Footwork & Agility Training

Footwork is short quick movements that rely on rapid movement and placement of your feet as well as balance and coordination of your other body parts. Agility is the ability to maintain balance and speed while making directional changes.

FOOTWORK & AGILITY DRILLS

These drills are used throughout the entire summer conditioning program. Greater emphasis is put upon the Level A drills during the earlier phase of the Summer and Level B drills are prescribed for the later phase. These drills will help you with foot speed and agility.

Execution of these drills is at full speed from start to finish. Familiarization of the drills and half speed practice will help in mastery of all the footwork and agility drills. 15 seconds to 1 minute of rest is required between sets of drills to ensure the highest level of training is taking place.  The drills are described below.

LEVEL A
  • Jumping Rope
  • Step-Taps
  • Step-Turns
  • 180° Turns
  • Squat Jacks
  • Four Corners
  • Figure Eight
  • Circle Cone

 

LEVEL B

Level B drills are listed below. These drills are not used much during the earlier conditioning phase of the Summer. Greater emphasis is put upon these drills during the later phase of the Summer. All these drills will help you with advanced sport specific foot quickness and agility. These drills are high intensity and require a competition level of skill to execute.
  • X-Lane Drill
  • Zig-Zag
  • Cone Weave
  • T-Drill
  • Madison Drill
  • Sideline Drill

A. JUMPING ROPE

Procedure:

  1. The jump rope progression starts with sets of one minute and progresses to five minutes.
  2. Concentrate on the simple footwork movements in the beginning and build to the more difficult footwork movements toward the end of the progression.
  3. Allow full recovery after the jump rope set.

Variations:

  1. Two Feet Jump
  2. Side to Side Jump
  3. Forward and Back
  4. Alternate Feet (single leg)
  5. High Knee
  6. Double Jump

A. STEP-TAPS

Procedure:

  1. Begin by stepping up on a platform six to eight inches high.
  2. Only the balls of their feet should make contact with the platform.
  3. Start with slow rhythmic, up-up, down-down steps and progress to a quick tap cadence.
  4. Posture should be in a low ready position, with shoulders over the feet, and eyes focused straight ahead.
  5. Gradually progress from sets of ten seconds to sets of twenty seconds.

A. STEP-TURNS

Procedure:

  1. Begin tapping their feet as quick as possible.
  2. A coach or another athlete gives a directional command to the left or to the right.
  3. Reacts with a quick stepping quarter(1/4) turn in the direction indicated and a turn back forward while keeping shoulders squared forward and only moving from the hips down.
  4. Continues moving the feet and await another direction after each turn.
  5. Posture should be in a low ready position and eyes focused straight ahead.
  6. Gradually progress from sets of ten seconds to sets of twenty seconds.

A. 180° TURNS

Procedure:

  1. Begin tapping their feet as quick as possible.
  2. A coach or another athlete gives a directional command to the left or to the right.
  3. Reacts and jump around 180° and then quickly back to the front as fast as possible.
  4. Continues to move the feet and await another direction after each turn.
  5. Posture should be in a low ready position and eyes focused straight ahead.
  6. Gradually progress from sets of ten seconds to sets of twenty seconds.

A. SQUAT JACKS

Procedure:

  1. Assume a quarter squat ready stance body position.
  2. While maintaining this position, shift the feet out and back as quick as possible.
  3. Maintains the bent knee ready position throughout the exercise.
  4. Gradually progress from sets of ten seconds to sets of twenty seconds.
A. FOUR (4) CORNERS

Set-up Procedures:

  1. Using four cones, separate each cone by 10 yards.
  2. Begin at cone one (1) and finish the drill through cone (1).
  3. Example of drill: Sprint from cone 1-2; shuffle from cone

    4. 2-3; back pedal from 3-4; and sprint from 4-1.

  4. Repeat the drill going in the opposite direction.

Variations:

  1. (1-2)Sprint (2-3)Shuffle (3-4)Backpedal (4-1)Sprint
  2. (1-2)Sprint (2-3)Carioca (3-4)Backpedal (4-1)Carioca
  3. (1-2)Backpedal (2-3)Shuffle (3-4)Sprint (4-1)Backpedal

 

  

A. FIGURE EIGHT (8)

Set-up Procedures:

  1. Using two cones, separate cones 5 yards apart.
  2. Begin at cone one (1) and finish the drill through cone (1).
  3. Example of drill: Sprint from cone 1-2; sprint around cone 2; and sprint from cone 2-1.
  4. Repeat the drill going in the opposite direction.

Variations:

  1. Sprint-Sprint.
  2. Shuffle-Sprint
  3. Sprint-Shuffle.
  4. Backpedal-Sprint.
  5. Sprint-Backpedal.
 

A. CIRCLE CONE

Set-up Procedures:

  1. Use six cones and separate them 5 yards apart and staggered.
  2. Begin at cone one (1) and finish through cone six (6).
  3. Example of drill: Sprint 1-2; circle around cone 2; and do the same through the last.
  4. Repeat the drill going in the opposite direction.

