Why speed & agility training?
What is it and why is it valuable for student athletes? By: Marc Kanterman of Next Step in Fitness It was a classic Olympic moment – two skaters crashed in front of Apolo Ohno during the quarter-finals of the 500m short track race. In a split second (I know I didn’t have time to blink), Ohno raised his right leg and skated on his left leg past the crash, avoiding the flaying legs and sliding bodies of the other skaters. How did he react so fast? And so skillfully? Crashes are common in short track skating and all the athletes train on avoiding crashes. But how do they do that? And how can they react so quickly? Two words – speed and agility. We’ve all seen it – the football player evading the tackles coming at him from all sides, the basketball players who change direction almost as fast as the ball. Those are the plays that create opportunities for teams – if the player doesn’t score, he has created an opportunity for his team to score. When teams are evenly matched, the team that can
