Equipment Needed
- Agility ladder or 8–10 bags/cones
Don't have a ladder handy?
A folding speed & agility ladder is cheap, packs flat for the sideline bag, and covers this drill plus dozens of others.
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- Lay the agility ladder flat on the field, or space 8 to 10 bags or cones in a straight line about 18 inches apart.
- Players line up single file at the start of the ladder.
Instructions
- Pattern 1 — two feet in each box/gap, moving straight through.
- Pattern 2 — one foot in each box/gap, alternating, moving straight through.
- Pattern 3 — lateral shuffle through the ladder, hips facing the sideline the whole way.
- Run each pattern twice, resting while the next player goes through.
Coaching Points
- Drive the knees up rather than shuffling flat-footed through the boxes.
- Keep the head up and eyes forward instead of looking down at the feet.
- Arms pump in rhythm with the feet, just like a sprint motion.
- Speed increases only after the pattern is being run cleanly, with no missed steps.
Variation
Add a football toss at the end of the ladder to combine footwork with hand-eye coordination, or finish each rep with a short sprint to a cone for a conditioning tie-in.