Games are rarely won in a straight line. This is the other half of speed: stopping, turning, changing direction sharply, and reacting to what’s happening instead of moving on your own count. Straight-line speed has its own routine — sprinting — get faster; this one is all about quick feet and sharp changes.
Warm up first — movement prep is built for it. You need four markers: cones if you have them, or shoes, water bottles, a line of chalk, anything you can see.
What each part is:
- zig-zags — cut around the markers, planting the outside foot and pushing off it. stay low through the turn; don’t round the corners off.
- shuttles (5-10-5) — sprint five metres, touch the line, back ten, touch, back five. sharp turns, sudden stops.
- side shuffle — quick and low, facing forwards, there and back. don’t cross your feet.
- reaction starts — react to a sound (a shout, a clap, a beep) and go. game speed is about moving when something happens, not on your own count.
progression. sharpen the cut angle first — the tighter the turn, the more it carries into a game. when the footwork is clean, add a ball: dribble through the zig-zag, or push the ball out of the turn. then make it reactive — have someone call which way to go at the last moment.
background: speed, and what it actually predicts