Footwork drill
Cue Cone Agility
Pattern the deceleration and lateral cut that a genuine side step is built on.
- Time
- 12 minutes
- Players
- 1 to 10 players
- Intensity
- High
- Equipment
- Cones
- Space
- 20m line
- Positions
- All positions
Setup
Cones in a straight line about 5m apart, with two of them marked as cue cones. Open grass.
How to run it
- Accelerate down the line with high knees and arms pumping, shorten your feet as you approach the cue cone, cut hard laterally, recover to centre, square up and accelerate out through the last cone.
- Do 8-10 reps with full recovery between.
- Be honest with yourself about what this is: a pre-planned cut is a different movement from a reactive one, so this builds the motor pattern but not the skill.
- If you can, use a randomised audio cue app or have someone call the direction late, which turns it into genuine reactive work.
Coaching cues
- Short feet before the cue cone
- Cut, recover to centre, square up, accelerate out
- Use a random cue if you possibly can
Common mistakes
- Long flat strides into the cut, so there is no deceleration and therefore no real plant
- Treating pre-planned cone work as a substitute for reacting to a defender
Related drills
- Goose Step PatterningLearn the timing-disruption step used to beat cover defence in open field.
- Shadow RunBuild continuous evasive movement with a live shadow behind you.
- One-on-One EvasionBeat a live defender in a confined space, which is the real skill cone work only imitates.
- Narrowing Channel EvasionFind the exact width at which your evasion breaks down, and then train there.
- Evading the PlayerBeat a defender inside a channel that forces you to step rather than run around.
- Reactive Side-Step vs DefenderTrain the reactive cut, which is mechanically a different movement from a pre-planned one.