How to Gain Agility

Agility is a very important component of many different sports. For good agility, you need to be able to change your body position quickly while still maintaining balance, speed and coordination in multiple planes. This is especially seen in sports like football, soccer, basketball and tennis. The way to gain more agility is by following a series of steps that are specific to the demands that are going to be encountered.

Things You'll Need

  • Agility ladder
  • BOSU
  • Plyo boxes
  • Medicine ball
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Instructions

    • 1

      Get out the ladder. Ladder drills are a way to enhance your forward, backward and lateral agility. Set it up in a big open room like a gym or fitness room. After a warm-up, do drills like one ins, two ins, in in out outs, bunny hops, power skips and hop scotch. You can also perform these exercises backwards and sideways.

    • 2

      Do BOSU drills. A BOSU is a training tool that can be used on both sides. It looks like a stability ball that has been cut in half with a flat bottom on it, and it is used for balance, core and agility training. Some exercises to do on the BOSU are lateral side steps, power step ups, 180 spins and hops. One-eighty spins are performed with one foot on the BOSU and one foot on the floor. Stand with knees slightly bent, then jump in the air, spin around and land on the opposite feet. Then do the same thing the other way. Working out on the BOSU will also increase your balance.

    • 3

      Do burpees. Agility takes place not only from a standing position, but from a lying position. This is seen in sports where you have to get up off the ground a lot like football and soccer. To do a burpee, stand with your feet about shoulder width apart. Come into a squat and place your hands on the floor outside of your feet. Kick your legs straight behind you and do a push-up. Then snap your feet forward, back to the inside of your hands, and do an explosive squat jump. Extend your arms straight up in the air like you are signaling a touchdown. Do burpees in one fluid, continuous movement.

    • 4

      Do box jumps. These can be done on top of plyo boxes or weight benches. Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart. Squat down slightly, then hop up in the air and land on the box. Jump back down and repeat. Do these facing forward and do them laterally as well.

    • 5

      Take it to the stairs. Stand at the bottom of a stairway. Instead of walking the stairs, hop up the stairs. Get comfortable hopping up one step at a time, then work your way up to multiple steps. Start out doing these with both feet. After you have done them for awhile and feel more comfortable, progress to one foot.

    • 6

      Do some flexibility work. Increasing your flexibility will also increase your range of motion in all planes. Do some yoga stretches or attend a class to get the best effect. As an added benefit, stretching will reduce your chances for pulled muscles and connective tissue damage.

    • 7

      Work the core. All the power and speed involved with agility starts with the core. Work the upper abs, lower abs, obliques and lower back muscles. Some examples of exercises would be overhead medicine ball throws, medicine ball chops, crunches, back extensions and leg raises.