Agility is the ability to rapidly change the velocity and direction of the whole body’s centre of mass and it is a fundamental skill in most sports (Lyle et al., 2015). For example in football the players are required to accelerate, decelerate and change direction throughout the game and often these movements are performed in conjunction with passing, dribbling and striking (Kutlu et al., 2012). Therefore it is not surprising that agility is essential in a sport such as football because sprinting, decelerating etc. are critical technical skills and the main components of football training (Lyle et al., 2015).

Improving agility especially for a football player can increase performance throughout an entire game; agility can be improved through many different drills and exercises (Cavaco et al., 2014).

The video below describes a progressive drill that can be used by footballers or performers to improve their ability to sprint, decelerate and change direction.

For more information on improving agility or other aspects of football performance try the ‘FIFA 11+ a complete warm up programme’ because this document contains exercises to improve football performance and prevent injuries occurring.

The document can be found on the FIFA 11+ website and this site contains videos and other information for football performance.

FIFA 11+ Website