Life ladders, or the similar speed ladders, are rope ladders placed flat on the ground to create holes for footwork drills, and are used by athletes from middle school to the professional level to improve agility, quickness and body control. Ladders can be used along with sport-specific equipment or by themselves. There are dozens of drills that can be performed on the ladder to increase overall athletic ability.
Quickness
Life ladder drills that develop quickness are the most basic drills. The goal is to move down the ladder as quickly as possible, and the two most common quickness drills are placing one foot in each hole at a time and placing two feet in each hole at a time. Sprinting 10 yards to the ladder before the drill and 10 yards after will improve your ability to accelerate and decelerate quickly. As you transition from sprinting to performing the drill, you must decelerate your body and accelerate your feet. This is great sport-specific training as well as general quickness training.
Change of Direction
When trying to improve your agility, you must work on changing directions quickly and efficiently. Several drills are designed to improve change of direction, the most common being side-to-side movements as you proceed down the ladder. Beginning with both feet outside to the right of the ladder, step into the ladder with your left foot, then your right. Then step out of the ladder on the left side with your left foot and move your right foot up to the next rung. Put your left foot into the ladder next to your right foot and step out of the ladder on the right side with your right foot. This routine of in, in, out, up is the basis for the major change of direction drills.
Lateral Movement
Lateral movement is essential to increased agility, and the side shuffle is a great drill to improve lateral agility. You can increase the difficulty of this drill by never placing two feet in the same hole at the same time, which will cause you to leave a hole between your feet after stepping with your lead foot. You then place your trail foot in the hole behind your lead foot instead of the hole with the lead foot. Keeping your shoulders square and your head up as much as possible, shuffle sideways down the length of the ladder. Doing this quickly and with precision will increase your lateral mobility.
Body Control
The final benefit of life ladders is the improved body control. The coordination that you can develop with ladder drills is extraordinary. Whether you are training for sports or for life in general, the ladder gives you the ability to put your body in awkward positions and adapt to the movements required to get into those positions. That type of body control and coordination is beneficial throughout daily life. Front leg and rear leg swings are one of the most basic body control movements. In these drills, leave one foot in the ladder at all times and step forward while swinging your other leg in front or behind you from one side of the ladder to the other.
References
- "Training for Speed, Agility, and Quickness"; Lee Brown; 2005.
- "101 Agility Drills"; Patrick McHenry; 2004.
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