In the world of athletics, agility is a game-changer. Whether you're a soccer player weaving through defenders, a basketball player executing a perfect crossover, or a football player making split-second directional changes to evade tackles, your ability to move quickly and change direction efficiently can make or break your performance. But what exactly is agility, and how can you improve it?

Agility is more than just being quick on your feet. It's a complex skill that combines speed, balance, strength, and body control. At its core, agility is about change of direction (COD) - the ability to decelerate, change direction, and accelerate again in a smooth, controlled manner.

In this blog post, we'll dive deep into the importance of change of direction in sports and explore five key movements that can significantly enhance your agility. We'll break down why each movement matters and how it contributes to your overall agility performance. So, whether you're an athlete looking to gain an edge or a coach aiming to improve your team's performance, this guide is for you.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Understanding Change of Direction (COD)

Exercises

Putting It All Together: The Role of Strength Training and Plyometrics

The Bottom Line

Understanding Change of Direction (COD)

Before we jump into the specific movements, it's crucial to understand why change of direction is so important in sports.

In closed-skill sports like track and field, weightlifting, or powerlifting, change of direction is often a minor concern. A 100-meter sprinter runs in a straight line, and a weightlifter primarily moves in a vertical plane. However, in open-skill sports—think soccer, basketball, football, or tennis—change of direction is constant and crucial.

Open-skill sports rarely feature straight sprints. Instead, athletes are constantly adjusting their direction:

• A soccer player dribbles the ball, weaving through opponents
• A basketball player performs crossovers, euro steps, or step-back threes
• A football player makes jump cuts to avoid tackles or changes direction mid-route to lose a defender

To excel at change of direction, athletes need two key abilities:

1. The ability to slow down quickly (deceleration)
2. Dynamic trunk control

Deceleration requires strength, balance, and mobility. The angle of your shin during deceleration is particularly important for effective direction changes.

Dynamic trunk control is crucial for maintaining the right body position during cuts. If your torso is too far forward, you might fall on your face. If it's too vertical, you could lose balance and tumble. Mastering dynamic trunk control allows you to make agile cuts while maintaining balance and control.

Exercises

Now that we understand the importance of change of direction let's explore five key movements that can enhance your agility.

Lynch Jumps

Named after the NFL running back Marshawn Lynch, this advanced movement combines lateral jumps, curtsy squats, and box jumps into one dynamic exercise.

How to perform Lynch Jumps:

1. Start with a lateral jump to one side
2. Land in a curtsy squat position
3. Immediately perform a lateral jump onto a box

Lynch Jumps are excellent for developing change of direction skills. They challenge your ability to control your body through different planes of motion, engaging your glutes and developing lower body power. The combination of lateral movement, level changes, and explosive jumps mimics the multi-directional demands of many sports.

Progression

If you're new to this movement, break it down into its component parts:

• Practice lateral jumps
• Master the curtsy squat
• Combine the lateral jump with the curtsy squat
• Finally, add the box jump to complete the full Lynch Jump

This exercise not only improves your change of direction skills but also enhances overall lower body strength and power, crucial components of agility.

Sliding Cossack Squats

The Cossack squat is a unilateral lower body exercise that involves stepping out to one side and lowering your body until the thigh of your bent leg is parallel to the ground.

How to perform Sliding Cossack Squats:

1. Start in a wide stance
2. Shift your weight to one leg, bending that knee while keeping the other leg straight
3. Lower yourself until the thigh of your bent leg is parallel to the ground
4. Push back up to the starting position
5. Repeat on the other side

Cossack squats are excellent for developing change of direction skills. They teach your body to change levels in a horizontal pattern, which is crucial for many sports movements. Moreover, this exercise helps you learn how to unilaterally create force through one leg (particularly engaging the glute) to drive upwards.

The sliding aspect adds an extra challenge to balance and control, further enhancing the agility benefits. As you slide into the squat, you're forced to decelerate and control your body, mimicking the demands of changing direction in sports.

Single Leg Zercher Squat on Slant Board

This exercise combines the benefits of unilateral training, core engagement, and ankle mobility work into one challenging movement.

How to perform Single Leg Zercher Squats on a Slant Board:

1. Hold a barbell or dumbbell in the crook of your elbows
2. Stand on a slant board with one foot, heel lower than your toes
3. Perform a single-leg squat, keeping your chest up and core engaged
4. Push through your heel to return to the starting position

This exercise is gnarly, and for good reason. The Zercher hold (bar in the crook of your elbows) adds novelty and makes the movement safer due to the forward lean it promotes. The slant board creates a unique angle that's excellent for engaging the glutes and developing unilateral strength.

