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The good ole speed ladder. Many people hate it and many people love it. When I first started coaching, back in 2002, I thought this was such a cool tool to utilize for “foot speed”. While with the Carolina Panthers, I watched Ricky Manning Jr constantly work on his “foot speed” via frapiers dot drills, cone drills, and the speed ladder. College and NFL athletes are using them, so of course this stuff works, right?!
Speed and Agility Training
Let’s take a step back and think about the mechanics of a sprint. In a linear sprint, you’re typically looking to see if the athlete is getting full extension of the leg and hip and is in an optimal position to either push or pull.
Change of direction we’re looking to see if the athlete is being efficient with their feet and not taking extra steps that will increase their time from point A-B.
In the speed ladder, you’re doing various drills to accomplish that specific drill demands. Such as the “Icky Shuffle Crossover”.
Does the Speed Ladder Translate to Speed and Agility?
To be quick to the point, in my opinion- NO, it does not translate to speed or on field agility. You can take a very simplistic view point by analyzing the icky shuffle and compare them to movements on the field. Based off of this standard, in what sport are you forced to move your feet in such a short pattern?
There maybe some speed ladder drills that will be slightly effective for speed and agility development, however it’s not the most optimal method to develop speed and agility. Especially in comparison to drills that have a higher rate of translation to sport such as bounds, diagonal cross over sprints, prowler pushes, etc…
For Young Athletes
The speed ladder can great tool to help young athletes develop better coordination, something that is very much needed at a young age. Does this mean that it’ll make them faster? Nope. Will it be fun? Yep.
When working with young athletes, it’s more to do with having fun and still teaching them something without them really knowing it. Incorporating the speed ladder can keep their attention while also developing much needed coordination. Later in the practice you can add in more drills that will make a bigger impact for their overall performance. You can also incorporate drills at the end of the speed ladder, i.e. do XYZ on the speed ladder then a cross over run at end of the speed ladder.
For College and Pro Athletes
Is the speed ladder going to make them faster? Nope. Is it going to build better coordination? Probably not, it’ll make them more coordinated at that speed ladder drill but may have little impact to anything sport related. Keep in mind these athletes are already pretty engrained, they are no longer youth athletes.
Just like young athletes, college and pro athletes need to have a little of the “Fun Factor” in their training. These athletes have been coached at a high level for a very long time, so adding in something that may not be in the highest spectrum of sport translation is completely fine for team morale. Remember their only human and as long as you still have the big bang for your buck speed exercises in practice, you should be fine.
Conclusion
As we all know, if an elite athlete feels like he needs to do these drills then who am I to say that they can’t, as long as it doesn’t hurt them. Great coaches know that it’s not only about what the athlete needs but what they want to do too. So hate it or love it, the speed ladder is here to stay. Just make sure that you fill in the gaps else where and you should be fine.
Train smart,
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