There is no argument that football players need to be
quick and agile. Agility training for football players in a must and
needs to be addressed in every teams training program. In this article,
we will discuss how the development of motor skills will help improve
agility.
You have to get scientific about your approach. It is
not good enough to simply engage in a bunch of cardiovascular exercises
that do nothing to develop the specific motor skills necessary to best
perform your given position. You have to know what has been proven to
work to increase agility. You first need to define exactly what motor
skills that you are attempting to enhance. Only then can you devise an
efficient program to hone in on them with agility exercises.
Motor Learning Science Background
Motor
movements have two classifications: open and closed. Each type demands
specific functioning from the central nervous system (CNS). Each also
requires very distinct interpretations of receptor information,
efficient response mechanisms, memory recall and neuromuscular stimuli.
Low
level motor movement, closed motor skills, in this situation of
execution, is pretty much static. In other words, they remain constant
and predictable.
* They have definitive starting and stopping points.
*
Neuromuscular feedback to the CNS has a very small role in the
execution of the movement. That means that there is very little
involvement from the muscular proprioceptors for correction once the
movement is set into play.
* A muscular proprioceptor is a
signaling mechanism in a muscle or a joint that provides information to
the CNS concerning the appropriateness of a given movement.
* The movement is self-directed and initiated from the intention of the athlete.
Some
examples of closed motor skills are golf strokes, track and field
events, archery and weightlifting. You see, these actions are stable
and predictable - not a lot of variance involved.
At the other
extreme of motor movement are the open skills. * These are more complex
and require more feedback from the proprioceptors because they occur in
non-static situations. * Split-second adjustments are commonly needed
to successfully execute these movements. Incorrect bodily positioning,
harm-announcing pressure and of course sharp pains are some of the
possible feedback scenarios for incorrect motions.
* There can
also be instantaneous reactions in movement from visual and auditory
stimuli. For instance, a third baseman may immediately go into motion
upon a split-second projection of a batter's contact with a pitched
ball. Also, a basketball player may immediately respond to a vocal
signal from a point guard.
* Open motor skills are called "forced
pace" skills because of the ever-evolving conditions in which they
occur. Instantaneously precise actions and reactions are required for
optimal success.
Obviously, open motor skills require a different
and more advanced type of conditioning for their development. It can be
a complex science just to discern the sport-specific motor skills to
develop. Agility training for football varies with the position played
and the natural abilities of the players. Also, it follows that there
are an infinite number of possible scenarios that could or could not be
task-specific enough to be beneficial when performing agility training
for football.
In essence, agility is the ability to change your
direction. This doesn't simply apply to your entire bodily direction,
but also to specific areas or parts of your body. An example would be a
wide receiver jumping through the air, looking back over his own
shoulders, sighting the ball sailing towards him, sustaining his
altitude maximally, extending his hands high around his right side all
while anticipating and preparing for an eminent collision with an
oncoming opponent. This is a constant event.
Agility training for
football is considered to be the most important overall element of a
player's training regimen. Agility training must be varied from
position to position as well. For example, a defensive back may cover
10 to 15 yards every play of the game while an offensive lineman may
never move more than 5 to 10 yards in any given play. There are skill
positions and power positions in the game and each type must train for
agility differently.
Here are some basic agility training exercises for football:
W
- Pattern Cones are placed in the form of an elongated W (about 10 or
12 yards apart). The players run in straight lines from cone to cone.
Focus is concentrated on rapid starts and stops.
Lateral Shuffle
Take a dozen cones and place them roughly 5 yards apart, 1 yard in
front of each other. Perform a lateral shuffle through the cones with
optimal speed. No crossing feet. Stay low to the ground.
Figure 8
Shuffle 2 cones are placed roughly 2 yards apart. Moving around the
cones, your football athlete makes 6 shuffle movements, in a figure 8
pattern. The direction of the shuffle is then reversed and the shuffles
repeated.
These are just a few of the unlimited varieties of
agility training exercises for football. Many other exercises and
movement patterns can be used. The important thing to remember is that
you are preparing yourself to respond instantaneously to any number of
unpredictable external stimuli. You have to keep your mind open to
visual stimuli and auditory commands as well as physical pressures and
signals. Agility training for football is some of the most important
training that players do. it needs to be practiced year round.
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