Periodised agility?

Posted On Wednesday, 08th August 2012 at 07:29

Periodised agility?

Agility is like any other fitness component, it follows the principles of training of:

• Specificity
• Overload
• Progression
• Reversibility. 

The balance between specificity and overload is a crucial one. Your agility can't just be Organised Despair, nor can it be just playing games. 

One way of overloading the balance/ control system is to practice transferring from stable to unstable surfaces. I am not a believer in circus tricks: standing on swiss balls has very little transfer to real sport.

One drill I use as part of a progression is a series of quick lateral steps and then a single leg stick and hold. Start on your right leg and move rapidly to your left for 3-5 metres and stick the landing on your left leg.

Repeat to the other side. A progression is to finish on a rebounder (pictured with Dan James demonstrating) or a different surface such as grass.

For someone like Dan (GB Goalkeeper for Blind Football) who has good lateral movement and control, we need to add a different stimulus to over come the plateau.

We can also go further, faster, or add more complicated movements. We just can't stay the same.

(More on structuring your agility training here)