In Part 1 of “Developing an Explosive Speed, Agility & Quickness Program…The Right Way” (see website for Part 1) we discussed that two of the main goals of any explosive speed, agility, quickness, and vertical leap training program should be to rapidly improve sports performance and reduce the risk of injury.  To accomplish both goals we discussed how important it is to understand that all movement can be broken down into three plains of motion or directions – forwards and backwards (the Sagital Plane), side to side (the Frontal Plane), and rotational movement (the Transverse Plane) and three muscle actions - acceleration (concentric), stabilization (isometric), and deceleration (eccentric).  Athletes must train in all three plains of motion and with all muscle actions (acceleration, deceleration, stabilization), to create a much safer and much more effective program.   In addition, workouts should be both age specific AND sport specific.  This is very important.  A nine-year-old football player should not be using the same program as a fourteen-year-old basketball player or a nineteen-year-old hockey player.  Construct a needs analysis of the sport.  What are the dominant planes of motion and muscle actions used by the sport and position of the athlete?  What are the energy/endurance demands?  What are the rest ratio’s?  What level of intensity is demanded in each phase of the game and for each position?  A program should be built around these components.  Finally, we introduced a number of agility progressions and SAQ drills that moved athletes through each of these plains of motions and through each of these muscle actions.  Part 2 of this series on developing an explosive speed, agility & quickness program, will focus on four key success tips in the early phases of an effective SAQ program, in particular the importance of building an athletic profile for each of your athletes.

Key Success Tips

As coaches and trainers we are often blessed with so many incredible opportunities to impact the lives of our athletes - both on and off the court or field. The following four Key Success Tips will help ensure the success of your athletes involved in effective SAQ training and also teach them some important habits and life skills along the way!

1. Help each athlete to score their Athletic Profile. For each athlete, the profile is critical to establish an objective score and benchmark of athletic ability. The athlete is able to gain a sense of where they are before they can effectively set goals to decide where they want to go. This crucial step also helps the athlete to measure and monitor progress.

2. After completing the Athletic Profile, inspire each athlete to create a vision for where they want to go with a goal setting exercise. A strong vision for the future with effective goal setting can create a powerful sense of purpose, mission and motivation to succeed and significantly increase athletic ability. Encourage each athlete to hang their goals in a place that they will see them every day - such as a gym locker.

3. Encourage each athlete to stay focused and consistent with their training by having weekly Training Journal discussions and checks. Encourage each athlete to use a Training Journal or Log each day. It will build each athlete’s confidence and encourage intensity and focus.

4. If possible, select a training partner for each athlete. An ideal training partner is a teammate or friend who also wants to improve their speed, agility & quickness. When athletes are accountable to one-another for showing-up and working hard, they stay motivated and enjoy greater success.

Building an Athletic Profile

This all-important step is critical for establishing a benchmark of current athletic ability and to effectively measure and monitor overall progress and program success. Knowing and quantifying your quickness, power, strength, leaping ability and other athletic attributes is also essential for effective goal setting throughout the program. Eight athletic profile tests will be introduced to develop the athletic profile of each of your athletes. Some of the tests will probably be familiar to you, while others may take a little more effort to understand and follow. The importance of the tests is how they fit together to form an athletic profile, and that they need little to no equipment to execute. Remember that this athletic profile is a general profile that fits a broad range of power-centric based sports. Yet, as have discussed, individual sports often have very unique needs. Thus, coaches may want to substitute a particular test for a different measure that is a little more sport-specific and age-specific for the athletic population they are working with. Finally, as might be expected with any explosive speed, agility, quickness training program, athletic testing requires an effort to secure accurate results. It is critical that each athlete has received the correct warm-up progressions prior to testing (a topic that will be covered in a future article in this series) and appropriate medical clearance to participate. The following Athletic Profile Summary will guide you through each of the tests, providing a rationale/purpose behind each test and instructions/requirements to complete each test. For ease of use, a time/score section is also included to allow you to print this article and use this Athletic Profile Chart for your scores. Each test should be performed 2-3 times, and the best score for each test should be recorded.

If you dedicate yourself to following these training tips, you too can gain that all important ‘explosive step’ on your competition for that winning-edge.  In the next article in this series we will discuss a number of plyometric drills that can significantly improve many of the scores from the athletic profile, and more importantly create a quicker, faster, stronger and more powerful athlete.