One thing can be stated with utmost certainty that a player cannot survive for long in the sport of football unless he is super quick and agile to the next level. No matter what position you play in football, speed and agility are the factors that are the bare necessities of the game that’s why we have prepared the list of 8 Football drills to do at home to increase speed and agility.
It takes years of training and exercising to develop a robust speed and agility of the professional-grade, and this is where drills to do at home to increase speed and agility comes into play. A football field is just 100 yards long and the fact that how fast you can cover those 100 yards will majorly decide your suitability to the game.
It isn’t possible that every time you are at a training facility to train yourself for the game. You cannot present the excuse that you skipped the training schedule just because you weren’t at a training facility.
There are sophisticatedly designed drills and training routines which can be easily followed at home that aim at enhancing the speed and agility of an athlete.
Though there are a wide number of drills available for the purpose, we have made the task easier for you and enlisted the top 8 football speed and agility drills to do at home.
1. Obstacle Jumps:
The motive behind the drill: to boost the explosiveness. This is quite a simple yet effective drill. It has been used by athletes for a long time and has rendered encouraging results.
Set up: Place a small obstacle on the field.
Procedure: all you need to do is to jump over the obstacle repeatedly. Each time with different feet movement in the following ways-
- Jump with both feet from one side to the other.
- Jump with one leg in the air.
- Jump with the weight of the body on the heals.
- Repeat the process 5-10 times.
Check Below Video Guide
2. Circle Around The Cone Drill:
The motive behind the drill: it focuses on maintaining the balance of the body while the athlete switches from one leg to the other hurriedly.
Set up: You will need a total of 3 cones, one right next to you, and two cones at a distance of 5-8 meters that will work as the finish line.
Procedure:
- Start from either side of the cone and move in front of the cone.
- Backpedal behind the cone.
- While doing this you need to maintain a good speed and consistency.
- Rush towards the finish line to end the drill.
- Take 6 reps of this drill 3 from each left and right of the cone.
Check Below Video Guide
3. Speed Ladder Change of Direction Drill:
The motive behind the drill: it helps to develop quick turning ability and making feet movement less stiff. It will also help in maintaining the balance while running.
Set up: you will need a speed ladder for this particular drill. Place the ladder on the ground and place 2 cones a few distances apart 8-10 years from the ladder. These cones are the finish point.
Procedure:
- Start moving through the latter maintaining the two feet in, two feet out a pattern which means don’t move your feet out of a particular square of the ladder unless both feet are placed in the same square.
- You can either backpedal or move laterally through the ladder.
- As soon as you are through the ladder accelerate and rush towards the finish line.
- Keeps your hips slightly bent while performing the drill.
- Repeat the drill for 5 times.
Check Below Video Guide
4. Jumpcut Drill:
The motive behind the drill: it helps at improving the acceleration and deceleration in tandem with maintaining body balance.
Set up: form a T shape using the cones on the field. Place a cone at the start point and place the next one 5 yards in front of the first one. Now place a cone to the left and right of the second cone to form a T shape.
Procedure:
- Running from cone one towards cone 2 makes a quick jump cut to your right, which can be achieved by pushing your left foot aggressively on the ground to generate thrust.
- Now accelerate downfield up to a distance of 5 yards.
- Now repeat the same exercise by making a jump cut to your right.
- You must always keep the ball in your outside hand.
Check Below Video Guide
5. High To Low Drill:
The motive behind the drill: there come instances during the game when you need to decelerate almost instantly. This drill helps you to learn to decelerate quickly and backpedal at the same time.
Set up: Place 5 cones in a row a yard apart. Make a finish line some distance apart from the last cone.
Procedure:
- Start from the first cone keeping your core close to the ground, and run till the fourth cone.
- Backpedal from there to the first cone i.e the starting point.
- Repeat the process with the stopping point being the third cone, then the second.
- Finally, make a dash as fast as possible towards the finish line.
- Repeat this drill at least 3-5 times in quick successions.
Check Below Video Guide
6. Single-Leg Hops
The motive behind the drill: this drill is formulated to develop brute strength and explosiveness in the athletes. It will help you generate explosive force through your feet from the ground in minimal time.
Set up: place a total of 8 cones a yard apart from each other in a straight line.
Procedure:
- Stand on any of your legs and start hopping over the hurdles with the quick action of hands and generating enough thrust from the ground.
- At the end of the course make a 10-yard dash with full speed.
- Repeat the drill for the other leg. And try to do 3 reps with each leg.
Check Below Video Guide
7. X Drill:
The motive behind the drill: to improve the ability of the player to recover quickly after receiving a stumble. It works on agility and ball holding skills.
Set-up: place 4 gym bags or any other soft object on the ground in an X shape. Place another point of reference 5 feet apart.
Procedure:
- Make a diagonal run in the X then a sidewise running to the other corner.
- Then run back to the same corner from where you started.
- Make a sprint downfield with all the strength you got.
- Repeat the drill for 5-10 times.
Check Below Video Guide
8. Single-Leg Swiss Ball Squats
The motive behind the drill: aims at developing single-leg explosiveness, to generate extreme force within milliseconds from a single leg.
Set-up: you just need a Swiss ball and a wall to rest the ball against it.
Procedure:
- Place the ball between your back and the wall.
- Raise either of your legs above the ground and push against the Swiss ball with all the strength you have.
- Do the same with the other leg as well.
- When you think you are turning around this drill easily, try adding some weights on your hands.
Check Below Video Guide
Note-
For optimum results, you must perform at least three sets of each drill. Obviously, you can increase the reps as you feel more confident.
For beginners it is important to start slowly, do not put a lot of pressure on your body all of a sudden.