Athletics-Fitness & Performance Training with CrossFit: Coordination and Agility....don't lose it

When I think of some of the top attributes athletes should have Coordination and Agility are right up there, if not the most important. In CrossFit a lot of emphasis is placed on strength and performing certain Olympic lift movements which is great but you can not forget about your agility skills, especially if you are training for a sport. CrossFit will make you stronger and get you in SUPERB shape don't get me wrong, Im referring more towards athletes training for a specific sport where agility and coordination are crucial. On the flip side, the more agile you become and the more coordination you posess will make some of the CrossFit lifts more manageable (i.e. the snatch and the overhead squat). Bottom line you can't go wrong with continuously improving upon your coordination and agility.

a·gil·i·ty
1. the power of moving quickly and easily; nimbleness: exercises demanding agility.
2. the ability to think and draw conclusions quickly; intellectual acuity.

Double Unders and box jumps are good for agility, which we do on occasions at CrossFit, but in order to perform at the highest level in your sport you need to be incorporating more speed and agility drills in your training regimen on a daily/weekly basis. Top college programs across the country look for these skills as they recruit athletes coming out of high school. The NBA and NFL make potential draft picks perform a series of agility drills before they spend the big bucks on their prospects..... there is a great deal of respect placed on athletes with extreme coordination and agility.

Baseball is another example of extreme eye hand coordination and agility. It takes a great deal of coordination and concentration to hit a ball moving 90 mph with a bat and I'm not even talking about curveballs and sliders, which makes things even more difficult. As a shortstop or second baseman you need to have great quickness and agility to get to a ball in the hole, set your feet and throw runner out at first........or even better a behind the back flip double play. Mad Skills
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Here are a few agility drills that you can incorporate into your workouts:

1. Lateral Plyometric Jumps
2. Shuttle Runs
3. Speed Ladder Agility Drills
4. Dot Drills
5. Plyometric Jump Box Drills
6. Plyometric Agility Hurdles
7. Change of Direction Sprinting
8. Tuck Jumps
9. Stair Running
10. Drills for your specific sport (i.e. ball handling, throwing, taking grounders)

**GET YOUR TRAINING GEAR BELOW**

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