When it comes time to training for movement, I think a lot of people get confused on the different aspects. There is a big difference between speed, agility, and conditioning.
Speed is your ability to get from point A to point B as quickly as you can. Most of the time this is trained linear plane of motion. So things like sprints, resisted sprinting, and sled pushes come to mind. However, it is important to distinguish that too high of a volume, or not enough rest, can turn speed training into conditioning. In order to train for speed, you need to have 100% effort. Doing 10yards sprints is great, but if you’re doing them with minimal rest, and dozens at a time, that’s conditioning.
Another important aspect is agility, or change of direction. Change of direction is focusing on coming to a point and either going laterally, or turning around 180 degrees. Today, I have a great video from one of our coaches here at STS. Jared breaks down a few drills that will improve your ability to change direction effectively.
Ladder drills are sometimes overused in the thought that they will improve your speed or agility, which is an entire article in itself. However, if you use the ladder effectively, it can really emphasize two important movements in change of direction. Take a look at Jared breaking down the Crossover step, and the Jab step.
This is a very basic overview. Jared is our Speed & Agility Coordinator, so I hope to have more posts and videos from him on here in the near future.
For more videos like this, be sure to check STS’ Facebook Page, and while your at it you can find my personal page as well.
Thanks guys!
[...] Improving Agility-One Step at a Time by Doug Spurling [...]
I suppose I’m gonna have to do some more research but this was a pretty good place to start.