Yellow Agility Ladders don't build Speed!

Have you ever watched professional sports before and ever seen an athlete tapping his feet in perfect little squares while on the field? Then why do we believe that making young kids perform these drills is what will make them faster? It is what has always been sold to parents as the key to improving speed and agility yet it couldn't be further than the truth.

Ashton has trained year round at APL which has lead to major success on the football field.

When it comes to agility, we view that as anything occurring during practice and games. For example, a hockey player needs to be able to skate and produce high amounts of lower leg power so that athlete needs to strength train, build single leg strength that actually allows them produce force and move from one direction to the next. A shortstop needs to be able to react and move quickly left to right to field a ball so why would we think that a yellow agility ladder will have any carry over to the field or court?

Professional Football Players can reach up to speeds of 20+mph during a game, while changing direction so forcefully that if you blink, you miss it. I've been coaching for 17 years and have worked with kids, teens, collegiate and professional athletes, and the only time we pull out a yellow ladder is after a major surgery when we are ready to progress to simple jumping, hopping and landing drills. We also use the ladders for fun warm ups with little kids. When we train speed, we sprint, there is no other way to do it and if you have been sold on something else, get your money back. Parents would see more return on investment if they had their kids sprinting up hills 1-2x every week. The tippy tap stuff is simply eyewash, a gimmick that is comfortable, easy and why so many choose it.

Our training programs have helped athletes get into college and even into professional sports, all without ever touching a ladder. Now we use plenty of hurdles because jumping is actually beneficial, and learning how to absorb and produce force is monumental when it comes to long-term athletic development.

Ultimately this comes down to education, most have no idea what they are looking for when it comes to sound, year round training. Most are accustomed to doing what everyone else is doing, the ones that are thriving are doing the things that most avoid. We need young athletes training year round if they insist on playing year round. Kids today are weak and slow while being over specialized in one singular sport. It's time to ditch the yellow ladders and fancy feet, we need weekly sprinting paired with strength training and we guarantee you will see results.