Though the terms ‘agility’ and ‘change of direction speed’ are often used interchangeably, recent knowledge has distinctively separated the two. Put simply, agility involves reactive abilities in unpredictable environments, whilst change of direction speed focuses purely on physical ability and is typically performed in pre-planned environments.

Agility in sport is defined as ‘‘a rapid whole-body movement with change of velocity or direction in response to a stimulus’’ (Sheppard, 2005). Meaning agility must involve a reaction to a stimulus, for example, when a player reacts to the serve during the return.

In this video I go through a number of change of direction and agility drills. I also use and explain a continuum of general to specific reaction stimuli. Throughout we use the same pattern, know as the X-pattern, where the player moves diagonally forward and back.

Below is the list of drills, to best understand the purpose of each watch the video through.

Drill 1 – General Change of Direction

Drill 2 – Specific Change of Direction

Drill 3 – Agility Drill – General Stimulus – Lights

Drill 4 – Agility Drill – General Stimulus – Cones

Drill 5 – Agility Drill – Semi-Specific Drill – Basketball

Drill 6 – Agility Drill – Semi-Specific Drill – Tennis Ball at distance

Drill 7 – agility Drill – Specific Drill – Live Tennis

We had several coaches request an agility drill for this week, if you have any requests then please email me at howard@tennissupermovers.com 

Check out last week’s exercise – Exercise of the Week 08 – Stability – Four Cone Touch

Have a great week – try the drills and let me know hoe you get on by tagging me on Instagram @howardgreensupermovers

See you next week