I grew up in a beautiful farmhouse located on a picturesque dirt road. The home was situated on nearly seventy-five acres of rich farmland. Our backyard was huge. During the summer months, my parents, my sister, my friends, and me often played games in the backyard. I particularly enjoyed playing volleyball and badminton in our spacious backyard. On one particular occasion, one of my friends became so competitive that he got tangled in the volleyball net while attempting to prevent the ball from hitting the ground. I have many fond memories of playing sports at my childhood home. On this blog, you will discover the best types of sports equipment to purchase for your backyard.
Summer is not a time for football. Baseball is the summer sport, but for college athletes who are going to play come September, the summer is not a time to slack off. The months off should be used to train and improve speed and agility. If you want to get a jump on training camp, then you should practice on your own to make sure you make the cut. This article will give you two drills that will improve spend and agility.
3 Cone Drill (Shuttle Drill)
This is one of the most famous football drills. It is even part of the NFL combine. Scouts for NFL teams want to see how athletes perform in the shuttle drill because it is a testament to how fast and agile they are. It's a deceptively simple exercise, but one that should definitely be part of your summer training program.
You need just three traffic cones and an area to run on. It's best to practice on a football field so that you will have the same texture that you will run on in a real game, but any grass field will due in a pinch.
Set the cones up in a line, each 5 yards apart from one another. Stand in the middle next to one cone. The drill is to run laterally to the cone on your right and then return run to the cone on your far left. You then return to the center cone. You run as fast as possible. The drill helps you develop the ability to stop quickly and change direction without having to slow down. This is crucial during a football game when you are chasing down a receiver or, if you're playing offense, changing direction to evade a tackle.
Agility Ladder Drills
An excellent agility drill is the sideways run using an agility ladder. These are ladders that are laid out on the ground. The ladders might be solid, or they can be roll-out type rope ladders. The basic principal is the same regardless of the ladder style you have access to. You use the ladder to perform intricate footwork drills. There are countless variations of ladder drills, including the aforementioned sideways run. This drill helps with lateral running. Other drills have you run backwards, which helps if you are playing safety or another position where you will have to run backwards. You can even perform the popular carioca drill, which is a cross-stepping footwork drill, with the agility ladder.
You may also want to look into acquiring speed and agility training equipment. For more information, contact Sport Speed or a similar company.
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