Agility and Quickness Drills

By: Jay Dawes and Mark Roozen

Originally Published in: Developing Agility and Quickness

Provided by: Human Kinetics

Agility Shuttle

This drill is great for developing explosiveness, foot speed, balance, quickness, and agility, which are all needed during a match. It also improves the ability to accelerate, decelerate, and perform movements in all directions. Ten cones are set up in a straight line with 3 feet (1 m) between the cones. The athlete begins in an athletic position to the left side of cone 1. The athlete sprints to a point just past cone 2, then breaks down and shuffles to the right just past cone 2, backpedals to just behind cone 2, and then shuffles back to the left of cone 2 (see illustration). From there, the athlete sprints to cone 3 and then repeats the same pattern at this cone and at each of the remaining cones in the line. After completing this run, the athlete should rest one minute between attempts. Then, the athlete repeats the drill, beginning this time to the right of cone 1. During
the drill, the athlete's hips must stay low during each change of direction. He should maintain balance and body control at all times. The body should not lean backward
during the backpedaling or too far to the side during the shuffling.

Get-Ups

In most matches, wrestlers find themselves on the mat on their back, side, or abdomen. The ability to recover quickly and to move into a position to come back at an opponent is key to success for wrestlers. This drill helps wrestlers develop quickness and agility while improving their ability to recover from being put on their backs or thrown to the mat. Between 15 and 20 cones are set up around the wrestling mat to form a square. The cones should be numbered. The cones should be 3 to 8 yards (3-7 m) away from the center of the mat. The athlete lies down in the center with the back on the mat. The coach gives a go command followed by a cone number. On the go command, the athlete rolls over, gets to his feet as quickly as possible, and sprints to the designated cone. The athlete comes back to the center of the mat, lies down again, and repeats the drill, running to a different cone each time. He repeats the drill for four to six reps, with a 45-second rest between runs. The athlete must maintain body control and balance when rolling over to get up from the mat. He should eliminate wasted motion to improve how quickly he can get up and recover from being on the mat. For variety, the cone pattern can be varied.