Agility Ladder — Scissors: A Complete Guide
Quick Intro
Agility Ladder — Scissors is a sideways hopping drill performed by facing sideways along an agility ladder and hopping the feet in a scissor-like crossing pattern in and out of each rung while moving laterally down its length. It’s dosed by passes through the ladder and is the ladder pattern built around a crossing hop rather than a stepping or shuffling action.
Equipment Needed
Agility Ladder — Scissors needs one Agility Ladder, laid flat on the ground, the only equipment this drill requires.
Why Agility Ladder — Scissors Matters
The crossing hop asks the hip flexors (iliopsoas) and inner thigh (adductors) to swing each leg across the body’s midline and back on every rung, while the front of the thigh (quadriceps, rectus femoris) drives the hop itself. The outer hip (gluteus medius) stabilizes the pelvis through the constant crossing motion, and the calf (gastrocnemius) and deeper calf muscle (soleus) absorb each light landing. The back of the thigh (hamstrings, biceps femoris) helps control the leg’s return, and the shin (tibialis anterior) keeps the feet quick and light. The muscle along the outside of the hip and thigh (IT band, TFL) stabilizes the legs through a crossing action the straight-ahead patterns never demand.
Agility is the main demand here, the direct result of a crossing hop pattern that leaves little room for imprecise foot placement.
When to Do It
This drill works well alongside the other ladder patterns, once the legs are warm, as a lateral, crossing complement to the straight-ahead and side-to-side drills. It also fits well for anyone training a sport that involves crossover footwork, given how directly the crossing hop here mirrors that action.
Anyone with a current hip, knee or ankle issue should approach this carefully, since the repeated crossing hop loads all three in a pattern most other ladder drills don’t share.
Getting Ready
A few minutes of easy jogging or side-to-side shuffling raises blood flow to the hips and legs before the crossing hop begins. A slow walkthrough of the pattern, hopping the feet in and out of a single rung at a deliberate pace, previews the crossing action before pace is added.
Step-by-Step Instructions
1. The setup. Turn to face sideways at one end of the ladder, feet together just outside the first rung.
2. The cross in. Hop the trailing foot across and into the rung, crossing in front of or behind the lead foot.
3. The cross out. Hop the same foot back out to its original side, uncrossing the legs.
4. The advance. Move the whole body one rung down the ladder and repeat the crossing hop, staying low and light.
How Many, How Often
Agility Ladder — Scissors is dosed by passes through the ladder, run once in each direction to train both sides evenly.
| Level | Where you’re at | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | New to crossing-hop ladder footwork | Scissors — Walk Through, 3 to 4 slow passes per direction, focused entirely on a clean, controlled cross. |
| Intermediate | The crossing hop stays clean at a steady pace | 4 to 5 passes per direction at a controlled, rhythmic pace. |
| Advanced | The pattern holds together at speed in both directions | 5 to 6 passes per direction, or move toward Scissors — Maximum Speed once the crossing action stays controlled under pace. |
Staying low and light through every crossing hop matters more here than jumping high off the ground, since extra height adds nothing useful and only slows the rhythm down.
Modifications and Variations
Agility Ladder — Scissors has two variations, one slower and one faster.
For an easier entry point, Scissors — Walk Through keeps the identical crossing pattern at a deliberately reduced pace, a reasonable place to learn the cross before adding speed.
For more difficulty, Scissors — Maximum Speed keeps the same crossing-hop pattern but pushes the pace as fast as a controlled, low crossing action allows.
Progression path: the crossing action gets learned slow first, staying low and controlled; this standard pace then proves that same crossing pattern out under a normal tempo, with the maximum-speed version as the final test of whether it survives full pace.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Hopping high instead of staying low and light. Extra height off the ground wastes energy and slows the overall rhythm without adding anything the crossing action itself needs. Keeping the hops low and quick, close to the ground, is what makes the drill work.
