Stop looking at the cones. Seriously. If you’re staring at a neon orange plastic triangle while trying to get faster, you’re probably missing the entire point of agility. Most people treat change of direction drills like a dance routine. They memorize the steps, they shuffle their feet in a specific pattern, and they think they're getting "shifty." But the moment they get on a field or a court with a live defender, they freeze up or get blown by.
Speed is simple. Moving fast in a straight line is mostly about force production and physics. But changing direction? That’s chaos. It’s a violent negotiation between your center of mass and the friction of the ground. If you don't respect the mechanics of how your body actually handles deceleration, you’re not just slow—you’re a walking ACL tear.
The Mechanical Reality of the Plant Phase
You've probably heard coaches scream "get low" a thousand times. It’s become a cliché. But why? When you’re performing change of direction drills, lowering your center of mass isn't just about being athletic; it’s about managing inertia. Think of your body like a car. If you try to take a sharp turn in a lifted SUV at 60 mph, you’re going to flip. If you’re in a low-slung Formula 1 car, you hug the track.
Basically, you need to be the Formula 1 car.
The most critical moment in any directional shift is the penultimate step. That’s the second-to-last step before you actually make your cut. Most amateur athletes focus entirely on the "plant" foot—the one that does the heavy lifting. However, high-level sports scientists like Dr. Sophia Nimphius have pointed out that the penultimate step is where the real braking happens. If you don't load that second-to-last step to dump your momentum, all that force goes straight into your knee joint on the final cut. That’s how careers end.
Change of Direction vs. True Agility
We need to clear something up. People use "change of direction" (COD) and "agility" interchangeably. They shouldn't. They aren't the same thing.
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COD is pre-planned. You know exactly where you’re going. You see the cone, you run to it, you turn 90 degrees. It’s a closed skill. Agility, on the other hand, requires a stimulus. It’s reacting to a ball, an opponent, or a whistle. You can be the fastest person in the world at a Pro Agility Shuttle (the 5-10-5) and still be "slow" in a game because your brain can't process visual cues fast enough to initiate the movement.
If your training only consists of pre-planned change of direction drills, you’re only building the engine. You’re not teaching the driver how to steer in traffic. You need both.
Why the 5-10-5 Is Overrated (and Necessary)
The Pro Agility Shuttle is the gold standard for the NFL Combine. It's a 20-yard test. Five yards one way, ten yards back, five yards through the start. Scouts love it. It tells them if a 300-pound lineman has the lateral "pop" to handle a pass rusher.
But honestly? It's a test of technique more than raw athleticism.
If you watch a specialist like Les Spellman coach the 5-10-5, he’s not just talking about running. He’s talking about hand placement on the line, the angle of the shin (shin angles are everything), and the "punch" of the lead leg. If your shins are vertical when you try to change direction, you’re going nowhere. You need those shins pointed in the direction you want to go. It’s basic vector physics, even if it feels like magic when you get it right.
Drills That Actually Transfer to the Game
Let’s talk about the L-Drill or the 3-Cone Drill. It's a staple. You see it every year at the Combine. But if you want to actually get better, you have to stop doing it perfectly.
Human movement is messy.
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In a real game, you’re rarely starting from a perfect three-point stance. You’re backpedaling, you’re bumping into someone, or you’re looking over your shoulder. To make change of direction drills effective, you have to add "noise" to the system.
- The Box Drill with a Twist: Instead of just running the perimeter of a 5x5 yard box, have a partner stand in the middle. They point a direction midway through your sprint. Suddenly, your brain has to hijack your legs.
- The Deceleration Wall Drill: This is less of a drill and more of a "check yourself" moment. Sprint toward a wall and try to stop as fast as possible without touching it. You’ll quickly realize if you’re "leakng" energy. If your torso flops forward, your core is weak. If you take six steps to stop, your eccentric strength—the ability of your muscles to lengthen under load—is non-existent.
