Best Drills To Improve Footwork?

Ok so if increasing your power and strength is the only thing that is needed then power lifters would have great feet. I’m sure that most do not. In my gym I’ve got kids who are strong and play their sports year round but their footwork is terrible. And on playing your sport. What is the difference between running a slant route and running cones? You are still running a specific pattern. If you do not have anyone to throw you the ball, you can set up an agility course and run through it. Am I saying that strength, power and playing doesn’t work. NO. So don’t say that I did. But what I am saying is SUPPLEMENTING your training with a little extra cone, agility ladder or what ever will help.

sisco-

My sentiments PRECISELY!!! Very good real life example of all strength, but no athletic ability. Absolutely too true with the majority of young lifters/wanna-be athletes. The strength and power is great, but it must be converted to usable dynamic force in the field of play. And, your example of either route running and catching a ball or doing a position drill with cones is again EXACTLY right on! As long as the drill(s) is sport/position specific, you ARE doing your sport! Further, I mentioned cross-training earlier in which I feel that even doing a few drills that ARE NOT in your sport can help you get better. What about the boxers that take balet or the mean linebackers that take a swim every now and then. You’ll find the best athletes work a LARGE variety of movements to compliment their core training. Not to mention, the CNS gets burned out from doing the same types of exercises repeatedly.

Let me submit a personal experience, if you will. As a HS junior OL at about 290 I had very poor footwork and sorry over-all athletic development. Just a year later I was still 290 as a senior, but after having been through a more thorough conditioning program and a Minnesota Vikings Camp (RIP, Corey Stringer), I probably imporoved 70-80%!!!

No joke - it was night and day from the previous year. All my teammates noticed it as well as many college scouts. As a junior I wouldn’t have made a D3 team - as a senior I got recruited D1! That’s no small change. The ONLY difference was position drills… that’s it. Didn’t get much stronger, didn’t lose weight, just “uncovered” my agility potential by footwork drills and short sprinter starts. When you drop a full second off your 40 and start keeping up with your running backs for 20 yards, you are doing something right!

Good thread!

TopSirloin

[quote]TopSirloin wrote:
sisco-

My sentiments PRECISELY!!! Very good real life example of all strength, but no athletic ability. Absolutely too true with the majority of young lifters/wanna-be athletes. The strength and power is great, but it must be converted to usable dynamic force in the field of play. And, your example of either route running and catching a ball or doing a position drill with cones is again EXACTLY right on! As long as the drill(s) is sport/position specific, you ARE doing your sport! Further, I mentioned cross-training earlier in which I feel that even doing a few drills that ARE NOT in your sport can help you get better. What about the boxers that take balet or the mean linebackers that take a swim every now and then. You’ll find the best athletes work a LARGE variety of movements to compliment their core training. Not to mention, the CNS gets burned out from doing the same types of exercises repeatedly.

Let me submit a personal experience, if you will. As a HS junior OL at about 290 I had very poor footwork and sorry over-all athletic development. Just a year later I was still 290 as a senior, but after having been through a more thorough conditioning program and a Minnesota Vikings Camp (RIP, Corey Stringer), I probably imporoved 70-80%!!!

No joke - it was night and day from the previous year. All my teammates noticed it as well as many college scouts. As a junior I wouldn’t have made a D3 team - as a senior I got recruited D1! That’s no small change. The ONLY difference was position drills… that’s it. Didn’t get much stronger, didn’t lose weight, just “uncovered” my agility potential by footwork drills and short sprinter starts. When you drop a full second off your 40 and start keeping up with your running backs for 20 yards, you are doing something right!

Good thread!

TopSirloin[/quote]

I agree and I prob. didn’t make myself too clear in my first post. I think drills are fine if they are sport specific. I am against having guys run through generic cone drills.