Lady Cat Soccer
Agility and Quickness Sessions
Agility and quickness training allows you to change direction without the loss of balance and
speed, and will also help to improve your foot speed and coordination.
Guidelines
As with speed drills, agility and quickness drills are not meant to be physically demanding. The
movements should be very high quality and best performed when players are fresh. Perform
some agility drills alongside the speed drills. They can also be worked into other training
sessions or used as part of an extended warm up.
As with the speed drills keep the work to rest ratio roughly 5:1. For example a 5 second sprint
should be followed by approximately 25 seconds walking recovery. The goal is to avoid the
buildup of lactic acid.
DRILLS WITH AND WITHOUT THE BALL:
1. Staggered Cones: Eight cones set up in a five yard stagger with two cones as a starting
point. Complete 4 repetitions each:
1
3
5
7
Start
2
4
6
8
Variation 1: Sprint to the outside of the first cone and then to the outside of the second cone, and
continue this all the way through the cones (8). Once through all of the cones the player jogs back.
Variation 2: The player circle each cone from the inside and then go on to the second cone. Continue
this all the way through the cones as quickly as possible (8).
Variation 3: The player runs forward to the 2nd cone, then backwards to the first cone, then forwards
to the 3rd cone, then backwards to the 4th cone, then forward to the 6th cone etc…all the way
through the cones.
Variation 4: Sprint from cone 1 to cone 2, jog from cone 2 to cone 3, sprint from cone 3 to cone 4, etc.
Repeat after rest starting from cone 8 to cone 7.
2. Energy Systems Training: Start with a starting cone, a cone 6 yards in front, a cone 18
yards in front, and a cone 30 yards in front. Complete 3-5 reps with no rest:
Start
1
2
3
A. Sprint to cone 1, jog back to the end line, sprint to cone 2, jog back to the end line,
3, jog back to the end line.
sprint to cone
B. Rest 1 minute
C. With a ball, repeat A
D. Rest 1 minute
E. Pass the ball to cone 1, sprint to the ball and dribble it back to the end line. Repeat
cones 2 and 3. Repeat 3-5 times with no rest.
this with
3. Multi-Directional Sprints: See the diagram below. Perform 6 total sets:
carioca
b
------------------->
carioca
turn ------------------->
30
a
y
c
a
k
<------------------ - turn <--------------------
r
Side Shuffle
Side Shuffle
f
10 yards
10 yards
r
d
o
n
t
start
finish
Player starts with a 15 yard sprint to cone 1, then two 10 yard side shuffles. Sprint forward 15 yards. Then two
more 10 yard carioca. End with a 30 yard sprint to the finish.
4. Short shuttles / Lateral Change of direction: Arrange 3 cones in a straight line with 5 yards
in between each cone. Perform each activity 10 reps:
2
1
3
1. Variation 1: Player shuffles sideways to cone 1, then sprints to cone 3. From cone 3, player runs
backwards to cone 2, then sprints back to cone 3. Jog back to the line and wait for another turn.
2. Variation 2: Player starts on cone 1. Sprint to cone number 3 and touch right beside with your right foot.
Sprint across to cone number 2 and touch right beside with your left foot. Then sprint through cone number 1
to finish.
3. Variation 3: Player starts on cone 1 and sprints to cone 3. From cone three the player runs backwards to
cone 1, turns at cone one and sprints to cone 2. Finish with a forward sprint to cone 1. Reverse directions by
sprinting to cone 2 to start (5 reps each direction).
5. Square runs and 5 Cone runs: arrange 4 cones in a square 6 yards apart. Perform each
session 8 times with a thirty second rest in between each:
3
4
5
1
2
1. Start at cone 1. Sprint to cone 2, make a sharp cut and sprint to cone 3. Make another sharp cut and sprint
through cone 4 to finish. Alternate starting side and repeat after rest.
2. Same as above, but back peddling. Alternate starting side and repeat after rest.
3. Same as above, but with a side shuffle. Alternate starting side and repeat after rest.
4. Start at cone 3, run backward t cone 1, shuffle to cone 2, sprint to cone 4, shuffle to cone 3 to finish.
Perform each complete square twice and repeat 5 times.
5. Start at cone 1, sprint to cone 4 and jump for an imaginary header, then sprint to cone 3 and jump for an
imaginary header, then sprint to cone 2 for an imaginary header before sprinting to the finish back at cone 1.
