NEW RESEARCH-LINEAR DECELERATION IS KEY TO CHANGE OF DIRECTION SKILL
Updated: Sep 2
It's no secret that there is a definitive link between agility and quickness (change of direction), acceleration, top speed, and vertical jump capacity. 2 A real-world example of this can easily be seen at the Annual NFL Combine each and every year. Top performers routinely turn out great performances in all 3 skill types in skill players. Of course, there are the exceptions and some differences, but as a norm, there is more similarity than difference. Obvious reasons for why this is so are that they are all plyometric and speed-based activities and require specific adaptations of features to be had in order to be successful (stretch reflex, RFD, etc.) And one of these features that is present in each type of aforementioned athletic skill is the ability to decelerate. This is truly a make-or-break scenario. Again, this isn't groundbreaking, but it's always nice to see current research reinforce past research and what real-world practitioners have said all along. For example, Lee Taft said in one of his videos years ago that science just seems to support what coaches have been doing for quite some time. This is indeed often the case either by chance, intuition, or trial and error, and training refinement. Lee also said that "Deceleration is the first step in Acceleration." As you will see shortly, he was right.
In a very recent study (Harper, 2026) researchers examined a group of 124 NCAA Division 1 basketball players from 10 programs and tried to determine what factors separated the high performers from the lower ones. 1 Not surprisingly, those who could decelerate the most and quickest were able to complete the two tests above the fastest.
"Faster deceleration meant better efficiency Athletes with higher deceleration capacity were able to:
Stop in less time
Stop over a shorter distance
Transition more effectively into the next movement
Re-acceleration improved as well
The high deceleration group showed better performance during the re-acceleration phase after the change of direction.
This suggests that braking ability directly influences the quality of the next movement."
Training Implications to be considered
As noted in the research paper, there still exists a strong tendency to favor acceleration and top speed training that doesn't involve practically any high deceleration demand, and a real lack of agility and quickness exercises with carryover. This is where training systems for plyometrics and agility work are so important as "specific" styles of training for athletes or anyone looking to improve their movement skill and quality to perform better or stay healthy.
Plyometric Progressions (Deceleration Focus)
Box Work (Bilateral ---> Unilateral), Banded Broad Jumps, Skips, Hops (linear---->lateral---Rotational)
Agility and Quickness Progressions (Deceleration Focus)
Rehearsed Drills:
Linear-based: Stutter drills, Quickfeet-Ladder drills, Skip to sprint to stop, ADA Test (see above) sprint to stop, sprint to stop to retreat
Lateral based-Band walking, swing stop plant practice, 5-10-15 Lateral Shuffles,1-2 Stick, Slideboard
Rotational/Transverse based-Banded Agility Circuit, L-Drill, or Illinois Drill
It's one thing to practice and train the muscles eccentrically in a stretched position to help decelerate, but you want to make sure that the ankle, knee, and hip can simultaneously stabilize your joints to ensure proper alignment and energy transfer. The Slideboard is as good as any and also hits "lateral speed," which is difficult to prescribe exercises for and key to agility and quickness, and change of direction.
This is a great drill to groove technique and introduce sport-specific and teach very sport specific deceleration strategies in the absence of high speed. That can, of course, come later on once the athlete becomes familiar and is precise and fluid with no major delays or loss in body position, which is very obvious.
To simplify, high-speed sudden stops or change of direction are going to pose the biggest challenge in competition. Think of running up to try and close out a shooter on the perimeter who pump fakes and drives by you. Or a running back sprinting at max speed and has to slow down rapidly and cut it back, as he is met by a defensive back in proper pursuit angle. And even if these pattern sequences aren't common in your sport, you still have to decelerate at times. From an idealistic standpoint, sprint-to-retreat drills (i.e. Illinois Drill, 10-20-10 shuttle runs, or L-Drill) are about as good as it gets to provide a phenomenal resistance that will make any other less challenging scenario much easier. If you want the best for your athletes, then it's in your best interest and theirs to master this drill category.
Anything else???
No training program or approach would ever be complete without addressing essential strength qualities. In this case, eccentric strength, since this is the exact type of muscle contraction and position you'll have to develop to express deceleration, re-acceleration, and power. You can view strength training as an indirect form of training to complement your sport-specific and agility and quickness work.
Deceleration Strength Training Needs:
Calves- New emerging and questionable research favoring Pogo and Bounding Progressions to de-load hips at start during and through sprinting and with change of direction tasks.
Psoas-Mountain climbers, resisted mountain climbers, high knee variations, stationary band sprints, and sled sprints (No more than 50 percent decrease in speed-Cameron Josse) are phenomenal choices for any type of athlete.
Quads-Forward and Reverse Lunges, Splits Squats, RFESS High Box Step-ups, and Boyle Single Leg Modified Squats are your top options. 3 (Zhang,2025) found specific muscle synergies, or groups of muscles working in tandem to perform proper cutting. At higher speed transitions (i.e., 90-degree cuts), there is going to be much more Anterior Tibialis and quadriceps muscle activity. This is understandable since athletes or individuals will be required to load and create more bend at the knee to create more effort to counter the high momentum and redirect motion in the new intended direction.
Glutes and Hams-SLDL's and Slideboard Split Squats are going to be tremendous selections for preventing deceleration injuries. What's not as known or spoken about is the hamstrings in braking maneuvers and re-accelerating with high flexion and trunk lean positions.
Bodyweight SLDL's are also very natural in terms of transitioning into sprints and add another explosive Psoas element (frontside timing and rhythm, reactive hip flexor strength and stiffness, frontside velocity, and last but not least: "hip drive/posterior tilt work" (Brannen, 2025).
Last but certainly not least, Skater Squats, Skater Squats w/RNT (More similar to split sprint and linear braking positions seen in sport) yield higher glute and hip activity. And are also fantastic for shuffling deceleration and less demanding braking or change of direction positions (i.e. <45 degree cuts) as well. 3
SCIENTIFIC REFERENCES:
#1-Petway AJ, Harper D, Cohen D, Eriksrud O (2026). Influence of maximal linear deceleration on lateral deceleration and shuffle performance in NCAA Power 4 basketball athletes. International Journal of Sports Science & Coaching.
#2‐Shalfawi SA, Sabbah A, Kailani G, Tonnessen E, and Enoksen E. The relationship between running speed and measures of vertical jump in professional basketball players: a field‐test approach. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 25:3088‐
3092, 2011.
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