Speed/Agility Ladder Training - Why it needs to be a part of referee training.
Speed Ladder, Agility Ladder, Footwork Ladder, or just Ladders. It has been given different names throughout the years. However, since becoming popular in the athletic world about 25 years ago, ladder exercises have been met with mixed reviews and a dose of skepticism.
When ladders first started finding their way to athletic fields and gyms in the late 90’s and 2000’s, they became very popular with a vast number of athletes, coaches, and trainers. They were used to increase foot speed, agility, power, quickness, change of direction, explosiveness, etc. It was literally the next best and greatest training tool. I also felt the same way when they first got introduced to me at high school soccer preseason training in 2002.
As I progressed into playing college and semi-professional soccer, the ladder always seemed to be a part of my team’s fitness training or my own personal fitness training. It always provided me with a great work out and by completing each footwork pattern, I felt I was getting faster and quicker by the day! Fast forward to today, with my soccer playing days behind me, I now referee. However, my training and fitness is as good as it’s ever been, and I am still using the ladder.
Although, in the last 10 years, the speed ladder has been looked at with more scrutiny and some of the questions surrounding their use has been:
Are they beneficial?
Why doesn’t everyone use them if they have all these benefits?
Do they translate over well to a real game?
This leads us to what some researchers, trainers, and coaches have found using speed ladders. In their opinion, they feel the ladders don’t translate over well to “real game” situations a.k.a. specificity, including but not limited to:
change of direction/agility, and speed
an over-emphasis to do these foot-work speed ladder drills
diminished returns when game day comes
Then there are other researchers, trainers, and coaches that feel that there are plenty of benefits to the ladder drills; however, just like anything, they have to be used in moderation. Coaches/trainers should integrate other types of conditioning and fitness drills and not solely rely on just speed ladders to work on previously mentioned performance benefits - foot speed, agility, power, etc.
I know the next question you are going to ask, “Where do these ladders fit into referee fitness training?” In my professional and personal opinion speed ladders are vital for referee fitness training.
They allow referees to:
work on foot quickness/speed
staying light/nimble on the feet
small/short burst of dynamic movements
leg drive/power
helps the body to respond to different situations
helping maintain mental focus when fatigued
These benefits translate well over to “real game” situations for referees by:
being able to work in and out of tight spaces in the final attacking 3rd
being able to get ahead to the next phase of play sooner
aiding in mental toughness
the ability to focus late in the match
Referees should incorporate ladder training into their weekly routine 1-2x a week, depending on the week and training load. As previously stated, this type of training shouldn’t be the only speed, agility, power, training. It should be well balanced with High-Intensity Running, Low-and-Slow Runs, Resistance/Strength Sessions.