Football Training – Agility


What is agility??

In order for a footballer to maintain their best performance,they must be agile. Most movements in any high-speed sport are multi-dimensional, moving in angles, curves, sharp directional changes, and even frequent starts and stops. If the person with the ball quickly changes direction, the defensive player needs to react quickly by applying force in the opposite direction that they are traveling in order to follow the motion of the ball.

The ability to change the direction of your own body quickly and efficiently in an effective manner which will require.

  • speed
  • strength
  • balance
  • good co-ordination skills

 

 

OK so how do I improve my agility??

One of the best ways I have found is to place cones or some kind of markers on the ground similar to the picture below..

As you can see the player has to twist and turn through out the course, you don’t have to set your up exact to this picture this is just an example. Use your own ideas and keep changing them around, remember football is a multi directional sport. You will find yourself running at all different speeds, going forwards, sideways and even backwards through out the game.

Another way to improve your agility is the agility ladder that most professional football players use now. Manchester United, Barcelona and Real Madrid etc all use this at their training grounds.

Using the ladder you can improve a wide range of different foot movements, try a few simple exercises on it first to get used to using it, you will soon see the effects it has on your game. Check out the following video below on all the different exercises you can do on the ladder..


 

You can order an agility ladder at a discount price below

Cintz 15 Ft adjustable soccer speed agility ladder with flat rungs and Ladder Organizer in a carry bag15ft Agility Ladder

Cintz 30 ft adjustable soccer Speed and Agility ladder with flat rungs and ladder organizer in a bag, (Ladder splits into two ladders of 15 ft each)30ft Agility Ladder

 

OK so there you have it, take this information over to the pitch and practice at it, remember it wont come over night, but the more you train at it the better you will become!

 

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