How to Train: Contrast Shuffle

[Music Playing] After we do the shuffle drill through the middle of the hurdles working on recovery and force, let us come out of the hurdles and do a contrast shuffle or a slide whatever you want to call it. And in order to get the body to understand what we are trying to get it to do. [Music Playing] Now let us go a changing direction. We are going to use four hurdles to start with. What we are going to get is two steps between the hurdles, one step out at the last hurdle and then change and come back. Two steps between, one step out. So I am going to get a right foot cut and change direction coming back. Now I am getting the left foot cut and change direction. [Music Playing] What we are looking for in change of direction is a good crisp, clean cut with a little motion. If we allow the athletes to float to gather themselves to come back, it is going to cost us in performance time. What you want them to think about is step down to the ground, creating a positive angle, pushing our body back to the other direction or a change of direction. We do not want it to float and stagger. We do not want to see it double and triple hop to come back. It is a clean cut, it goes here, bang and comes right back off with a good push and extension with the trail leg driving us in the direction that we want to go. [Music Playing] Now let us go to two cuts on each leg. So it is going to be five times as we go. Down, right, left, right, left, and again finish going away. [Music Playing] Now let us drop down to three hurdles. This is going to be quicker in our change of direction but it still allows us to focus on our lateral movement. [Music Playing] Now let us go to two hurdles. This is a rapid fire change of direction. What I want to do here is go down and back so we get the same amount of cuts with each leg. Start with a progression of three build up to five. [Music Playing] Now let us contrast off that. Remember, we always come back to the basic skill of free movement that we are trying to develop. [Music Playing]