How to increase speed and agility

For my son, baseketball was the key. Not only did it improve his movement, he learned a lot about being part of a team, and by watching I learned a lot about coaching.

Once his coach and I convinced him that defense was important, the rest took care of itself. His lateral movement improved, his speed improved a little, and his mental and physical toughness went through the roof.

I think he scored 10 baskets all year being average height and playing against older kids, but he was our pick specialist. His main job was to dribble in, pass off to one of the better scorers, and set a pick for them to drive the lane. He seemed to get to every ball that hit the floor and ranked second in rebounding. On defense, he was always matched up against their best scorer and had to acquire that bulldog attitude to go along with his newfound quickness.

When other parents noticed these things, they asked me if I was upset because he got all the inglorious assignements.

No, I was proud. He wasn't the star in basketball, that goes to the guy that scores the most. However, he started to get that little nasty streak all good players have. The first time I ever saw him dive after a ball was on the basketball court. The first time I ever saw him stand up to a bigger kid was on the basketball court. The first time I ever saw him go after a play knowing it would lead to a collision and accepting it, was on the basketball court.

When spring baseball started up, coaches came over to me asking what baseball drills we had done over the winter. Last fall, he looked like a decent all around player on the diamond. When spring came, he looked like a real baseball player. All of that off season improvement came from basketball. It really does lead to a certain amount of athletic grace.

As Single L said, other sports and activites can improve movement and agility. But they can also improve the mental aspects. Kids will burn out practicing one sport over and over so whatever you do you have to try to keep it fun.

I'll admit, if basketball becomes "his" sport, I may be just a little heartbroken. But it's about him.

Splitter