Speed, Agility and Quickness Training

By Kerry O’Brien. E-mail: kobrien@psy.otago.ac.nz

There are many factors directly involved in sporting success ranging from psychological factors such as sport specific knowledge and motivation, to physical characteristics such as power, strength, co-ordination, flexibility, speed, agility, and quickness. Common sense suggests that some of these dimensions are required to a greater degree in some sports than in others. For example, archery and target shooting require a greater emphasis to be put on psychological factors such as concentration and relaxation, where as gymnastics require a high degree of flexibility and co-ordination. However, the world’s most popular sports, and unsurprisingly the highest paid sports, value speed, agility, and quickness above any other qualities. How many slow, and lead footed soccer, rugby, basketball, or tennis players do you see at the top level of their sport? None, but you can sure bet there are some intellectually challenged ones. For both the professionals and those of us less physically gifted, speed, agility, and quickness training are essential in order to reach our own peak performance level.

The recognition of the importance of speed, agility, and quickness, has lead to the development of specific drills to improve these areas. Termed SAQ Training, these training drills provide the crucial link between resistance and strength training and the  specific skills required in your chosen sport. Every elite sporting team or individual will incorporate some form of SAQ training. But why focus primarily on training speed, agility, and quickness?

Speed

Speed is considered the crucial difference between performers in many sports. The blistering speed of top-level football players such as Michael Owen allows them to break away from defences. Speed allows tennis players to get into position early in order to play a balanced shot. It is little wonder that speed is the single highest predictor of sporting success. Because of the sudden acceleration or deceleration employed with speed it merges in closely with agility.

Agility

Very few sports, with the exception of running, require you to run only in a straight line. Agility is the ability to stop, start, and change direction on the move, and is central to the conversion of speed into a useable form for your sport. Development of agility with the equipment of your sport is essential for successful conversion. For example if you are a tennis player you should try to involve the use of a tennis racquet in your drills, as it is what you will need to display agility with when in actual competition.

Quickness

Quickness has been defined as “ the reaction time and movement time in response to a specific stimulus or set of stimuli” (Peter Twist). Quickness also involves an element of anticipatory and predictive behaviour. A slip fieldsman in cricket will set him or herself into an anticipatory mode when the bowler approaches the crease, this allows them react and move quickly if the ball is hit to them. The quick reaction to a stimulus is crucial to the timely application of agility and speed. All the speed and agility in the world is of little use to you unless you have quickness to your actions and reactions. In tennis is you do not react quickly to a volley, no amount of speed and agility is going to retrieve the situation.

It will have become apparent to you that speed, agility and quickness are closely inter-linked and interdependent on each other. SAQ training employs drills that work on the individual skills and on their integration. In coming articles we will be presenting specific and detailed training drills, techniques and tips for each of the SAQ skills, and examine their application in individual sports.

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