Physical Education and Health: Team Sports

1
Exercises for the Upper Extremities

Activities for Agility and Speed

At the end of the module, the student is expected to:

1. Define speed and agility and their importance in playing team sports
2. Identify the core drills to improve agility and speed
3. Execute the example of drills

Speed and Agility Core Drills

Speed and agility training drills are designed to work all your leg and core
muscles, as well as the tendons in your body. It is important to train at a level
that is equal to your game intensity to help increase performance and to
minimize injury. Core drills build leg strength and explosion, but it is your
intensity and scheme that will change the work load.

Speed and Agility Training for Basketball

Speed and agility training is crucial for basketball to improve footwork skills
as well as improve cardio-respiratory stamina. Speed and agility training is
also key in decreasing injury for basketball players.
Basketball is an extremely dynamic sport that requires movements in
multiple planes of motion as well as rapid transitions from jogging to
sprinting to jumping. The ability to quickly elude defenders rapidly
decelerate to take a jump shot or explosively jump up to grab a rebound are
all skills required to effectively play the sport. It is equally important for the
athlete to be able to perform these skills in a variety of directions and in a
controlled manner to ensure injuries do not ensue. Due to the myriad of
physical demands that come with the sport makes speed and agility training
a crucial component to incorporate into a basketball training program.
Speed can be defined as the amount of velocity a person has in any given
direction. Typically, this refers to how fast someone can run in a forward,
directed, straight path of motion. Therefore, speed is the straight-ahead
velocity of a person or how fast a person can run forward (also known as
sprinting). With this said, speed drills would include those in which the
athlete is required to run in a linear path. Example of speed drills that would
be appropriate for a basketball player would include:
 10 in 1 drill – sprint from one baseline to the opposite baseline back
to the original baseline, repeating 5 times for a total of 10 lengths of
the court.
 30-yard sprint (to test acceleration and maximal speed) – sprint from
the baseline at the end of the court to the free throw line on the
opposite end of the court.
Course Module
 These drills will help improve straight ahead speed and deceleration
capabilities required during transition period and fast breaks that are
performed in basketball.
Agility is the ability to start (accelerate), stop (decelerate and stabilize), and
quickly change direction while maintaining proper postural alignment. This
requires high levels of neuromuscular efficiency (movement coordination)
because the athlete is constantly regaining their center of gravity over their
base of support while changing directions at various speeds. All of these
elements are very common in basketball and will be important to train for.
Examples of agility drills that would be appropriate for basketball include:
 Pro-lane agility drill – sprint around cones following the pattern.
 Agility ladder drills
 T-drill – sprint around cones following the patterns.
These drills are designed to help improve deceleration capabilities, change in
direction and footwork skills required for basketball. Like the speed drills,
these agility drills can also be prepared on the court.
To sum up, the sport of basketball requires many changes in direction, quick
movement and explosive jumping. To ensure the athlete can perform these
skills properly and handle the stresses that come with the sport, speed and
agility training will be an important training component to include in the
training regimen. These drills can be incorporated into any basketball
program for athletes across all levels to help maximize performance and
decrease the risk of injury.

Speed and Agility training for Volleyball

Speed and agility are important attributes if you are a volleyball athlete.
While the importance of agility training or change of direction is clear and
widely accepted, classic speed training such as sprinting is not as important
in volleyball as with other sports such as basketball. However, many sports
conditioning experts agree that there is a place for some other types of speed
training for volleyball players.
Foot Speed
The type of foot speed needed in volleyball is characterized by the athlete
being able to quickly get from point A to point B. This rarely entails taking
more than three or four steps in any direction. So-long-distance sprint speed
training is not very functional for the volleyball athlete. Instead, reaction
drills that require you to act to stimulus and more quickly are critical. Hops—
both single and double-legged—and quick jumps, as with jumping rope, are
good ways to improve your foot speed for volleyball.

Speed contributes to power

Power is extremely important in volleyball. Spikes, jumps and serves are all
examples of the use of power in volleyball. Power can be defined as the
combination of strength and speed, so by incorporating speed training
specific to common movements in volleyball, you can improve your power in
sport and enhance upper-body power that is important in striking the
 Physical Education and Health: Team Sports
3
Exercises for the Upper Extremities

volleyball through specific exercises such as medicine ball throws and

plyometric push-ups.

Agility
Agility in volleyball requires quick and sometimes awkward movements as
you adjust your body position to the ball during play. According to authors,
Al Scates and Mike Linn as a volleyball player, you must be able to change
direction—sometimes in mid-air—in a split second to adjust to the ball.
Volleyball agility movement exercises should be modeled after what you
might experience during the course. For example, use simple movement
patterns to improve agility, such as side-shuffles and back pedals, as well as
more complex movements such as short shuttles, which include multiple
movement patterns from multiple angles.
Flexibility
According to Scates and Linn, an overlooked aspect of speed and training is
flexibility. Flexibility not only improves your range of motion but also your
power and agility as a result. Dynamic stretching before your practice or
match and static stretching afterwards is the recipe called for by sports
conditioning experts.
 Dynamic stretching – ideal prior to exercise to prepare the joints for
movement and muscles for optimal activation.
 Static sustained stretches – are designed to hold position for a joint or
a muscle that is minimally challenging.
A static stretch involves stretching your muscle to a point where you feel a
slight discomfort but not to the point where you feel pain. The stretch and
your position are then held with no movement for a period of time.
An example of a static stretch is the seated hamstring stretch. This is where
you sit on the floor, extend your legs straight out in front of you, and lean
forward, trying to touch your toes until you feel the stretch at the back of
your thighs.
Dynamic stretching is a technique used more for athletes. When you perform
dynamic stretches, instead of holding the stretch for a period of time, you
repeatedly move your joints and muscles through a full range of motion.
Dynamic stretches also improve your flexibility and help reduce risk of
injury. Your movements are controlled and deliberate and are meant to
mimic the movements of your joins and muscles that go through in a specific
sports or activity. Examples of dynamic stretches are walking lunges, high
knee marching and arm circles.

Course Module
References
Speed and Agility Training for Basketball. Retrieved from:
http://blog.nasm.org/sports-performance/speed-and-agility-
training-for-basketball/ on April 22, 2018
Boosting performance with Agility and Quickness Training. Retrieved from:
http://blog.nasm.org/sports-performance/boosting-performance-
agility-quickness-training/ on April 22, 2018
Speed and Agility Training for Volleyball. Retrieved from:
https://www.livestrong.com/article/262388-speed-agility-training-
for-volleyball/ on April 22, 2018
Videos
Speed, Agility, Explosive Drills for Basketball. Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4hqCd8s_c8 on April 22, 2018
Explosive speed, reaction, and jump training for volleyball. Retrieved from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao8ztCS1fJY on April 22, 2018
Increase Speed & Vertical Leap - Agility Ladder Drills for Volleyball.
Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tj-UPL0Io0s on
April 22, 2018