5 Yard Agility Program

6.19.2013

Blog|Conditioning

Training athletes to become proficient at specific drills by mimicking the patterns they do over and over in competition is part of a well conceived agility program. There are also particular agility tests that athletes must practice, as coaches and teams use these tests to evaluate their abilities and talent. Endless possibilities of movements and body positions are part of competition. Constructing an agility program with this in mind will enhance an athletes abilities.

As important as the development of movement patterns in a program is the effort given by the athlete in each drill. Agility is not a jog or middle distance. Agility is a stop and go, twist and turn, bend and hop, shuffle and leap, backpedal and drop all out sprint. There is one speed when doing each agility drill ……..FULL.

The 5 Yard Agility Program is easy to set up. It was created to be done by one person, in groups, or together as a team.

Place six cones or objects (t-shirts) 5 yards apart, in the manner illustrated below. The distance between the row of cones 1, 2 & 3 and cones 4, 5 & 6 is also 5 yards.

Run the following drills either by sprinting, backward running, shuffling or carioca. Some drills also may include hopping over the object or quick stepping. The drills shown are by no means all the possible combinations you may do or the order they should be done in. Drills can be started in a position stance, on the ground facing a cone, laying on ones back, on a knee or any conceivable position. Running can start from right to left or left to right or done in any other manner. Be innovative and configure your own drills, adding or subtract cones as needed. Each drill must be run at full speed and finished leaning forward to win.

Example 5 Yard Agility Program:

Drill # 1 8

Sprint a figure 8 twice. Start at cone #5 sprint around cone#2. Do the drill twice.

Drill #2 Low L

Sprint a Low L. Start at cone #5. Sprint around cone #6 and back to cone #5. Turn and sprint around cone #2 and back to cone #5.

Drill #3 Hop Shuffle

Hop over the cone bringing your knees to your chest. Lateral shuffle quickly between cones. Hop again. Continue for 30 seconds. Count reps.

Drill #4 Hop Sprint

Hop over the cone bringing your knees to your chest. Sprint between cones. Hop again. Continue for 30 seconds. Beat the reps in drill #3.

Drill #5 V

Sprint to cone #3. Carioca to cone #1. Backward run to cone#5.

Drill #6 V Hop

Sprint to cone #3. Hop over it with knees to chest. Carioca to cone #2. Hop over it knees to chest. Sprint to cone #1 and hop over it. Backward run to cone#5.

Drill #7 Carioca V

Carioca to cone #1. Carioca to cone #3. Carioca to cone#5.

Drill #8 Backward V

Backward run to cone #1. Backward run to Cone #3. Backward run to cone#5

Drill #9 Shuffle V

Shuffle to cone #3. Shuffle to Cone #1. Shuffle to cone#5

Drill #10 4 Corner Spin

From cone #5 sprint to cone #6. Spin and sprint to cone #3. Spin and sprint to cone #2. Spin and sprint to cone #5.

Drill #11 Triangle

Sprint to Cone #4. Sprint to cone #1. Sprint to cone #5.

Drill #12 Sprint Hop

Hop over cone #5 knees to chest. Sprint to cone # 4 hop knees to chest. Sprint to cone #1 and hop. Sprint to cone # 2 and hop with knees to chest. Sprint to #6 hop and finish at Cone#5.

Drill #13 Star

Add one cone. Start in the center at #7 touch cone #5 and return and touch cone #7. Touch cone #4 return and touch cone #7. Touch cone #1 and return and touch cone #7. Touch cone #2 and finish at cone #7. Perform the drill twice.

Drill #14 N

Sprint from cone #5 to cone #2. Sprint from cone #6 to cone #3 and finish.

Drill #15 Skier

Hop, back and forth, over cone #5 for 1 minute. Count repetitions.

Drill #16. Shuffle Step Over

Step over, back and over cone #5 and shuffle to cone#6. Step over, back and over cone #6 and shuffle to cone #3. Step over, back and over cone #3 and shuffle to cone#2. Step over, back and over cone #2 and shuffle to cone#1. Step over, back and over cone #1 and shuffle to cone #4. Step over, back and over cone #4 and shuffle to cone #5.

Rest intervals are to be set by the coach or athlete based on fitness.

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Closed And Open Chain

Open kinetic chain exercises of the lower limb are movements, where the distal segment is unloaded and free to move. The opposite is true of closed kinetic chain exercises, whereby there is enough resistance to prohibit free motion.

Closed kinetic chain exercises are movements such as squats, Pendulum Squat Pro, leg presses and lunges, while open chain exercises are actions like leg curls, leg extensions and the Pendulum Reverse Glute Ham.

The kinetic chain can be understood as interrelated joints and body parts working with one another during motion. This creates a chain of events that affects the movement of neighboring joints and segments.

The advantage of open chain movements is that they tend to be better at isolating muscle and often are selected for specific rehabilitation and used to accentuate performance. While closed chain movements in general would be classified as more functional and closely approximating movements that are used in sport and daily life.

Open Chain Reverse Glute Ham

Closed Chain Pendulum Power Squat Pro

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Arkansas Baseball Weight Room

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2-for-2 Method

Some trainers, coaches and athletes use what is called the 2-for-2 Method for increasing training load. The rule is if the trainee can perform two or more repetitions over one’s ‘repetition goal’ in the last set of an exercise, for two consecutive workouts, the weight is added for that particular exercise the next training session.