“More individuals are born than can possibly survive. The slightest advantage or better adaptation in one being over those with which it comes into competition, in however slight a degree, will turn the balance.” -Charles Darwin

Since sports are generally games of multi-directional movement, most athletes must be conditioned to decelerate, accelerate and change direction quickly. In other words, elite athletes must be quick and agile—able to move and react quickly while maintaining good body control and without decreasing speed.

Agility
Developing a more agile athlete requires that attention be given to athletic timing, rhythm, and movement. Fit-Zone addresses these components of athleticism by including various drills into conditioning programs which emphasize balance, reaction time, and multi-directional movements. Which aspects of agility to prioritize is based on the physiological and biomechanical deficits discovered during Fit-Zone’s Needs Analysis (discussed in PERIODIZATION).

Quickness
Enhancing an athlete’s quickness or reaction time requires a concentrated effort towards improving the speed at which the athlete reacts to a stimulus, and/or performs a given movement. Following successful learning of various movements, Fit-Zone focuses on quickness, where learned movements are repeatedly performed correctly, while emphasizing speed of execution. Ultimately, Fit-Zone’s goal is to make movement “second-nature.”