Agility training: Creating drills that transfer to on-field performance with Warren Young

This week’s guest on the Pacey Performance Podcast is Warren Young. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor in Exercise & Sport Science at Federation University Australia and teaches and conducts applied research in a variety of topics relating to physical preparation for sport. Warren has published numerous articles over three decades and has a special interest in speed and agility training and assessment. His research, among other results, led to the development of the Reactive Strength Index and his deterministic model of agility performance.

Warren is here to talk to Rob about agility, including what has changed since his got into the industry over 30 years ago. He describes how there is often a disconnect between the physical and academic side of agility performance, and how that can be reconciled. Warren also discussed how the cognitive side of the model has translated into a coach’s day-to-day work, and whether testing can be integrated into a high-performance setting.

Warren also provides some exceptional insight into how to include change direction testing and agility training into a programme, including what to change between sports and different positions, such as attacking and defending players in a team sport. This includes strategies into how to enhance agility, and how to adapt them for a different level of athlete. For all this and much more, hit the play button now to hear Warren’s thoughts on a subject very few will know more about.

• How Warren developed his model of agility performance
• What has changed in our understanding of agility in the past 30 years
• How academics need to do a better job of including the physical side of his model
• How the cognitive side of the model has translated into a coach’s day-to-day work
• Can a particular test be integrated into a high-performance setting?
• The problems with change direction testing
• How change direction testing and training differs between sports and positions
• What to change in training between attackers and defenders
• Subjective evaluation in a change direction test
• Strategies to enhance agility and where they fit into overall training
• Adapting agility training strategies for novice youth athletes
• Warren’s advice for deceleration training