Movement Drill/Competition
Deceleration & Agility
Drill Purpose:
Whenever you think speed, most think acceleration. While acceleration is vital on the field of play, we must also recognize that an athlete that has his or her body in complete control is the most likely to use their game speed to their advantage. This week we’re focusing on adding deceleration to an athletes training in order to incorporate total body control during competition. A running back in football, a soccer, lacrosse, or basketball player must be able to go from full speed and slow down effectively in order to avoid a defender, change the pace of play, and/or make adjustments with teammates, before accelerating again into a play.
This week’s drill and competition combine the elements of sprinting full speed, decelerating, footwork agility, and acceleration. An important factor in decelerating is the arm movement; arm movement must slow down (at the shoulder joint) in order to slow down the cycle of the legs.
Equipment:
Seven cones
One agility step ladder, &/or plastic flat rings
A stopwatch
Drill/Competition Set-Up:
In an area 40 yards long by 20 yards wide place one cone as the starting line, place an agility ladder centered on the course, 15 yards away perpendicular to the first starting cone (place four cones in the four boxes outlining the four center boxes on the agility ladder – see diagram), place one cone 45 degrees and 20 yards away to the right of the center of the agility ladder, and another 45 degrees and 20 yards to the left of the agility ladder.
Drill Execution:
Each athlete starts at the first starting cone and sprints full speed towards the center of the agility ladder placed perpendicular to the starting cone. When the athlete arrives at the agility ladder he or she must slow down and place one foot in each box (right foot must step into the each box on the right side, and the left foot must step into each box ion the left side), followed by immediately sprinting to one of the two cones placed 45 degrees and 20 yards away from the agility ladder. The agility ladder forces the athlete to decelerate by slowing down the shoulder rotation and therefore the leg rotation. The footwork necessary to step into each box adds an agility element, followed by acceleration to one of the two cones placed 20 yards away.
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When you feel your athletes are beginning to execute the deceleration skill with the proper techniques, you may decide to time each run through the course. Once a personal best time is established for each athlete it becomes the benchmark by which they attempt to improve upon. This allows for the athletes to not worry about competing against the others, but to focus on improving their own techniques and times. After running the course three times in each direction, take the best time at the completion of the first session and record a personal best time. When athletes return to run the course again, take the their personal best time and assign 5 points for every ¼ of a second recorded under their personal best, and -5 points for every ¼ second recorded time above. Conduct 3 runs of the course in each direction every time you compete. Add the total number of points achieved for that session as a final score.
Note: the athlete keeps their original personal best during the competition session regardless if a better time is recorded that session. The newly recorded personal best is then applied the next time you conduct the competition. We will continue to provide movement training drills and tips for you to incorporate into your team training regiment. For a complete guide of drills and competitions, look for my new book “Athletic Fitness for Kids”, Human Kinetics, available this November in bookstores and on the web.
Scott Lancaster, August 2007