Speed & Agility Drills for Speed Development

Speed drills increase how fast muscle fibers can twitch, allowing you to move your body faster. Agility drills, on the other hand, help you increase how fast you can move your body in a new direction by performing many repetitions. A repetition is one movement of the particular exercise. When performing these repetitions, slowly increase the speed and intensity while still performing the movements fluidly.

  1. Agility

    • Jumping from dot to dot will help you increase how fast you can move in different directions. Place a series of five dots on a mat, with the dots arranged in a pattern. You should jump from dot to dot in different patterns. For example, in one pattern, you start off with each foot on a different dot on one side of the mat, jump with both feet onto a single dot in the center, and then jump on to two more dots on the other end of the mat. You can also use a ladder to improve your agility. Place a ladder on the ground. Run across the ladder. Start off simply putting the feet through the rungs. Then, work on crossing the feet over each other while running across the ladder.

    Speed

    • Sprinting involves running as fast as you can. By practicing sprinting, you can increase your running speed, especially in short sports. Sprint for about six to eight seconds at a time. Vary the intensity of the sprint at every interval. Adding a little resistance while you run will help build your leg strength. With the harness workout, you attach a harness to your body; another person holds on to the harness. Then, you run as fast as you can with the harness providing resistance. Increase your intensity to increase your sprinting speed. You can increase the overall speed of your body by making fast movements with your limbs while under resistance. For example, you can lift light dumbbells very quickly to increase movement speed in your arms. Avoid using weights that you struggle to lift so that you do not hurt yourself. Only lift heavy weights slowly.

    Combined

    • Many drills involve speed and agility, such as the tennis ball drill. Stand a couple feet away from a partner holding a tennis ball. The partner drops the tennis ball and then you must dash and grab it before it hits the ground a second time after bouncing. You can increase your leg speed and agility by Placing three rings on the ground, 6 inches apart. Move your feet rapidly into different rings with different patterns. For example, place your right foot in the center ring. Place your left foot on the first ring. Then move your right foot into the last ring. Then put your left foot in the center ring. Then place your right foot outside the ring and remain in that position for balance before reversing the process.

    Technique

    • When you are training in your off season, you should perform regular speed and agility drills one to three times a week, according to the University of Notre Dame. Then, you can avoid losing your skill. Pre-season, perform drills two to four times a week. In season, you only need to perform one or no drills per week to conserve your energy for the athletic event. Drills should be performed with an emphasis on quality, rather than quantity, to help you develop the proper form for each drill. Speed training is best performed at the beginning of the workout session so that you have enough energy to move at the maximum speed.