Agility drill wheel

How to run an agility session

1. Warm up for 5–10 minutes first: light jog, leg swings, high knees and butt kicks. Agility work on cold legs is how ankles and hamstrings get hurt.
2. Spin three drills. Do each one 3–4 times, working hard for 5–20 seconds, then resting at least 40–60 seconds. Agility is about quality, not fatigue.
3. Use a flat, dry surface: grass, a turf field or a gym floor. Wear proper shoes.
4. Stop if anything hurts, and keep the whole session to about 15–20 minutes.

Setting up the drills

• 5-10-5 shuttle (pro agility): three lines 5 yards apart. Start in the middle, sprint 5 yards to one side, touch the line, sprint 10 yards to the far line, touch it, then sprint 5 yards back through the middle.
• T-drill: sprint 10 yards forward to a cone, shuffle 5 yards left, 10 yards right, 5 yards back to the middle, then backpedal to the start.
• 3-cone L-drill: three cones 5 yards apart in an L. Sprint to the middle cone and back, sprint to it again, curl around it to the far cone, circle that one, and come back around the middle cone to the start.
• Mirror drill: two players face each other a couple of yards apart. One leads with shuffles and steps for 10 seconds; the other copies. Swap.
• Ball drop reaction: a partner holds a tennis ball in each hand at shoulder height and drops one; you sprint and catch it after one bounce.
• No ladder? Chalk or tape a ladder on the ground, or use the lines on a court for line hops and shuffles.

For kids and PE classes

Children from about age 7 enjoy these as races and games. Use the mirror drill, line hops, zig-zag cones and the shuttle run, and leave timed testing for older athletes. Turn on Remove the winner after each spin to rotate a class through stations: put each station’s drill on the projector in full screen and swap every 2 minutes.