This book excerpt is from Developing Agility and Quickness, Second Edition and goes over change of direction drills to help with speed and power development as well as an athletes cognitive and decision making skills.

All fitness components depend on body composition to some extent, and the demands of many sports require that athletes maintain standard levels of body composition.

From the NSCA’s 2020 Coaches Conference, Scott Schultz and Beau Smith show hands-on drills for prehabilitation of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) to reduce the risk of injury in sport. These drills include posterior chain warm-up exercises, plyometric and balance exercises, and proper landing mechanics to reinforce proper hip and knee positions.

“The goal of what we’re trying to do is make a difference in someone’s life,” says Gary Schofield in this session from the 2015 NSCA National Conference. Coach Schofield explains areas where you can make a difference for your athletes, including movement efficiency, recovery and regeneration, autoregulation, velocity-based training, and conditioning with purpose.

Learn about Loren Landow’s philosophy-based system of multidirectional training and explore how to best integrate multidirectional training to straight-line speed performance through a full progression of bilateral and unilateral exercises. In this session from the NSCA’s 2017 National Conference, Landow addresses the factors that influence agility with special attention to the feet and hips

Learn practical drills, exercises, and how to properly implement conditioning protocols into a team setting. Ron McKeefery explains the scientific rational behind anaerobic and aerobic conditioning methods and how to use a systematic approach to build a successful conditioning program. In this session from the NSCA’s 2018 Coaches Conference, McKeefery also provides examples of fun, safe, and effective routines.

In this hands-on session from the 2014 NSCA Personal Trainers Conference, Johnny Gillespie teaches simple ways to cue, feel, and teach others how their body is designed to move as a single cohesive unit. From this experience, assessment for both the personal trainer and client becomes a moment-to-moment and movement-to-movement process.

Learn about the various forms of active resistance training and how to create active resistance devices that are inexpensive and reduce injury risk compared to traditional log bars and kegs. In this session from the NSCA's 2016 Annual TSAC Training, Jay Dawes also discusses how to progress, regress, and program active resistance into a comprehensive strength and conditioning plan.

Learn to identify and understand the key factors of movement competency and skill acquisition, and how to develop an effective motor learning process using foundational movement patterns. In this session from the NSCA’s 2016 Personal Trainers Conference, Joe Sansalone explains how improving motor control and foundational movement patterns leads to optimal one-arm push-up skill acquisition.

In this session from the 2015 NSCA National Conference, Fred Eaves outlines some of the most pressing issues associated with developing the multisport athlete. He also explains strategies that can be used in order to deal with these issues while maximizing the multisport athlete’s potential.