Sports such as baseball, basketball, football, soccer, softball and tennis require both speed and agility. For example, baseball and softball players must be able to sprint around the bases, changing directions at each base; basketball, football and soccer players have to run from one end of the court or field to the other as fast as possible, while evading defenders at the same time; and tennis players must sprint to the ball and then slow down to prepare to hit it. For athletes in these sports to succeed, coaches should make speed and agility training a regular part of their practice routines.
Defining Speed and Agility
Speed and agility are similar in that both require athletes to accelerate and move quickly, but speed typically involves sprinting in a straight line, whereas agility also includes changes of direction. Speed can be defined as an athlete's ability to sprint a specific distance in as little time as possible, and, according to strength and conditioning specialists Thomas Baechle and Roger Earle, agility is "the ability to explosively brake, change direction, and accelerate again."
Measuring Speed
Coaches commonly measure speed by timing athletes over specific distances such as 40 yards, 60 yards and/or 100 yards. These tests measure both aspects of speed---acceleration and speed endurance, or the ability to maintain top speed. Coaches can measure the acceleration phase only by shortening the distance to 20 yards or less; and they can isolate the speed endurance phase by giving their athletes a 20-yard run-up to the starting line before starting the stopwatch.
Measuring Agility
Coaches often use the T-test to measure agility. For this test, an athlete sprints forward 10 yards from one cone to another, touches the second cone with either hand, shuffles to the right five yards, touches another cone with her right hand, shuffles 10 yards to the left, touches a fourth cone with her left hand, shuffles five yards to the right back to the second cone, and finally backpedals 10 yards through the first cone. A coach should use a stopwatch to time how long this takes.
Speed Training
Lee Brown and Vance Ferrigno, authors of "Training for Speed, Agility, and Quickness," recommend that speed training programs include various drills to improve athletes' sprinting mechanics, acceleration and sprint endurance. Sprint repetitions should be performed at maximum intensity and then followed by adequate rest before the next repetition; Brown and Ferrigno suggest at least four seconds of rest for every one second of work. To allow for recovery between workouts, athletes should follow intense workouts with at least two days of lighter workouts.
Agility Training
Agility training programs should include drills that incorporate accelerations, decelerations and changes of direction. One such drill, recommended by Brown and Ferrigno, is the 20-yard shuttle. Place three cones in a straight line with five yards between them. Have an athlete start at the middle cone, sprint to the cone on the right, touch it with his right hand, sprint 10 yards to the cone on the left, touch it with his left hand, and finally sprint back through the middle cone. Design agility drills that require athletes to move through sport-specific movements. For example, since basketball players have to shuffle from side-to-side while playing defense, conduct agility drills in which athletes have to shuffle in various directions as quickly as possible.
References
- "Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (Second Edition)"; Thomas R. Baechle and Roger W. Earle; 2000
- "Training for Speed, Agility, and Quickness Second Edition)"; Lee E. Brown and Vance A. Ferrigno; 2005
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