Agility ladder drills improve footwork and lateral movement in sports. The hopscotch drill works fast-twitch muscles and coordination, while the side foot drill and entry and exit drill are more challenging. Smoothness and agility are more important than speed or muscle work.
To improve footwork and lateral movement during sporting activities, agility ladder drills should be added to any training routine. Agility ladder drills are performed by working quickly and smoothly through a series of obstacles; These obstacles can be cones, or they can be a royal flush placed on the ground. When performing agility ladder drills, the athlete must remember that agility and smoothness through obstacles is more important than speed or muscle work until tired. Other muscle-building exercises can be combined with agility drills, but the agility drills themselves are meant to improve footwork, lateral movement, and fast-twitch muscle reaction.
The hopscotch drill is one of the most basic exercises on the agility ladder that works your fast-twitch muscles and improves coordination. Fast twitch muscles are small muscle fibers that are responsible for quick, agile movements. To do a hopscotch drill, the ladder must be placed in front of the athlete. He or she will lightly jog to the first rung of the ladder, then hop between the first and second rungs, landing on both feet. He or she will then proceed to the gap between the second and third rungs, landing on the right foot. The athlete will then jump to the next space and land on both feet, and then to the next space, landing on the left foot only. The exercise continues in this way until the end of the ladder.
The side foot drill is one of the more challenging agility ladder drills, requiring much more coordination and agility to complete. The athlete will start with the ladder on the ground in front of him or her, and he or she will jump into the first space between the rungs. Immediately after landing, the athlete will jump to the right and land with both feet off the ladder. He or she will then jump back to the next space, landing on both feet, followed by a successive jump off the ladder to the left. The athlete will repeat this until they reach the bottom of the ladder.
The entry and exit drill is an advanced version of the agility ladder drills. The athlete will start with the ladder in front of him or her, and will jump into the space between the first two rungs, landing on both feet. The next forward jump will require the athlete to send the left foot off the ladder to the left, and the right foot off the ladder to the right. The athlete must land firmly on both feet before springing forward and landing on the next space with both feet together.
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