Football Agility Trainers

Agility is a key skill to have in the game of football. Different pieces of equipment known as agility trainers are commonly used by football players to enhance their footwork and overall athleticism. Agility trainers come in many different shapes and sizes, while also sporting a variety of different uses.

Benefits of Football Agility Trainers

Agility trainers are designed to help football players work on their speed, footwork, cutting, and many other movement skills. Agility trainers can come in a variety of different types and each piece of equipment has its own purpose. Many of these agility trainers can be used for different sports as well, such as ladders or hurdles. 

Agility trainers can be used either individually or with a team. Most teams will have a wide variety of different agility trainers to help improve different aspects of a football player’s athleticism. Agility trainers can also be used in unison with other pieces of equipment to work on multiple skills at one time.

Things To Consider

When looking for football agility trainers, you'll want to consider the following:

• What specific skills are you looking to work on?
• How much do you want to spend on an agility trainer?
• How many people will be using the agility trainer?
• What level of football do you play?

What are you looking for in a football agility trainer?

• Affordability
• Improved conditioning
• Easy to transport
• Use individually
• Use as a team
• To mark spots on a field or practice area

Types

The different types of football agility trainers include ladders, hurdles, dummies, and cones.

Ladders

Agility ladders look similar to a regular ladder. They are usually made of two long ropes or fabric straps with plastic or wooden bars connecting them. Ladders create square spaces on the ground for athletes to move in and out of, improving upon their footwork. They help football players move side to side or forwards and backwards, with precision and quickness.

Pros:

• Easy to set up and move
• Practices footwork and precision
• Relatively cheap

Cons:

• Small learning curve for use
• Can tangle up with feet
• Does not practice vertical agility

Hurdles

Football hurdles come in small or large sizes, and athletes use jump or step over them. They can be set up in many different patterns and force the football player to focus on speed and coordination. Hurdles are usually used in a grouping rather than individually.

Pros:

• Improves speed, explosiveness, and coordination
• Can be set up in a wide range of patterns
• Created vertical obstacle

Cons:

• Full set can be expensive
• Easy to be sloppy during drills
• Can potentially trip players

Agility Dummies

Agility dummies can come in a few different variations. Most often they are long rectangular pads that are placed on the ground. Sometimes, they are vertical pads that stand upright. Either way, agility dummies are pads that can be used to work on footwork and coordination during drills.

Pros:

• Can be used in many different ways and drills
• Softness and movability prevents injuries
• Provides both vertical and horizontal agility practice

Cons:

• Occasionally heavy and difficult to move
• Usually very expensive
• Easy to displace pads during a drill

Cones

Football cones are one of the most popular agility trainers among all sports. They can be used to visualize points to reach during a drill or as boundaries. Cones have a large number of possibilities in regard to they can be used to train agility. They are usually either skinny and tall or flat and wide.

Pros:

• Light and easy to move around
• Wide variety of functions
• Usually pretty cheap

Cons:

• Can easily become bent or damaged
• Used more for visualization than obstacles

Brands

The most popular brands that produce football agility trainers are SKLZ, Merrithew, and Fisher.

SKLZ

SKLZ produces high quality training and exercise equipment for a variety of different sports. They make cones, ladders and hurdles as well as a few variations within each kind. SKLZ even makes poles and agility bands. Most of their agility equipment comes in their signature yellow color.

Merrithew

Merrithew specializes in making fitness and exercise equipment, as well as fitness guides. They make agility ladders, cones and even agility hoops that come in a few different colors. Merrithew agility equipment can be used in multiple sports besides football.

Fisher

Fisher makes a variety of padding and equipment for sports such as football, baseball, and track and field. They make a large assortment of agility trainers, and even make high step ladders as well. Some of their equipment such as the high step ladders can be easily adjustable.

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