In order to build speed and agility in an athlete we must first consider the mobility and stability of the kinetic chain on which we are placing the demand.  It is critical that each athlete masters the foundation of creating a stable ankle, knee and hip to protect the athlete from injury when performing movements at a high velosity.  We must be certain that these foundational techniques are tested and movement patterns are developed  prior to getting explosive and sport specific.  Too many times injury results to those who do not fully grasp these fundamentals.  The Function Movement Screen is an excellet place to start with a full movement evaluation and can be found here  http://www.performbetter.com/detail.aspx_Q_ID_E_4493_A_CategoryID_E_388.  Gray Cook does an excellent job of giving the user a tool to identify compensations in movement patterns as well as asymmetries between the right and left side.  Once these issues are identified, the patterns can be corrected and the athlete can begin to move more efficiently… the way the body was designed to move.  

This is the foundation.  This is what we build the rest of our house on.  We must fight for a solid foundation as we develop explosiveness which will virtually eradicate non contact injuries when its game time!

More to come…