tell you the truth."