Agility training, problems with change of direction testing & game speed with Ian Jeffreys (Coach Educator & Academic Director, Setanta College)

This weeks guest on the Pacey Performance Podcast is Ian Jeffreys. Ian is a Coach Educator and recently appointed Academic Director at Setanta College. Ian is an internationally renowned coach, educator and author. An ex professional rugby player, where he played at the highest level for 15 years, he is regarded as a world authority in the development of speed & agility and conditioning for team sports. His Gamespeed system of sport specific speed and agility development, along with his RAMP warm-up protocols have revolutionised training in these areas and have been adopted by a wide range of coaches and organisations around the world. 

In this episode of the podcast, Ian dives into why change of direction testing is becoming more and more redundant as we know more about training true agility. He also details why change of direction ability is only one part of the puzzle when it comes to coaching agility.

Ian gives some real life, practical examples of how we coach agility in closed and more importantly open scenarios. 

This weeks talking points -

• The link between teaching and coaching
• Why isolated change of direction tests don't give us the full picture
• Ways to train agility in open and closed environments
• Using personal playing experience to develop coaching ability
• The development of gamespeed