Ladder run and rejoin

A circuit that keeps turning: one player in the agility ladder, the rest on their way round or jogging back. The drill is laid out so there are never more than three players waiting, and that is exactly why you pick it over a single line in front of the ladder.

8 players 6 phases ± 10 min 1 agility ladder, the full court From U15 upwards

Phase 1 of 6Eight players in the circuit: three wait, five are on the move

Players in the circuit Equipment Ball

This animation comes straight out of the Koach app. In the app you play it at your own pace and the positions carry your players' real names.

Open in the app

How the drill runs

What you are training

Coordination warm-up: players work through the agility ladder one by one, rejoin on the other side and keep the line moving.

Quick foot contacts: short ground contact instead of long strides.
The transition from ladder to sprint, from a high step frequency to real speed.
Flow: the line moves up after every start, so waiting lasts a couple of seconds.

Coaching points

Look ahead, not at your feet.

A player who looks down runs a tidy ladder and sees nothing on the court. Footwork has to run on autopilot, because your eyes belong on the ball.

Sprint through, past the end line.

Slowing down the moment the ladder ends removes exactly the part this drill is about: turning step frequency into real speed.

The jog back is part of the drill, not a break.

Once the way back turns into a walk, the heart rate drops and the drill becomes a technique exercise with a lot of waiting.

Send the next player as soon as the one before is out of the ladder.

Wait until someone is all the way round and you have a queue again. The timing of your start signal decides whether this circuit works or not.

Variations

Easier: One foot per box instead of two, and walk the ladder until the pattern is right.
Harder: Sideways through the ladder, or in-in-out-out. Call the sprint afterwards to the left or to the right.
With twelve players: Two ladders side by side and two circuits, so the waiting time stays the same as with eight players.
As a game: Two circuits next to each other count their full laps in four minutes. A misstep in the ladder means that ladder again.

Volleyball drills

4 players · 6 phases SafeVolley base round Warm-up 3 players · 5 phases Shoulder activation with band Warm-up 2 players · 6 phases Dynamic movement patterns Warm-up 5 players · 5 phases Core plank with rotation Warm-up

Read on in the knowledge base: training jump power and speed · why queues wreck your practice · keeping ankles strong