How to Improve Your Quickness and Agility on the Flag Football Field

Reading time: 4 – 6 minutes

We’ve all been there. You’re in position, directly in front of the ball carrier. You’ve strafed him perfectly, you’re all lined up to pull the flag. You reach out with both arms extended, fingers grasping for that ever-so-sweet touchdown-saving flag pull. All of a sudden, the ball carrier throws a quick shake and jukes you so hard that your girlfriend breaks up with you. You get completely embarrassed, and you can bet your beer money that your team isn’t going to let you live this one down for a very long time.

The same thing can happen on offense too. If you’re not in peak form, you can easily embarrass yourself. Ever try to juke a defender and get the rubber legs, then subsequently fall on your face right in front of the opposing team’s bench, who are all laughing hysterically by this point? It’s not fun. This isn’t what you signed up for.

Illegal Motion Gives It to You Hard and Fast

I don’t want you to have to endure this level of punishment and exile. I want you to keep your girlfriend (unless she’s a conniving whore). After all, who else is going to give you a victory BJ?

Here’s a little drill that will help you protect yourself from these dreadful situations. If you’ve played football before, you’re probably already familiar with the exercise; if you haven’t, your future is about to be filled with Bengay and ice baths. Exciting right? Keep reading.

The 20 Yard Shuttle

This drill will improve your agility and quickness on the field. Here’s how it works:

1. Setup 3 cones in a straight line about 5 yards apart from each other. If you don’t have cones, you can use duct tape, sticks, or leftover beer pong cups.
2. Stand at the middle cone with one foot on each side of it. Spread your feet a little wider than shoulder-width, and get into a squatting position with your right hand touching the cone. This is your starting point.
3. Sprint hard to your right and touch the right cone with your right hand. Then sprint hard all the way to the left cone and touch it with your left hand.
4. Finally, dig deep and run as fast as you can back across the starting line.
5. Repeat the drill starting with your left hand on the middle cone, and sprinting to the left first. When you’ve completed the drill in both directions, that’s one rep.

Do 3-5 reps twice per week. Try to allow 3 days to rest and recover between drill days.

Tips for Improving Your Time

Any NFL athlete that has gone to the combine or participated in a pro day more than likely performed the shuttle for scouts, and posted a time to compare with other players at his position. For the purposes of flag football, timing the shuttle isn’t really necessary, but the same tips apply for developing your overall quickness.

You can shave full seconds off of your time by learning to use a hockey stop to change directions. This technique helps tremendously if you have trouble accelerating out of a stop as well. Perform the hockey stop by driving both of your feet into the ground as you reach the cone, and simultaneously turning your hips at a 90 degree angle away from the direction you were just running. Think about hockey players when they are sliding and spraying ice with their skates.
Dig those cleats in like ice skates, keeping more weight on the leg you’ll be pushing off of when coming out of the break. Make sure to focus on turning those hips quickly. I would recommend trying this at about 75% speed before moving up to full speed, to avoid injury. This article is meant to help you break your opponents ankles — not your own.

You can also increase your speed by strengthening your core. Any exercises you can do to work the small muscles that support your hips, abs, and lower back will help make you faster.

Happy Shuttling!