Strength, endurance, skill and coordination are crucial components of sport performance, but agility is essential to overall athleticism. The word "agility" implies athletic readiness, and an ability to swiftly, safely and efficiently respond to outside forces. Agile athletes have the fraction of a second advantage over their opponents, which is why coaches dedicate a significant portion of their conditioning programs to agility training.
Identification
The most agile athletes efficiently accelerate, decelerate and change directions while maintaining, dynamic balance, impeccable form and correct body alignment. Agility training programs therefor incorporate speed and quickness exercise, balance training and postural alignment. Since agility requires the ability to recognize and respond to tactile, visual and auditory stimuli, many sport agility programs include proprioceptive training, which enhances the body's ability to recognize its position in space.
Considerations
Effective sports agility training programs address the issues that impede the ability to accelerate, decelerate or change directions. A person with tight hip flexors, for example, may not be able to perform the pivoting movements required in directional changes. Soccer coach Jay Hoffman, who authored "Physiological Aspects of Sport Training and Performance," suggests that eccentric contractions, which lengthen the muscle as it contracts, also affects the ability to quickly change directions. Posture, as defined by Mike Clark of the National Academy of Sports Medicine, is the point where movements begin and end. A faulty athletic stance or posture will adversely affect movement initiation and movement outcome. Helping an athlete find the right athletic ready stance is a prerequisite to agility training.
Function
Sport agility programs are designed to improve foot speed, hand/eye coordination and reaction time. Examples include hopscotch courses, jumping rope, medicine ball tosses performed on balance devices and whistle drills, which require an athlete to change direction each time the whistle blows.
Expert Insight
Spatial and temporal anticipation are two factors that influence reaction time. Authors Diane Vive and Jim Roberts, in their book titled "Training for Speed, Agility and Quickness" describe spatial anticipation as an athlete's ability to predict what will occur. A skier, sensing the changing terrain, may be able to predict that the snow beneath her is about to become a mogul field. Temporal anticipation is the ability to predict when the event will occur. This is often determined by visual and auditory cues, such as the sight and sound of an approaching ball. Since spatial and temporal anticipation skills are specific to the sport, agility training programs should incorporate drills that simulate the sport's unique movements.
Warning
Agility training programs must be progressive. Avoid adding too many challenges in one drill. Begin with simple tasks, and gradually increase drill speed, balance challenge, complexity and unpredictability.
References
- National Strength and Conditioning Association: What is Agility?
- Training for Speed, Agility and Quickness: Human Kinetics: 2005: Lee Brown,Vance Ferrigno, Diane Vive, Jim Roberts
- NASM Essentials of Personal Training: Michael Clark, Rodney Corn Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Third Edition (April 1, 2007)
- Physiological Aspects of Sport Training and Performance: Jay Hoffman: Human Kinetics: 2002
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