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Agility is the ability to move quickly and skillfully in response to opposing stimuli. Athletes require agility to maintain peak performance, and agility training drills can improve body awareness, reaction time, and coordination. Obstacle courses, ladders, hurdles, wobble boards, and plyoboxes are common training methods. Agility training should be used in addition to regular strength and cardiovascular training to reduce the risk of injury.
Agility is the speed and promptness of movement. It is the ability to change body position with skill and control in the face of some sort of opposing stimulus or movement. This skill requires a combination of skills such as coordination, speed, strength and endurance. It is the union of dynamic balance, or the ability to maintain balance in changing conditions, and speed.
For an athlete in any sport to maintain peak performance, they must be agile. Most movements in any high-speed sport are multidimensional, moving into corners, turns, abrupt changes of direction, and even frequent starts and stops. If the ball carrier changes direction rapidly, the defender must react. He or she must quickly apply force in the opposite direction that he or she is traveling in order to follow the motion of the ball. He needs quick reflexes and efficient footwork.
Agility training drills allow an athlete to fine-tune body awareness, reaction time, and coordination with selected drills composed of movement components or certain motor skills specific to his or her sport. Because this ability relies on stop and start demands placed on the body, it requires good strength or the quality of movement will be reduced.
Performing exercises allows the athlete to break down each movement component to understand and learn. By practicing these exercises the athlete can increase the speed and efficiency with which it is performed up to the speed of the game. Each drill should not only be tailored to the individual athlete’s needs and fitness level, but should be specific to the game.
Common drills to increase agility are through the use of obstacle courses, ladders, hurdles, and old-fashioned tires. This is where the athlete can work on their footwork. Obstacle courses teach the athlete to weave and cut. Things like hurdles and ladders are ways to increase footwork to allow the body to move quickly in different patterns.
Other training methods are through the use of things like wobble boards, usually a flat plate mounted on a ball, and Swiss balls. Using this equipment allows you to react to unexpected changes in movement. Plyoboxes assist the athlete whose game requires frequent movement where his or her feet leave the ground.
Agility training is a performance-enhancing component and should be used in addition to regular strength and cardiovascular training. It can help the athlete meet the demands of fast-paced competition and reduce the risk of injury.
