Agility Ladders: What are they good for?
Introduced to the world of training over a decade ago, agility ladders were initially a great success, but have come in for some harsh criticism in recent years. Today, people have varied opinions about them, with some using it often and others having abandoned it altogether. Between the two, we can find some reasons to use ladders from time to time, while being aware of both their advantages and their limitations.
The negatives
Some of the criticisms comes from the name: agility, speed or coordination ladder, you can find many names to designate this succession of squares or rectangles spread over several meters.
Unfortunately, some of these names are not really appropriate :
– Ladders don’t develop agility: this quality requires a chaotic and unpredictable environment, in which we perform movements based on external elements (teammates, opponents, equipment…) with a specific goal in mind (overtake a defender, intercepting a ball, scoring…).
With a ladder, there is no dynamic reactive element, no coupling between actions and perception, no decision-making, and we look at the ground (whereas in sports, the gaze is more often raised in order to gather information). Agility work and ladder work use different parts of the brain.
We can’t even talk about change-of-direction work, as the force produced on the ground is significantly lower in ladder exercises, and the body angles are distinct.
– As the forces produced on the ground are relatively low, the distances covered are short and the intentions of movement aren’t the same, the name « speed ladder » isn’t appropriate either. Indeed, in most ladder exercises, the intent is to move the feet quickly, not to move the body as fast and as far forward as possible.
If you want to improve acceleration and speed, you need to train sprinting over long and short distances, with varying constraints (starting positions, upper or lower body attitude, additional load…).
However, the fact that ladders are of little use in developing agility, acceleration, speed and changes of direction doesn’t mean that they are totally obsolete. Rather than focusing on their limitations, it would be better to look at what they can bring.
The positives
There are multiple qualities that can be developed with this tool:
1. Positional delay (a term suggested by Paul J. Fabritz in a video available on the EdgeU educational platform), which corresponds to the time required to move from a sub-optimal body position to an optimal one, i.e. a position from which force can be applied at the right angle and in large quantity. This is referred to as the delay between the brain’s signal to move to the correct position and arriving in that position.
For instance, in a defensive basketball situation, it’s sometimes necessary to perform a hip flip (i.e. quick repositioning of the feet by turning the hips) when you want to follow a player driving to the basket. In this case, it’s not the quantity nor the angle of force that matters at first, but rather the speed at which the feet are repositioned.
Some exercises allow to focus directly on the rate of neural impulses (i.e. the speed at which signals travel from the brain to the muscles in order to carry out a movement), with relatively simple moves in which you can just try to move your feet as quickly as possible.
Examples of exercises focusing on speed of movement
2. Contract-relax: as mentioned in previous articles, the ability to rapidly and successively contract and relax muscles is a crucial aspect of athletic performance, and can be found in many exercises.
3. Coordination: although the movements performed with a ladder aren’t necessarily very specific to those performed in an athletic conditions, they do require a certain coordination of the lower body (sometimes in synchrony with the upper body). By developing overall coordination skills, we increase the range of options available to the body, which in turn improves its ability to adapt in the chaotic environment of sports.
Countering ideas of hyperspecialization and monotony, exposing the body to different movements it isn’t used to see – and thus expanding its « general movement bank » – is also of interest.
Ladders can be used to challenge the body’s ability to move in 3 planes of motion, notably with dynamic mobility exercises (in order to learn how to quickly dissociate the pelvis and shoulders, for instance).
Examples of dynamic mobility exercises
4. Kinesthetic awareness: the « cases » of the ladder are a constraint, requiring precise footwork, which is vital if you want to limit the risk of injury. Lower-body dexterity is developed, an important element during periods of growth when spatial relationships change and limbs evolve (diameter- and length-wise).
5. Extensive plyometrics: ladder exercises involve low repeated loads on the tendons (both Achilles and patellar), enabling tendon and muscle structures to be strengthened in an « elastic » way. This is a very good mean to increase resiliency around the ankle, foot and lower leg, aiming to prevent injury and to prepare those structures for more intense bouts of effort later on. It’s also useful in warm-up, in certain rehab contexts, or to maintain tendon elasticity when the training volume is low.
6. Cardio: ladders offer the opportunity to work on various cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory abilities, without involving the same neuromuscular stress as repeated sprints. You can perform a fast, simple movement over a short period of time, repeating bouts of effort separated by a short recovery period, or combine several more or less complex movements over a longer period of time.
Finally, using ladders can be fun! This is a great warm-up option, which can be used to challenge movement skills through a variety of exercises, while getting the body ready for what’s next. In a group, you can even add some competition with a timer, thus creating even more enthusiasm and intent.
Examples of exercises challenging movement capacity
REFERENCES
- How we learn to move, Rob Gray
- Learning to optimize movement, Rob Gray
- Instagram account @PJFperformance
- PJF Podcast – episode 24
- ‘’Ladder Drills for Positional Delay’’ video, website edgeu.com
- ‘’Change of direction/Agility Webinar’’ video, website coachmatthank.myshopify.com
- ‘’Why Agility Ladders are Overrated’’, website stack.com
- ‘’Why you’re wasting your time with an Agility Ladder’’, website becomebettersppt.com
- ‘’Do Agility Ladders Work?’’, website plt4m.com
- ‘’The Agility Ladder — Useful Tool or Waste of Time?’’, website elitefts.com
- ‘’Are Agility Ladders Effective?’’, website overtimeathletes.com
- ‘’If We Can Learn to Agree About Agility Ladders, We Can Learn to Agree About Anything’’, website simplifaster.com