Traditional lower-body resistance exercise alone may not be an optimal means of developing agility. Further, the effectiveness of straight-sprint training on agility performance has not been well established. In contrast, jump training, including loaded jump squats and horizontal and lateral jumps, holds promise.

This excerpt from Developing Agility and Quickness highlights the high-intensity, reactive agility hockey players require, and provides two agility drills that challenge that skill.

Agility is a key and complex concept within team sports performance. Because of its multidimensional nature, agility benefits from perceptual and cognitive skills as well as physical capacity (e.g., ability to exert acceleration, deceleration, and changes of direction). Agility should be integrated in different and complementary ways in team sports training. From more analytical to more ecological tasks, there is a need to comprehend the respective adaptations and identify how to integrate such a spectrum and, eventually, combine them in the training process and manage it accordingly to the player’s needs. Based on this premise, the purpose of this article is to present alternative methods and recommendations that may help to develop agility in field-based invasion sports. The main concepts pertaining to agility and associated capacities will be explored. Afterward, a proposal for a more analytical approach based on the use of cones and ladders will be introduced, as well as approaches based on small-sided games. Finally, an integration of agility training and a combination of approaches will be presented using soccer as an example.

A fundamental training program at a young age gives the athlete the opportunity to develop many skills needed to succeed. The implementation of agility and coordination training can help reduce the risk of injury and elevate a young developing athlete.

This book excerpt from Developing Agility and Quickness describes the windows of opportunity in youth athletes to time progressions in speed and agility training with their biological and chronological development.

In this session from the NSCA’s 2016 Personal Trainers Conference, Vance Ferrigno teaches how the body moves in spherical three dimensional space and how to apply fun and innovative speed, agility, and quickness drills to enhance total movement quality.

This excerpt briefly explains programming agility sessions for lacrosse athletes.

This excerpt from Developing Agility and Quickness explains the agility considerations for different wrestling disciplines.

An appropriately designed program with elements of safe resistance training that focuses on the upper back and external shoulder rotators and open agility technique training may improve agility on the pickleball court, decrease the injury risk of older pickleball players, and increase the self-confidence of these individuals on the court and in daily life.

University of Florida’s Head Strength and Conditioning Coach for baseball and softball, Paul Chandler, speaks about warm-up and mobility patterns used for his athletes.