Hello everyone, I play WR/PR/KR. I am having problems when it comes to quickness. Being able to accelerate to full speed then deaccelerate and make a cut is what I’m trying to get. I did use the search function and found some interesting information regarding Becoming Quicker, just a little confused.
What muscles are used in agility/ quickness?
How Can I reach my maximum potential for agility / quickness without sacrificing speed?
Also, How are some athletes (ie Barry Sanders) able to accelerate while turning?
All muscles are used. Most agility/quickness is specific to the sport/activity, so you need to work on that first and foremost, along with your speed/strength/elasticity.
Also, How are some athletes (ie Barry Sanders) able to accelerate while turning?
Well any turning is actually a form of acceleration, but if you mean pick up speed, then I don’t really understand your question because everyone does or can to some extent (some much moreso than others).
There are lots of ways. One drill I like is to accelerate for 3 steps, then stop in two. Or accelerate for 5 and stop in three, or whatever. Do this going straight forward, angled forward, and sideways. Focus on dropping your hips and using your hips to absorb the force.
Usually I will start these drills by stopping completely and making sure I end up in a balanced athletic position. (Hold it for 3 seconds to make sure that you have controlled your momentum.)
Once you have mastered that, then you can move on to exploding out of the deceleration into a different direction.
These are not conditioning drills, so make sure you are fresh and fully recovered between sessions and between sets and reps. Keep the quality and intensity high.
First and Foremost Form Is Everything!
You have to work on agility and quickness drills 4 days a week . Work on agility drills that prepare you to change directions in control and, with continuous repetitions, with the ability to lose very little speed. Your body must get low and feet must remain under your shoulders.
Run and change direction drills in sand.
cones: 4 cones, L drill, zig zag, W drill for back pedall
suicides/gassers, pro agility.
Quickness drills like ladder drills, short box step ups, and jump roping that reduce the contact time your feet touch the ground.
Alternate grass drills: speed one day, power one day. 15-30 minutes daily is all thats needed off season. 5-10 minutes daily incorporated with bag-sled, etc drills during season is necessary.
Speed and explosion is power. Upper and lower body Weight training is optimal for both (explosion is the quick stops and starts). Follow a tremendous workout plan formulated by a pro that incorporates jumping exercise (with and without weight) weighted: jump squats-step ups-lunges/backward lunges-box jumps,
I can better teach receivers when I break down the entire route running-pass catching process. I can teach any receiver how to run crisp tight routes doing the many angles in the 4 cone drill (in addition to the other grass drills). I can throw anywhere from 150 passes in 10 minutes to almost 500 in 30 minutes. Receiver stands in one spot while I throw the ball at different angles straight at, then receiver turns to left side, then catches over both shoulders and continues full circle completing ten catches a rotation at different angles using proper hand and finger placement according to angle and whether ball is above or below waist. Always concentrating on using fingers while having eyes follow ball to tuck. Breaking down this process enable receiver to improve both skills seperately and by doing so he will get 1000 times more repetition in the same time it takes to set up-run route catch ball-set up repeatedly!
A lot of high school coaches complain that a potential receiver either has good route running skills but lacks good hands, and vice versa. They typically don’t know how to, or just refuse to take the time to instruct their players properly! Inevitibly the team and the players lose out!
Feel free to contact me if you would like more detailed training methods for any position, etc. for free! tmajor7@aol.com
Not sure if this is the best way to go about training. Agility/Plyos 5x per week is going to be very tough on ligaments/tendons. I agree that some acceleration/deceleration drills need to be utilized, but playing the sport itself (running routes, one on ones, 7 on 7, etc) is better than any drill. If he is getting enough work with that, I see no extra need to add any more drills on top of it. Most practices that I have been involved in involve a heavy amount of drills that utilize agility, deceleration, releases, etc.
If you are training for off-season right now, your main focus should be in the weight room anyways for a football player (at least for now).
Concern for excessive strain on ligaments and tendons is very important. In the 10 years that I have coached football at the Middle/High school levels I believe I have done as much or more research than the next guy. With the main purpose being the safety of the kids that play the game. In fact it was here where I recently read what Charlie said about not focussing on agilities because of the excessive strain those drills put on the ankles. I am also aware of the damage plyos can be to the knees etc. I have to say that I agree with his opinion. What’s unfortunate as I prepare for spring ball I (may be) at a standstill with how I’m going to prepare my team. We have had tremendous success with our programs winning championships and sending kids to the next level using agility, speed, plyo, and weight training workouts (ACCORDINGLY). And fortunately our kids haven’t been plagued with ankle and knee problems associated with unneccessary stress!
As far as position specific drills such as running routes etc., apparently most high school teams (in and around my county in Florida) aren’t incorporating the neccessary reinforcement needed to imrove the proper form related to running, cutting, etc., into their 1 on 1, 7 on 7, and “regular practice time”. And if they are, they aren’t paying close attention to “ALL THE DETAILS”. It appears they believe 1 month of it during pre-season is sufficient. They feel they must spend 90% of their time on game preparations. I disagree with that totally! We spend every day of our off-season, pre-season, and season programs focussing on reinforcing the fundamentals of every aspect of playing football correctly!
The off-season is definitely the time to focus on aerobic and anaerobic training as well as weight training. In fact it is the best time to work on implementation and improvement of football speed/quickness drills without the restrictions involved with time spent on team/game preparation during the season.
As for performing speed/quickness/plyo/agility/assisted running drills, they are to be broken up during the week. Each of them isn’t done every day consecutively, or year round. If you would like a copy of my plan I would be happy to post it.