Five Cone Drill
Setup
Setup this drill with five cones by creating a square with four cones and placing the remaining cone directly in the middle. Technically the square can be any size, but ensure that all four sides are equal distance and that the cones clearly indicate the points at which the players will change direction.
Purpose
The sport of football requires rapidly changing directions continually throughout the game. The Five Cone Drill provides a great practice situation to allow players to get used to alternating between a full spring and a full back peddle. Players will improve their ability to rapidly change direction through repetitions of this drill.
Drill Description
Players change direction by alternating between sprinting forward and back peddling backward around each cone. Sprint to the first cone along the outside and then back peddle to the middle cone, then sprint to the far outside cone and back peddle down the side of the cones, then sprint to the middle, then back peddle around the starting cone before sprinting through the finish line one more time to finish the drill. (The diagram indicates a sprint with the solid lines, and a back peddle with the dashed lines.) Force your players to build their footwork coordination by going around each cone before changing their direction.
Each time the players go through this drill, they should alternate the side they start on so that they even out with angles they are working on.
You can also implement a condensed version of this drill by modifying the cones from a 10×10 yard square to a 5×5 yard square. This condensed version allows you to focus even more on quickness and the rapid change of direction.