The single-leg aspect challenges your balance and proprioception, key components of agility. The slant board position also emphasizes ankle dorsiflexion, which is crucial for the shin angle needed in effective deceleration and directional changes.

By combining these elements, the Single Leg Zercher Squat on a Slant Board becomes a powerhouse exercise for developing the strength, balance, and mobility needed for superior change of direction skills.

20 Yard Shuttle

The 20 yard shuttle, also known as the 5-10-5 drill, is a staple in many sports combines and is excellent for training change of direction.

How to perform the 20 Yard Shuttle:

1. Start at the center cone
2. Sprint 5 yards to your right and touch the line
3. Sprint 10 yards to your left and touch the far line
4. Sprint 5 yards back through the start/finish line

The 20 yard shuttle is a comprehensive test and training tool for change of direction skills. It requires you to accelerate, decelerate, change direction, and accelerate again multiple times in quick succession. This drill mimics the omnidirectional movement patterns found in many sports.

By having athletes practice the 20 yard shuttle, they are training their bodies to function like an "athletic joystick," capable of quick starts, stops, and direction changes. It challenges their ability to maintain body control while moving at high speeds, a crucial skill for agility.

Moreover, the shuttle run trains both linear and lateral movement, making it an excellent all-around drill for enhancing agility and speed.

Hurdle Hops

Hurdle hops are a plyometric exercise that involves jumping over a series of hurdles.

How to perform Hurdle Hops:

1. Set up a series of hurdles at an appropriate height
2. Start at one end of the hurdles
3. Jump over each hurdle, focusing on quick, explosive movements
4. Land softly and immediately prepare for the next jump

While hurdle hops might seem more focused on vertical power than change of direction, they play a crucial role in developing the explosive strength needed for agility.

Hurdle hops are excellent for improving acceleration. That first explosive step - whether it's with a ball, off the line, or out of a defensive stance - is pivotal to speed and agility. Athletes who can generate more explosive force in that first step give themselves a head start in any movement.

Moreover, hurdle hops train both the explosive jumping phase and the landing phase. The landing is particularly important for change of direction skills, as it mimics the force absorption needed when decelerating to make a cut or change direction.

By practicing hurdle hops, athletes not only develop the power needed for quick accelerations but also train their bodies to absorb force efficiently, a key component of effective deceleration and direction change.

Putting It All Together: The Role of Strength Training and Plyometrics

While these five movements are excellent for developing change of direction skills and overall agility, it's important to understand that they don't exist in isolation. To truly enhance your agility, you need a comprehensive approach that includes both specific agility work and general strength and power development.

Plyometrics, like the hurdle hops we discussed, play a crucial role in developing the explosive power needed for quick accelerations and direction changes. They train your body to generate force quickly, which is essential for agility.

Weightlifting, particularly technical coordination exercises like cleans, snatches, and their derivatives, are also invaluable for developing change of direction skills. These movements:

1. Develop robust dynamic trunk control
2. Improve change of direction capabilities under extreme loads
3. Put the shin in a very ankle-flexed position, mimicking the position needed for effective deceleration
4. Develop the strength needed to perform agile movements quickly
5. Train acceleration through the concentric stand-up portion of the lift

By incorporating these Olympic-style lifts into an athlete's training regimen, you're not just building their strength - you're developing the specific strength, power, and body control they need for superior agility and change of direction skills.

The Bottom Line

Enhancing your agility is about more than just quick feet. It requires a combination of strength, power, balance, and body control, all coordinated to allow for efficient changes of direction. The five movements we've discussed - Lynch Jumps, Sliding Cossack Squats, Single Leg Zercher Squats on a Slant Board, 20 Yard Shuttles, and Hurdle Hops - each contribute to different aspects of agility and change of direction skills.

By incorporating these movements into your training regimen, along with a solid foundation of strength training and plyometrics, you can significantly enhance an athlete’s agility. Remember, the key to improvement is consistent, focused practice. Start with the basics, progress gradually, and always maintain proper form to prevent injury.

Whether you're looking to improve your performance on the field, court, or just in your daily life, enhanced agility can make a significant difference and our athlete training app, Peak Strength, can help make that happen.