How to Use Speed Ladders the Correct Way

Lots of young athletes are familiar with ladder drills, but many aren't using them to their full advantage. The point of ladder drills should be to challenge the body to adapt to new muscle patterns and improve balance and agility in game-time scenarios. The point is not to work within your comfort zone, repeating the same drill you've done 1,000 times.

Ladder drills, done correctly, help young athletes get used to coordinated movement patterns and develop important neural connections between their brains and their growing limbs and muscles. With this age group, use traditional ladder drills, ranging from 2 Steps to Icky Shuffles, to set the stage for higher level stepping and foot placement drills.

Stepping drills challenge the body to adapt to new muscle patterns and improve proprioceptive ability, to facilitate better footing during games.For stepping drills to be effective, coaches must challenge athletes with drills they aren't familiar with, patterns that sometimes feel awkward and drills that require them to slow down and think about what they are doing... Read the full article on STACK.com