Strength: The Missing Ingredient
You cannot change direction quickly if you are weak. Period.
Think about the forces involved. When you plant your foot to change direction at full speed, you are absorbing multiple times your body weight in a fraction of a second. If your quads, glutes, and adductors can't handle that load, your body will naturally slow you down as a protective mechanism. Your brain is smart. It won't let you move at speeds your hardware can't support.
This is why heavy lifting matters for speed. Split squats, Romanian deadlifts, and lateral lunges aren't just for bodybuilders. They are the armor that allows you to execute change of direction drills without snapping something. Specifically, the adductors (the inner thigh muscles) are the unsung heroes of the lateral cut. They stabilize the pelvis. If they’re weak, you’ll "wash out" on your turns, losing inches and seconds.
The Role of Footwear and Surface
We don't talk about grass enough. Or turf.
If you're practicing your cuts on a slippery gym floor in worn-out running shoes, you're wasting your time. You're actually training your brain to be hesitant. To get the most out of change of direction drills, you need "coefficient of friction." You need to trust that when you push, the ground is going to push back.
Cleats on natural grass provide a different "give" than cleats on artificial turf. Research, including studies often cited in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, suggests that turf increases the grip but also increases the torque on the lower extremities. If you're always training on high-grip turf, you might be building a level of aggression your joints can't actually sustain on a muddy Saturday morning pitch. Mix up your surfaces.
Stop Rounding Your Turns
One of the biggest mistakes in change of direction drills is "rounding."
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Instead of a sharp, crisp angle, the athlete runs in a small arc. It looks smoother, but it’s slower. It covers more distance. The "cut" should be a violent act. It’s a literal redirection of force. To fix this, focus on the "inside" foot. If you’re cutting to the left, your right foot is the power source, but your left foot needs to "open up" the hip to allow the rest of your body to follow. If that lead foot stays pointed forward, you’re stuck. You’ll round the turn every single time.
The Mental Load
Ever notice how some players look fast in practice but slow in the game? It’s cognitive load.
When you're doing a drill, you have zero "clutter" in your head. In a game, you’re thinking about the score, the play call, and the guy trying to tackle you. This is why the best coaches are moving away from closed-loop drills. They’re using "mirror drills" where you have to shadow a partner’s movements. It forces the athlete to stop thinking about their feet and start reacting to the environment. That is where true game speed is born.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Session
Don't just go out and run through some cones. That’s cardio, not speed work. If you want to actually improve your change of direction, you need a plan that respects the science of movement.
- Check your brakes before you check your engine. Spend two weeks focusing on deceleration. Practice stopping from a sprint in two steps. If you can’t stop, you can’t turn.
- Fix your shin angles. Record yourself on your phone in slow motion. When you plant to change direction, is your shin vertical? Or is it angled toward the direction you want to go? If it's vertical, you’re pushing yourself up, not over.
- Strength is the floor. If you can’t single-leg squat at least 60% of your body weight with good form, your "limit" for COD speed is going to be very low. Get in the weight room. Focus on eccentric control—the lowering phase of the lift.
- Introduce a stimulus. Once you’ve mastered the pattern of a drill, have a friend shout "Go!" or "Left!" or "Right!" at the last possible second. If you don't add that reactive element, you're just a track athlete in a team sports world.
- Quality over quantity. COD work is taxing on the central nervous system. Do not do these drills at the end of a long practice when you’re tired. Do them at the beginning. If you’re not doing every rep at 100% intensity, you’re just practicing how to be slow.
You’ve got to embrace the discomfort of the "snap." Changing direction is supposed to feel sharp and slightly jarring. If it feels rhythmic and flowing, you’re probably just jogging through a pattern. True speed is found in the ability to stop on a dime and leave the defender wondering where you went.
Focus on the penultimate step. Lean into the turn. Drive through the ball of your foot. The cones are just markers; the real work happens in the inches of dirt you kick up when you decide to go a different way.