Speed, agility, and quickness (SAQ) are an integral part of what we do. Personally, I like to group them together because so many parts and components of each can create some really great workouts.

One of the most important rules that I can't stress enough to other coaches, assistants, interns, and anyone else who will listen is that SAQ is not conditioning! Agilities, form runs, and quickness drills are designed to make you more agile, mobile, and hostile. With speed, agility, and quickness drills, quality is definitely more important than quantity. In all those drills, I'm looking for the perfect rep. I want players to perform each and every drill as close to perfection as possible. I want them done at a blistering pace with plenty of time for their nervous system to recover for the next rep. If it's a new drill, we'll teach the hell out of it until our players know what we expect. Then it’s time to go for it.

It's a big mistake to let your athletes do agility drills repeatedly until fatigue sets in and their form goes to trash. If they can only do five or six reps before their form goes downhill, it's time to add some more conditioning (i.e. running) to their weekly workouts until they get into shape enough to sustain great SAQ workouts. If you were teaching an athlete form running drills, you wouldn't let him fatigue and have his form suffer, so why let it happen during agility drills?

In my book, these concepts are the same. They just both give different results. I know there are many people out there who will argue that agilities are closer to football plays so they should be run repeatedly. They use the same metabolic system, but how many coaches take sloppy reps on the field? This is why we do Strongman circuits. We use them as agilities on steroids. Sled pushing, farmer’s walks, tire flips—we do anything that we can to fatigue the athlete by making him do it over and over and over. They aren't true agilities. The reps aren't the same as they are in “Strongman“ type exercises because levers and positioning are constantly moving. It really is just about smashing mental barriers and preventing strength leakage, the strength lost when athletes are transferred from the weight room to the field. There isn't anything better than Strongman circuits to help bridge that gap and make the athletes comfortable in uncomfortable situations.

In my opinion, it's optimal to have two regular agility sessions and one Strongman circuit a week. I also love SAQ training because it's something that you as a strength coach use every day. I use them in warm ups, drills, flexibility routines, you name it. I don't have a lot of patience. The monotony of teaching running form the correct way is tough for me because I want everything up tempo and moving, so I cheat. I put form running drills in the warm ups. I do agility drills in warm ups or run quick stations where each group gets four to six great reps and moves on to the next drill. Drills are performed up tempo and fast, but a group may only be at a station for one to two minutes tops. You'll be amazed at how much better your athletes will get when they're able to hold their form longer every week. If you have an athlete who can do four reps with perfect form, add a rep a week. In eight weeks, he'll be performing 12 perfect reps.

When it comes to SAQ and everything else you do, always remember the most important question—what are you trying to accomplish with this portion of training? I'll now go over my SAQ philosophy.

SAQ philosophy

The purpose of speed, agility, and quickness (SAQ) training is to enhance the development of our player’s game speed. Every player wants to be fast and all coaches want fast players. There are few things more intimidating or demoralizing to an opponent than fast aggressive play that allows them to catch an opponent when he thinks he can’t be caught.

SAQ training is implemented through proper training techniques and progressions until it becomes second nature. Speed (linear) is the ability to cover a certain distance in the shortest amount of time possible, agility is the power to move and change direction effectively, and quickness is the power to redirect that speed. All three of these components are interchangeable and must be trained as so.

SAQ training is learning to control the body by maintaining balance, coordination, and footing while moving as fast as possible. The athlete must be able to bend and move fluidly on the field of play. We feel that there are eight specific components for increasing a player’s game speed. A part of all these eight components are trained every session.

  • Strength/power: The stronger and more powerful the muscles become, the more force they can produce. The more force they produce (e.g. leg striking ground while running), the faster the athlete will become. Strong musculature will also help in running more efficiently because the athlete is able to stay in optimal, perfect running technique for a longer period of time.
  • Footwork: The feet are the beginning of any change of direction. Good solid footwork is the key to controlling the body’s momentum. Fast feet equals fast play.
  • Agility: The game of football can be summed up as the ability to move in one direction, stop, and accelerate quickly in another direction without loss of speed or control. It is repeated starts and stops. Agility training is a huge part of our overall training program.
  • Form run: Perfect run technique is critical to improving speed. Form run training emphasizes proper run technique in a controlled environment in order to correct any imperfections. As the movement is performed correctly over and over, natural running becomes more efficient and the athlete becomes faster.
  • Starts: Perfect technique coming out of the starting position or sprinter’s stance will help the athlete get into the acceleration phase as fast as possible. The faster the athlete gets to the acceleration phase, the faster he gets to top speed. The faster he gets to top speed, the faster the athlete is to winning every play.
  • Acceleration phase: This is the time it takes to reach top speed. It is acceleration that gives what some call an ‘extra step’ on opponents during a foot race. Aside from agility, it is one of the most important aspects of any speed development program.
  • Top speed: Once the acceleration phase is complete, the athlete is considered to be at top speed. Top speed is the maximal speed that you can run.
  • Speed conditioning: This is the ability to sustain top speed as long as possible.

This is how I break down SAQ. I hope this sheds some light on the topic. Please don't hesitate to contact me at strengthcoachg@yahoo.com if you have a specific question or something you want me to cover. Good luck this season!