Agility in sport is defined as ‘‘a rapid whole-body movement with change of velocity or direction in response to a stimulus’’ (Sheppard, 2005). Meaning agility must involve a reaction to a stimulus, for example, a goalkeeper reacting and saving a penalty kick in Football.
Put simply, agility involves reactive abilities in unpredictable environments
If anything, the fundamental words to remember in that definition are “in response to a stimulus”. It is this fragment of the definition that separates a “true” agility test, from a simple change of direction speed test (e.g. pro-agility test) – thus, agility contains a reactive component. This reactive component is built-up of many cognitive functions (1) such as:
Though agility requires the use of cognitive components, it is also composed of other qualities – namely ‘physical’ and ‘technical’. It is these several qualities (cognitive, physical, and technical) which have been said to collectively form agility (Figure 1). This combination of independent qualities, plus the unplanned nature of agility, means agility has been referred to as a complex and open motor skill in its own right
Link: https://www.scienceforsport.com/agility/
To efficiently move and change the direction and position of the body quickly in a controlled manner
This requires the integration of a combination of skills such as;
Link: https://www.pgpedia.com/a/agility
When you are agile, it means you are moving to the best position to take the next action, such as catching a ball or making a tackle. Agility ensures that your body and sports equipment are in the right position to take the next action effectively.
To be agile is to respond to what is going on around you and take that information in. This translates to how your body is positioned so you can effectively maintain balance and control.
Link: https://www.verywellfit.com/understanding-agility-in-sports-3120338
Kids learn the very basic aspects of sports like
are being fine-tuned between ages 5-10.
The basic areas of growth to target are
Strength training – child’s own body weight is an acceptable amount of resistance to support growth of healthy bones and muscle mass.
Endurance – not all kids are created equal physically, however, and it will challenge you as a coach / parent to identify differences. Every child can build up endurance and it’s one of the fundamental aspects to improvement in sports. This may require some creativity to keep kids motivated and to keep things fun and interesting.
Coordination – repetition, repetition, repetition.