6. Same as number 5 above, but run backwards after the imaginary header to cone 3 and to finish on cone 1.
7. Start on cone 1, sprint to cone 3 and drop to the ground (on your stomach), get up, sprint backwards to the
1st cone. Continue the same process to cone 4 and to cone 2…coming back to cone 1 each time.
Insert the yellow cone 5 in the middle of the square:
1. M Run: The player starts at cone 1, sprints around cone 3, sprints around cone 5, sprints around cone 4,
then finishes with a sprint to cone 2. Perform this 4 times with 30 seconds of rest in between runs and then
the order is reversed by starting at cone 2 (repeat 4 times as well).
6. Squares and X’s: Set up 16 cones in 5 yard squares:
1
3
5
7
9
11
13
15
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Variations:
A. Slalom run - Start at cone 1, sprint to cone 2, sprint to cone 4, sprint to cone 3, sprint to cone 5, etc. Jog
back to the start (4 sets)
B. The player sprints to cone 2, back pedal to cone 1, sprint to cone 3, back pedal to cone 2, sprint to cone 4,
back pedal to cone 3, sprint to cone 5, back pedal to cone 4, sprint to cone 6, back pedal to cone 5, sprint to
cone 7, back pedal to cone 6, sprint to cone 8, back pedal to cone 7…continue through to cone 16. Jog back
to the start (4 sets).
C. Same pattern as above, but all runs are forward. Focus on planting the foot and exploding away (4 sets)
D. Start at cone 1…Side shuffle to cone 2, sprint to cone 4, side shuffle to cone 3, sprint to cone 5, etc. Jog
back to the start (4 sets)
E. Start at cone 1…Sprint diagonal to cone 4, back pedal to cone 2, sprint diagonal to cone 3, sprint diagonal to
cone 6, back pedal to cone 4, sprint diagonal to cone 5, sprint diagonal to cone 8, back pedal to cone
6…continue through to cone 16. Jog back to start (4 sets).
7. Fast Footwork: set up 24 cones (offset) in two lines 5feet apart – space between cones is 3
feet:
1
3
2
5
4
7
6
9
8
11
10
13
12
15
14
17
16
19
18
21
20
23
22
24
Variations: Jog back to the start to recover.
A. Jog forward and diagonally and zig zag all the way through the markers to the end. Start at cone 1, go
around cone 2, go around cone 3, go around cone 4, etc. (4 sets)
B. Start at cone 1…quickly side step (shuffle) around cone 2, side step around cone 3, side step around cone 4,
all the way through cone 24 (4 sets).
C. Start at cone 1…Run forward and around cone 2, back step on toes around cone 3, forward and around
cone 4, back step on toes around cone 5, all the way through to cone 24 (4 sets).
D. Start at cone one facing outwards (sideways to the cones), perform high knees over all the markers on one
side (1,3,5,7, etc.). On the way back, facing the same direction, side step quickly between markers
(24,22,20,18, etc.) back to the start.
Straighten the cone lines (not offset): 24 cones in two parallel lines – 10 feet apart and the space between
each cone is 5 feet:
1
3
5
7
9
11
13
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Variations: Increased Tempo 20 minutes
A. Start at cone 1….Run forward to cone 2, side step to cone 4, back pedal to cone 3, side step to cone 5,
forward to cone 6, side shuffle to cone 8, back pedal to cone 7, etc. Jog back to start (4 sets).
B. Start at cone 1…Zig Zag through the cones (all forward and diagonal – skipping a cone). Cone 1, to cone 4,
to cone 5, to cone 8, to cone 9, etc. Jog back to recover (4 sets).
8. Semi-Circle Agility: Each cone is place 5 yards apart, 6 total cones:
4
5
6
3
1
2
Start
Variations: 5:1 work / rest ratio
A.
1. Start at Cone 1
2. Sprint to cone 2, back-peddle to cone 1
3. Sprint to cone 3, back-peddle to cone 1
4. Sprint to cone 4, back-peddle to cone 1
5. Sprint to cone 5, back-peddle to cone 1
6. Sprint to cone 6, back-peddle to cone 1
B.
1. Start at cone 2
2. Shuffle to cone 1, sprint to cone 3, back-peddle to cone 1, shuffle back to cone 2
3. Repeat this to cones 4, 5, and 6
4. Complete 4 total sets, but make sure to start from cone 2 for two sets, and from cone 6 for two
sets.
9. 10 Yard Figure 8’s: See Lady Cat 12 Testing