The Speed Ladder of Life!

The other day, my son came over to talk about getting himself a speed ladder so he can get some practice in, during the summer as he conditions for football in his senior year at school.

It’s unfortunate for kids like him who are supposed to get the most out of their final school year but, have to amend ways to keep training, albeit with social distancing for a contact sport!

A speed ladder is one used to fine-tune your speed, agility and move your feet faster as an athlete. There are dozens of drills associated to benefit the most from them. Such ladder training typically involves following set patterns and repeating them to better yourself. With the ladder laying flat on the floor or flat ground, an athlete moves their feet fast inside and outside the rungs of the ladder with a goal to repeat patterns at faster speed. In some cases, tires are used to do the same to ensure you lift your knees up.

Speed is about covering more ground in a shorter timeframe while agility is about the ability to change directions without losing balance. Balance is about managing your center of gravity and not falling down while doing all this. All this preparation for a sport played out there in real-time! Isn’t it ironic that so much of prepared training goes into a sport that is played in a chaotic manner, not knowing what the next move will be? Any gameplay has the…