How To Improve Agility For Softball Players
Softball players can greatly increase their overall speed, agility, and quickness by performing resisted glutes exercises with the Kbands Leg Resistance Bands. The Kbands Leg Resistance Bands can be used to execute individual drills (like the Softball Power Icky), or full Softball Circuit Training Routines.
One of the main advantages for using Kbands Leg Resistance Bands to perform glutes exercises for balance, speed, and strength is the ability to not only train those athletic skills individually but to also teach the body how to use one athletic skill (leg strength) to compliment another athletic skill (maximum sprinting speed). The ability to use Kbands Leg Resistance Bands for both resisted and unresisted glutes exercises will allow softball players to build greater speed and strength in key areas of the legs, hips, and thighs. This allows for greater vertical jumping ability as well as increased stride length and stride frequency while sprinting.
How To Improve Agility With Circuit Training Routines
When softball players are planning how to improve their agility they must utilize glutes exercises. The muscles in the glutes control the bodies’ ability to simultaneously extend the hips and knees. This is an important factor when softball players are attempting to increase athletic skills like jumping, sprinting, and change of direction. To properly train this part of the body a variety of glutes exercises must be implemented into a softball players training program. These glutes exercises must focus on the strength, speed, and conditioning of these muscles.
The best way to simultaneously train all of these different muscular adaptations is to perform Softball Circuit Training Routines that put an emphasis on glutes exercises. These Softball Circuit Training Routines can incorporate all of the different types of glutes exercises (speed, strength, and conditioning) while also optimizing softball training time.
To create Softball Circuit Training Routines in addition to the glutes exercises outlined here, softball players and coaches can go to the Training Section and choose 3-5 glutes exercises to create their own Softball Circuit Training Routines. Softball players and coaches can choose to incorporate other body parts into the Softball Circuit Training Routines but should comprise the circuit training routines from several different training types. Remember the three elements to creating appropriate Softball Circuit Training Routines is a good combination of speed and agility training (glutes exercises performed on the Speed and Agility Ladder), strength training (with the Kbands Leg Resistance Bands, abdominal exercises, or the KB PowerBands), and conditioning.
Kbands Softball Circuit Training Routines
Girls softball players and coaches will need a set of Kbands Leg Resistance Bands, an assisting coach or partner, and three Speed and Agility Cones to complete the Softball Circuit Training Routines. Softball players will first attach the Kbands Leg Resistance Bands just above their knees and place the Speed and Agility Cones in a straight line, 2-3 feet apart. The Softball Circuit Training Routines will contain 4 different glutes exercises.
The first glutes exercise in the Softball Circuit Training Routines is the “Quick Switch”. Here softball players will line up at the center Speed and Agility Cone in a low squatted position and quickly move to place one of their feet next to one of the outside Speed and Agility Cones. Softball players will move on a verbal cue given by their partner or coach, switching which foot is extended with each cue. Softball players should attempt to move quickly once the cue is given and should work to move their arms as if they were running or sprinting. Softball players will perform the Quick Switch glutes exercise for 20-25 seconds before stopping and moving into the next portion of the Softball Circuit Training Routines.
The next installment of glutes exercises requires the softball player or coach to move the outside Speed and Agility Cones farther away from the center. This distance should be based on the softball players ability to laterally jump as the Speed and Agility Cones serve as “markers” and should be the distance the softball players tries to jump with each lateral bound. Softball players will keep the Kbands Leg Resistance Bands attached, remove the center Speed and Agility Cone, and begin the glutes exercises by laterally jumping from one Speed and Agility Cone to the other. When softball players are jumping they will only jump off their outside foot, will switch legs in midair, and land on their outside leg (opposite to the starting leg). These jumps should be challenging as athletes perform 10 lateral jumps back and forth staying on one leg as much as possible.
The final two glutes exercises in the Softball Circuit Training Routines will be similar but will differ in speed. Softball players will keep the Kbands Leg Resistance Bands attached and set two Speed and Agility Cones 10-15 yards apart. Softball players will position themselves so their hips are facing away from both Speed and Agility Cone lines and will slowly perform a “Glute Walk” down to the other side of the glutes exercises drill and back to the starting Speed and Agility Cone line. Softball players will perform two down and back sets of the slower tempo “glute walks” before immediately moving into a faster paced “glute shuffle”. The glute shuffle exercise will use the same movements as the glute walks, but should be performed at a higher speed and tempo.
Softball players will perform 2-3 resisted rounds of all glutes exercises in the Softball Circuit Training Routines before removing the Kbands Leg Resistance Bands and performing 1-2 unresisted sets of the glutes exercises.
Softball Circuit Training Routines “Keys To Success”
During all of these glutes exercises softball players need to practice good form. Since all of these glutes exercises are lateral movements, softball players will have to focus on keeping their hips, eyes, feet, and shoulders all stay facing forward. This will allow the body to properly move and allow the appropriate muscles to be activated and trained. Softball players also need to perform the proper tempo for all exercises as slower exercises focus on power, strength, and balance, while faster exercises focus on speed and conditioning.