Backyard Workout Speed and Agility Drills
Athletes can perform a wide variety of speed and agility drills in their own back yard. Most effective speed and agility drills only require a small amount of total space as athletes move quickly between shorter distances. This allows athletes to work on change of direction efficiency and balance as they move through the speed and agility drills.
Athletes can increase the effectiveness of their backyard workout by adding some sort of resistance to the speed and agility drills. Resisted speed and agility drills that incorporate resistance equipment like the Kbands Leg Resistance Bands, Victory Ropes, Reactive Stretch Cord, Speed Parachutes, or KB PowerBands will provide the athlete with even greater gains from their training. Resistance equipment can easily be paired with Speed and Agility Cones and Speed Ladders to create effective backyard workouts that will maximize the workout benefits.
Athletes can go to the Training Section to learn more about training with resisted training equipment like the Kbands Leg Resistance Bands, Victory Ropes, and Reactive Stretch Cord.
Backyard Workout With Kbands Leg Resistance Bands
When athletes are the appropriate age strength training with weights is an effective way to enhance athletic skills. Athletic training facilities and fields are also effective places to perform speed and agility drills and endurance training. However, athletes can perform effective power, strength, and speed and agility drills in their very own backyard workout.
To perform the Kbands Backyard Workout For Speed and Agility athletes will need three Speed and Agility Cones and a set of Kbands Leg Resistance Bands. Athletes will place the Speed and Agility Cones 3-4 yards apart in a triangle formation and securely attach the Kbands Leg Resistance Bands just above their knees.
Athletes will stand at one of the Speed and Agility Cones and begin to shuffle back and forth between two of the Speed and Agility Cones. Athletes should shuffle so there is one Speed and Agility Cone behind the athlete. After moving between the two Speed and Agility Cones 5-6 times athletes will open up their hips to the inside of the triangle Speed and Agility Cone set up, drop step to the rear Speed and Agility Cone, move to the rear cone and back, then continue to move between the same two Speed and Agility Cones.
If athletes have a coach, partner, or parent present during the Kbands Backyard Workout For Speed and Agility they can use their partner to call out when the athlete should move to the rear Speed and Agility Cone. This will add an extra element of reaction to the speed and agility drills.
No matter which format the athlete uses for the Backyard Workout For Speed and Agility athletes should perform the speed and agility drills for 20-25 seconds. Athletes will take 25-30 seconds of recovery between sets, completing 5-6 resisted sets of the Backyard Workout For Speed and Agility. After completing all resisted sets of the speed and agility drills athletes will remove the Kbands Leg Resistance Bands and perform 2-3 unresisted sets of the Backyard Workout For Speed and Agility.
Athletes who want to increase the intensity of the Backyard Workout For Speed and Agility can go to the Shop Section and learn about using higher levels of intensity with their Kbands Leg Resistance Bands.
Effective Resisted Speed and Agility Drills
For the most effective speed and agility drills athletes and coaches need to train their body to move efficiently through the Backyard Workout and all speed and agility drills.
When athletes move laterally they need to take quick short steps between the Speed and Agility Cones. Athletes need to work against the Kbands Leg Resistance Bands and not allow the resistance to alter the athletes’ natural movements. This will allow the athletes to strengthen the muscles responsible for these lateral movements as they work through the Kbands Backyard Workout For Speed and Agility.
As athletes drop step and transition to the back Speed and Agility Cone they will need to have good hip and feet movement to efficiently move back and forth. Athletes will plant their lead foot as they take their back foot to the rear Speed and Agility Cone, take short, choppy steps between the Speed and Agility Cone setup, before using the same hip and foot movement to return to the lateral shuffles.
Backyard Workouts
Any Backyard Workout should begin with a good warm up. Using Dynamic Stretching before performing speed and agility drills will greatly increase performance, while limiting the chance of an injury. Dynamic warm-ups are similar to backyard workouts in the sense that athletes do not need a large amount of space to complete the speed and agility drills warm up. Performing high knees, butt kickers, and lateral movements is a great way to warm up the hips, legs, and shoulders for a more intense backyard workout.
After a good dynamic warm-up athletes should move into performing active sets of their workout. Training sessions which incorporate strength training, speed and agility drills, sports specific movements, and recovery exercises will all work together to create a skilled and dynamic athlete. Athletes should also use Speed and Agility Cones and Speed Ladders to help optimize athletes’ space and incorporate effective backyard workout exercises. Athletes can perform their backyard workout exercises in any order, but should focus on being effective during all of their training drills. Athletes generally need to be less tired and more focused when performing more complicated and sports specific speed and agility drills. This will allow athletes to retain the muscle memory it takes to successfully repeat the movement during a competitive situation. Therefore, generally athletes will want to perform their sports specific and complicated movements and speed and agility drills at the beginning of their training session. Speed and agility drills and endurance training that is designed to exhaust the athlete should be saved for the end of the athletes training session. Ordering the backyard workout and speed and agility drills in this fashion will yield better results for the athlete.