by Tommy Christian
In order to be effective in training athletes for sport specific speed, we have to be very intentional to address the agility component of training.  In order to do that well, we have to first break down and define what agility is before we can devise a plan and approach to improving the quality.This is how we break down and define agility at TCBOOST:
1) Change of Direction:  With this we are talking about cutting.  It can be the outside foot, inside foot, 2-feet, high speed, low speed and at any angle.

2) Deceleration:  Every change of direction or cut is initiated with a deceleration.  Proper deceleration control is one of the biggest keys to ACL injury prevention and is also the key to being able to change directions efficiently.

3) Multi-Directional Movement:  This form of agility has to do with movement patterns other than linear sprinting.  It includes backpedalling, cross-over runs and shuffling.  All of these skills can and should be improved drastically within the agility program.

4) 1st Step (360 degrees):  This is the initiation of movement or the initiation of the redirection of movement.  It includes lateral steps, drop steps, cross-over steps and plyo steps.  The 1st step is King in most field based sports.

All of the above components with regards to agility need to be trained with a mix of non-reactive and reactive drills.  Movement patterns are first learned in controlled, non-reactive settings, and then are gradually sprinkled into drills that are more and more chaotic and reactive.

By progressively challenging athletes with this comprehensive approach to agility we are able to deliver significant improvements in the sport specific speed of every single athlete that commits to training in our programs at TCBOOST.