Kids love playing and running around. Agility training is a great way to get the kids to not only be active, but also develop their bodies athletically. Agility training exercises can help incorporate healthy habits into the young athletes, and teach them proper body positioning, coordination, and hand-eye coordination. Listed below are the best agility training workouts that kids of any age can try to develop their strength and agility.

Deceleration Drills

Deceleration is defined as a reduction in speed or the rate of decreasing velocity. Learning how to decelerate is extremely important when you are training to reduce the risk of injury and to improve your child’s performance. 

Below are some of the body weight jumping and landing drills that we incorporate. The emphasis is always on soft landings and landing well by decelerating under control and absorbing landing force.

• Start by jumping as high as possible on one leg, safely landing on the same leg.
• Immediately have them lower the opposite foot, taking 3 full seconds to lower the foot to the ground.
• Take an additional 3 seconds to lower into a full squat with both legs.
• Repeat 8 reps on each leg.

Ladder Drills

Agility ladder drills are the perfect way of cross-training as they help to improve your speed, agility and quickness. These three factors can help to boost your child’s fitness level for virtually any type of workout, burns tons of calories, and keeps your child mentally sharp. 

These are some examples of ladder drills. Remember, the emphasis is on accurate footwork rather than speed. It is important to move fast quickly and quietly as well.

• Single foot in each square
• Two feet in each square
• Lateral stepping
• Jumping Jack Feet
• In & Out
• Centipede
• Ickey Shuffle
• Double trouble

Cone Dribbles

Cone dribbles hone your child’s ability to accelerate, decelerate and change direction. It is ideal for multi-functional athletes participating in any sport. The primary movements to use are shuffling, backpedaling, and sprinting in any combination. The focus here is to try to run in straight lines. Plant on the outside foot when preparing to change direction. Turn your eyes and bellybutton to the next cone to help your hips get around quickly.

• Zig-zag Drill
• Tight Dribbling Drill
• Two-Cone Retreat Drill

Run-Shuffle-Run Speed Drills

It is a straight-line drill, designed to develop muscles needed to open the hips from a sprint into a lateral slide. This ability is essential in all sports such as baseball, basketball, tennis, footballs, and especially important for football linebackers.

• Set up four cones in a straight line, 5 yards apart from each other, with the middle two cones 4 yards apart to mark the shuffle zone
• Start at the first cone and sprint to the second cone (5 yards).
• Laterally shuffle from the second to third cone (4 yards).
• Sprint between the third and fourth cone (5 yards).
• Immediately repeat in the opposite direction, in the same pattern

Just be a Kid!

The previously listed exercises will help your kids become more fine-tuned in motor development, but sometimes the easiest exercise is for them to just play and enjoy fun activities with their friends.

At Fitness Kid, we specialize in keeping your child fit and happy by supplying top rated home gym equipment, mats, and accessories that can help boost physical development and fun. Drop us an email at info@fitnesskid.com or call us on 833-FIT-KIDS.