Agility is the ability to change the body's direction efficiently, and this requires a combination of balance, coordination, speed, and strength.

Aside from improving sports performance, why would an individual need to maintain or improve agility? Dodging requires agility, such as jumping out of the way of an oncoming car or avoiding an unexpected hole. If you ever need to run down a crowded street to catch a bus or escape an assailant, agility will help you avoid knocking yourself out on a utility pole or tripping over a dog leash.

Exercises

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How do we improve agility? Many of the exercises involve an agility ladder. It is a ladder drawn on the floor, with the individual required to hop or high-step through the rungs with a variety of forward, backward and lateral motions. A person could also practice the tests of agility.

Tests

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Briefly, some agility tests are timed performance of the following activities:

• hopping in and out of a hexagon across each side in a circular circuit.
• running a zigzag course, similar to slalom skiing.
• running back and forth laterally, like a rundown in baseball.
• running forward along the agility ladder.
• running a T pattern, with forward, lateral and backward segments.
• balancing on a single leg, like the yoga Stork pose.

Books

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Brown, Lee E., Ferrigno, Vance A., Santana, Juan Carlos (Eds.) (2000) Training for Speed, Agility and Quickness. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. ISBN-0-7360-0239-1.^*

External links

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• Sports Coach

Exercise