Fast Feet and Agility
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Have you got your dancing shoes on kid? Cause this post is going to get those lighting fast fancy feet of yours up to speed quick smart (that’s pretty much all the fast foot puns I’ve got…for now. You’re welcome.) 😉
But in all seriousness, working on your fast footwork, change of direction and agility will be sooooo helpful for your umpiring because it allows you to be able to react to the game and move into the best position as quickly as possible! And we all know the importance of positioning for being able to make the best calls!
Fast feet
Practising fast foot work is great for umpires – particularly for when we need to move around the circle quickly!
This will mean you’re always on your toes and ready to get in the right position to see EVERYTHING.
You can use fast feet drills as either a warm up or add it in the middle or at the end of your work out. That’s the great thing about fast foot work – you don’t have to do it for long. Just 5-10 mins will definitely get the heart rate up! This makes it a very versatile little addition to your sessions 🙂
If you don’t have a ladder already, they’re relatively cheap to buy. You can get them online from Amazon, eBay or in store from your local sports retailer.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to buy one, that’s ok! You can get some chalk and draw one, or some tape and stick one on your driveway/footpath/etc. or put some cones down in a line. You could use some hockey sticks or sticks from a tree if you’re improvising. Or, you could just good old fashion imagine a ladder on the ground (although, surprise, surprise…it’s easier to absolutely get all the feet in all the right squares this way! Haha!)
Change of direction
Training for change of direction is also good for movement in the circle, but it’s even better for those fast break away situations where you have to turn and sprint or go from stepping backwards to side-stepping/running, to running hard in a forwards direction!
Here is a GREAT video on change of direction drills you can do, just with some cones, markers, chalk on the pavement or even around random objects like your drink bottle, jumper, etc. It progresses from simple drills with only two cones and basic moves to more advanced stuff with more balance and coordination required.
This is proof that you really don’t need fancy equipment to get in great and varied workouts!
Agility
Wait, wasn’t the last section agility?! Nope. The last section was change of direction. Subtle, but distinct, difference my friend!
So what actually is agility then if not change of direction? Well, agility IS change of direction BUT it requires a stimulus/cue that you have to REACT to.
An agility drill without a cue is just a change of direction drill. See, the actual agility training comes from when your brain receives a signal that you have to do something (i.e. change direction) and then reacts to it by moving your body. Agility training is actually training two things:
(1) your reaction time
(2) your body’s ability to nail a change of direction quickly so that you are fast and also reduce your risk of injury.
So, what do agility drills look like? Very similar to change of direction drills, but you need either another person to yell directions/numbers/colours at you OR some technology (like an app, voice recording or reaction dots) to provide the stimulus.
The key here is that you shouldn’t know what cue is coming. If you know what direction is going to be cued or when the cue is coming, then your brain is already preparing your body to move there and that kind of defeats the purpose…that’s why you need something external to give you the cues (even if it’s a voice recording that you did yourself!).
Here’s a great video for agility/reaction time training – it’s probably one of my favourites because (a) he’s training alone, which as umpires is often how we train, and (b) he shows that you don’t really need anything fancy, just a recording that you can do yourself to provide the cues.
This guy is a soccer/football player, so later in the video there are some football specific skills in there, but you can always sub these out for fast feet or similar.
This video is geared towards Ultimate Frisbee players, but the drills are still applicable to what we’re doing. These are great drills to do if you have a training partner!
If you’re after a lower impact agility set, here is a great example:
So, there you have it – fast feet, change of direction and agility drills to get you up to speed (ha ha) in the circle and all round the pitch so that you are always there, watching everything. But not in a creepy way, in a superhero umpire kind of way. You know what I’m talking about.
So what are you waiting for? Get outside and get cracking hotshot!
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