TrainingSpeed, agility and power methods
SAQ Training: Speed, Agility and Quickness
Quick Intro
SAQ stands for speed, agility and quickness. It is a style of athletic training that uses sprints, ladder drills, cone patterns and shuttle runs to improve how fast and how sharply a person can move. It is common in team sports, youth programs and general athletic preparation.
The Idea in Plain Terms
The three words in the name describe separate qualities:
- Speed. How fast you can move in a straight line.
- Agility. The ability to change direction or speed in response to a stimulus, such as an opponent or a ball.
- Quickness. How fast you can start, stop or react, often over a short distance or time.
Sports scientists make a useful distinction inside agility. Change of direction speed is the ability to move quickly through a planned pattern, such as a cone drill. Agility, in the strict sense used by researchers such as Sheppard and Young, includes reacting to something unpredictable. A shuttle run tests the first, and mirroring a partner tests the second.
The consequences matter for training. Planned cone drills build technique for cutting and decelerating, and they do not train the decision-making part of agility. Reactive drills add that part.
SAQ sessions mix several kinds of work: ladder footwork for foot speed and rhythm, short sprints for acceleration, cone drills for cutting and braking, and reaction drills.
A Worked Example
A 30-minute session, offered as an illustration:
| Block | Content |
|---|---|
| Warm-up | Jogging, leg swings and skipping, 8 minutes |
| Ladder | Two-feet-in-each-box and lateral in-out, 4 passes each |
| Sprints | 20-meter sprints, 4 reps with full rest |
| Cone drill | 5-10-5 shuttle, 4 reps with 90 seconds rest |
| Reactive | Partner mirror drill, 4 rounds of 10 seconds |
Rest between efforts is long enough to keep each one fast.
What the Research Shows
Research suggests that speed, change of direction and reactive agility are partly independent skills. A study by Young, Dawson and Henry in 2015 and related work found that sprint speed and change of direction ability are only weakly related, and that planned change of direction and reactive agility differ again. In practical terms, a fast sprinter will not necessarily be agile.
Training studies show that programs of speed, plyometric and change of direction work improve times on tests like the 5-10-5 shuttle, especially in youth and team-sport athletes. Fine details are less clear, such as the best drills, the amount of work or whether ladder drills improve sport performance beyond footwork on the ladder. Many researchers see ladder drills as a useful warm-up and coordination tool without strong evidence of direct transfer to the field.
The specificity principle applies here. Skills improve most for the drills and patterns practiced.
Who It Suits
- Team sport athletes and young athletes developing movement skill.
- Recreational athletes who want to move better in sport.
- Coaches building warm-ups with athletic content.
How to Use It
- Warm up thoroughly before fast work.
- Keep sessions short and sharp, with full rest between efforts.
- Start with planned patterns and add reactive elements later.
- Teach braking and cutting technique, with low hips and controlled landings.
- Train when fresh, not at the end of a hard session.
- Match drills to the movements of your sport.
Common Misunderstandings
It is not cardio conditioning. The work is fast and rest is long.
It is not only ladder drills.
It is not the same as getting faster in a straight line.
FAQ
Do agility ladders make me faster? They train foot speed and rhythm. Transfer to sport is less clear.
How is agility different from change of direction? Agility includes reacting to a stimulus. Change of direction is a planned pattern.
How often should I train it? Two to three short sessions a week.
Is it only for athletes? No. Anyone can practice quick, coordinated movement with age-appropriate drills.
Where This Comes From
Sheppard JM and Young WB, 2006, agility literature review: classifications, training and testing (Journal of Sports Sciences, 24, 919 to 932). Young WB, Dawson B and Henry GJ, 2015, agility and change-of-direction speed are independent skills (International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 10, 159 to 169).
Related to: reactive agility training, plyometric training and the principle of specificity. Exercises include Pro Agility Shuttle.