Increasing Foot Speed By Way of Agility Mats
A simple theme that I have established through most of my training blogs is the emphasis Division I coaches are placing on foot speed and quickness. No longer do coaches want high school players that are just big and strong, they are placing much more emphasis on agility when evaluating players. Since this skill is in such high demand, I have included several blogs that focus on exercises that football players at all levels can utilize to enhance their personal foot speed and agility, regardless of your position or size.
In this blog I want to focus on an exercise that I have done since I was in high school (Class of 96) and have been an integral part of my weekly workout routine since. This exercise is called the “Dot Drill”. It is simply a place mat or area on the floor outlined with 5 dots. Although you can create your own “Dot Mat” I would highly recommend purchasing one. They are fairly inexpensive, easily mobile and provide an optimal surface to do the agility drills. You can find more information about a “Dot Mat” by going to www.touchdownskills.com or click on this link http://www.touchdownskills.com/products/agilitymat.html and it will take you directly to the product page.
Since I am firm believer of the benefits of a dot map I would like to my favorite exercise that can be done as a warm up or part of your conditioning workout.
Inside Out Drill
Step 1: Place each foot on the bottom two dots of the mat.
Step 2: Jump to the middle dot with both feet.
Step 3: Jump to the top 2 dots by placing your feet on each dot.
Step 4: Jump backwards to the middle dot, with both feet.
Step 5: Jump back to the bottom two dots with one foot on each dot.
Step 6: Repeat, getting faster through each repetition.
Repeat the process 3-4 times until you get a feel of the coordination. Once you have the “feel” down then do the drill as fast as you can going up and down the dots. The key to this drill is to touch each dot as fast as you can. Try to jump as low to the ground as possible and then once your feet hit the designated dot immediately jump to the next set. You will repeat this drill for 30-45 seconds and you can do it for 2-5 sets.
There are several variations of this drill and others can be utilized with a Dot Map. Continue to check with the www.touchdownskills.com blog each week and I will include new workouts and exercises for all featured training products.