Letting the crossing action become sloppy or wide. A crossing hop that swings too far or lands imprecisely defeats the precision this drill is built around. Keeping every cross controlled and close to the rung, even at a slower pace, protects the training effect.
Only practicing the crossing pattern in one direction. Running the drill leading with only the stronger side leaves the weaker direction undertrained. Splitting the pass count evenly between both directions is what closes that gap.
After Your Set
The hip flexors and inner thigh absorb a repeated load through a full set of crossing hops, so a couple of minutes of easy movement is a reasonable way to transition into stretching. A kneeling hip flexor stretch, back knee down and the hips eased gently forward, releases the hip flexor (iliopsoas) that swung every crossing leg. A seated groin stretch, soles of the feet together and the knees eased down toward the floor, opens the inner thigh (adductors) that controlled every cross.
Going Deeper
Agility Ladder — T-Step / Crossover is the only other ladder drill that crosses the legs on every rung, but the two ask different things of the hip: this drill’s cross is a sideways-facing leg swing across the midline, while T-Step’s cross comes from the hips staying square against an active rotation. This drill’s crossing hop makes it a dedicated crossing-footwork piece alongside the lateral patterns. It also works well as a primer for any sport-specific crossover footwork, given how directly the crossing action here mirrors that movement.
Progress here tends to stall on the weaker-direction cross, not the pattern overall: an athlete can cross cleanly leading one way and noticeably lose precision leading the other. Deliberately weighting extra passes toward that weaker direction tends to close the gap faster.
Someone new to this drill generally needs a handful of sessions to find a controlled, low crossing hop in both directions, and continues sharpening pace over the following few weeks once that control feels automatic.
How to Know You’re Improving
- The hops stay low and light, without unnecessary height off the ground
- The crossing action stays clean and controlled, without drifting wide
- Both directions look equally clean, with no obvious favored side
- The same controlled crossing pattern holds up as pace increases toward full speed
A crossing hop that stays low and controlled in both directions, not raw pace, is what marks progress here.
Muscles Worked
- Iliopsoas (the deep hip flexor, swinging each leg across the other on every hop)
- Adductors (the inner thigh muscles, crossing the legs past the midline of the body)
- Rectus Femoris (a front thigh muscle that crosses both the hip and knee, landing a crossed leg under control)
- Gluteus Medius (a smaller glute muscle at the side of the hip, holding the hip level while the legs trade sides)
- Gastrocnemius (a calf muscle, hopping both feet off the floor to let them swap)
- Biceps Femoris (a muscle at the back of the thigh, checking the leg swing at the end of each scissor)
- Tibialis Anterior (a muscle along the front of the shin, keeping the crossing foot from clipping the rung)
- IT Band and Tensor Fasciae Latae (a band of connective tissue running down the outside of the thigh, stretched as the leg travels past the body)
- Soleus (a deeper calf muscle beneath the gastrocnemius, taking the repeated two-footed landings)
FAQ
How is this different from Agility Ladder — Lateral In-Out? Lateral In-Out steps both feet in and out of each rung without crossing them, while this drill specifically crosses one foot in front of or behind the other on every rung, a different footwork demand (see Step-by-Step Instructions above).
Why stay low instead of jumping high? Extra height off the ground adds time to each rep without improving the crossing action itself, so staying low and light keeps the rhythm quick and the pattern efficient (see Common Mistakes to Avoid above).
Is it normal for one crossing direction to feel much easier than the other? Yes, since most people have a naturally dominant side for a crossing action like this. Deliberately running extra passes toward the weaker direction is a reasonable way to close that gap (see Going Deeper above).
Does it matter whether the crossing foot goes in front of or behind the standing leg? Either is a valid way to perform the cross, and some people find one more natural than the other; what matters most is keeping the chosen version consistent and controlled through a full pass.
Part of the agility ladder family, alongside Agility Ladder — Ali Shuffle, Agility Ladder — Ickey Shuffle and Agility Ladder — In-In-Out-Out.