Variations:

  1. Sprint around each cone.
  2. (1-2)Sprint (2-3)Backpedal (3-4)Sprint (4-5)Backpedal (5-6)Sprint (6-Finish)Backpedal.
  3. (1-2)Sprint (2-3)Shuffle (3-4)Sprint (4-5)Shuffle (5-6)Sprint (6-Finish)Shuffle.

 
B. X-LANE DRILL

Set-up Procedures:

  1. Using four cones, separate cones each by 10 yards.
  2. Begin at cone one (1) and finish the drill though cone (1)
  3. Example of drill: Sprint from cone 1-2; shuffle from cone 2-3; sprint from cone 3-4; and shuffle from cone 4-1.
  4. Repeat the drill going in the opposite direction.

Variations:

  1. (1-2)Sprint (2-3)Shuffle (3-4)Backpedal (4-1)Shuffle
  2. (1-2)Sprint (2-3)Backpedal (3-4)Sprint (4-1)Backpedal
  3. (1-2)Carioca (2-3)Shuffle (3-4)Carioca (4-1)Shuffle

 

 

 

 

B. ZIG-ZAG

Set-up Procedures:

  1. Using four cones, separate 5 yards apart and staggered.
  2. Begin at cone one (1) and finish the drill 10 yards past cone four (4).
  3. Example of drill: Sprint from cone 1-2; shuffle from cone 2-3; sprint from cone 3-4; and shuffle from cone 4 to 10 yards beyond it.
  4. Repeat the drill going in the opposite direction.

Variations:

  1. (1-2)Sprint (2-3)Sprint (3-4)Sprint (4-Finish)Sprint
  2. (1-2)Sprint (2-3)Backpedal (3-4)Sprint (4-Finish)Backpedal
  3. (1-2)Sprint (2-3)Shuffle (3-4)Sprint (4-Finish)Shuffle

 

B. CONE WEAVE

Set-up Procedure:

  1. Set up cones parallel and 5 yards away from the sideline and 3 yards apart from each other.
  2. Begin at the sideline and finish 5 yards past cone four (4).
  3. Example of drill: Start at the sideline and sprint two yards past cone 1; backpedal between cones 1 and 2 to the sideline; sprint between cone 2 and 3 to two yards past cone 3; backpedal between cones 3 and 4 to the sideline; and sprint from sideline five yards past cone 4.

Variations:

  1. (1-2)Backpedal (2-3)Sprint (3-4)Backpedal (4-Finish) Sprint
  2. (1-2)Carioca (2-3)Carioca (3-4)Carioca (4-Finish)Carioca
  3. (1-2)Shuffle (2-3) Shuffle (3-4) Shuffle (4-Finish)Shuffle

 
B. T- DRILL

Set-up Procedures:

  1. Place cone one (1) 10 yards away from cone two (2). Place cone three (3) five yards to the left of cone two (2). Place cone four (4) five yards to the right of cone two (2).
  2. Begin at cone 1 and end at cone 1
  3. Example of drill: Sprint from cone 1 to cone 2: shuffle from cone 2 to cone 3; shuffle from cone 3 to cone 4; shuffle from cone 4 to cone 2; and backpedal from cone 2 to cone 1.

Variations:

  1. (1-2)Sprint (2-3)Shuffle (3-4)Shuffle (4-2)Shuffle (2-1)Backpedal
  2. (1-2)Sprint (2-3)Carioca (3-4)Carioca (4-2)Carioca (2-1)Backpedal
  3. (1-2)Sprint (2-3)Sprint (3-4)Sprint (4-2)Sprint (2-1)Backpedal

 

B. MADISON DRILL

Set-up Procedures:

  1. Place cones one (1), three (3) and five (5) five yards apart in a straight line. Place cone two (2) ten yards in front of cone one (1). Place cone four (4) ten yards in front of cone five (5).
  2. Begin at cone one (1) and end through cone five (5).
  3. Example of drill: Begin at cone 1 and sprint to cone 2. Backpedal from cone 2 to cone 3. Sprint from cone 3 to cone 4. Backpedal from cone 4 through cone 5.
  4. Repeat the drill going in the opposite direction.

Variations:

  1. (1-2)Sprint (2-3)Back Pedal (3-4)Sprint (4-5)Backpedal
  2. (1-2)Sprint (2-3)Shuffle (3-4)Sprint (4-5)Shuffle
  3. (1-2)Carioca (2-3)Shuffle (3-4) Carioca (4-5)Shuffle

 

 
B. SIDELINE DRILL

Set-up Procedures:

  1. Place cone one (1) and cone two (2) 2 yards apart and five yards from the sideline. Place cone three (3) five yards away from cone two (2) in a diagonal. Place cones four (4) and five (5) 2 yards apart and one yard off of the sideline directly in front of cone three (3)
  2. Begin between cones one(1) and two (2), and finish the drill five yards up field through cone four (4) and five (5).
  3. Example of drill: Sprint three yards and then around cone 2 to cone 3; sprint around cone 3 and in between cones 4 and 5 cut tight and sprint 5 yards up the sideline.

Variations:

  1. Backpedal through the entire course
  2. Sprint through the entire course
  3. (1-2)Sprint (2-3)Backpedal (3-4)Sprint (4-5)Sprint