How I Do Field Workouts

Notes

These are my favorite field drills, not necessarily the best ones that exist. I’ve tried others, but I keep coming back to them for their simplicity and direct translation to on-field motions.
There’s nothing special or secret about any of this. Most high school football players (and many soccer players) are taught versions of these drills early in their first season. The neat part is that the same drills are also in the training videos of some of the best college programs. There are slight naming differences between people/programs, so sorry if you’re not able to find a video using my names.
Safety Notes
- Adjust your intensity to your body’s current condition. If you’ve been on extended rest for offseason or injury, do not immediately start with 80%+ intensity and a bunch of acute cuts.
- Always try to avoid doing movements in a way that causes your knees to bend inward. This is how ACLs are torn, and the form you do during training reps is what you’ll do at full speed on the field. Load weight a little outside the center on your foot, angle your toes inward while turning your hips into the turn, etc.
I am not proud of the MS Paint work in this post.

Format

I generally do 4 sets of 4-5 exercises apiece
Set 1 is an extension of the warmup and a check of my form
Set 2 is moderate intensity (in the context of the workout)
Set 3 is high intensity (in the context of the workout)
- I often add reps or do harder variations
Set 4 is back to moderate intensity
A brief cooldown and stretching period is encouraged

Ramp Up

I normally take at least two months off between the end of each ultimate frisbee season and training for the next. During this time, I do a lot of strength training, bike riding (road and stationary), and probably not enough yoga/stretching. When I start activity again, I always go through a 4-phase ramp up before stepping on the field for play.

Phase 1: low to moderate speed single-direction movements (boring)
Phase 2: low to moderate speed multi-direction movements
Phase 3: mix of Phase 2 and full speed single-direction movements
Phase 4: moderate to full speed everything

I do at least four workouts in each phase before moving onto to the next. I plan on each phase taking two weeks and often end up doing more than four workouts in each.

A lot of these drills and movements can’t be done in Phase 1. During that time, my reps are literally moving in one direction, stopping slowly, then going back the opposite direction. Jog forward, backpedal back. Forward left diagonal, back right diagonal back. Left side shuffle, right side shuffle back. The highlight of the entire workout is a 50yd jog at 40-50% intensity/speed. It’s super tedious, but it activates stabilizing mechanisms that have been dormant for over two months and lets me assess how my body is reacting to movements/activity. I’ll sometimes stay in a phase longer than planned because something feels weak or unstable.

1-Person Drills

Square/Box

I consider this the foundational drill of my workouts. I do it every time I go out. By adjusting path, body orientation, and cone distance, you could build a pretty solid (but boring) field work plan with just this drill.

My default distance for the outer sides of the square is 10 yards. I find this is a nice mix of allowing some acceleration/speed while keeping the focus on refining directional changes. Decreasing the distance focuses more on quick movements, while increasing the distance focuses more on acceleration/deceleration and fitness.

All reps should be mirrored coming back. My default orientation for this drill is hips forward at all times, meaning I’m doing diagonals like [C to UL] and [UR to C] by overlapping my feet while keeping my hips facing forward. Those overlaps are pretty uncomfortable for many people, and this is a great drill to hone that once you’ve introduced the motion with standalone single-direction reps.

M path notes (left to right)
- LL to UL: jog/run forward
- UL to C: left foot leads by stepping behind right
- C to UR: left foot leads by stepping in front of right
- UR to LR: backpedal
- Chop steps coming into UL before planting with your right foot and initiating the next segment by swinging your left foot behind your right foot
- For the C transition, plant your left foot first (left side of the cone), then right foot (right side of the cone), all while leaning forward to swing your momentum on the inside of the turn. Initiate the next segment by using your left foot to transfer weight to your right foot before pushing hard off your right foot. Ideally, it’s all one smooth motion.
- [UR to LR] is a crouched backpedal with your weight over your toes and short, choppy steps that graze the top of the turf/grass.
X path notes (left to right)
- LL to C: left foot leads by stepping in front of right
- C to UL: right foot leads by stepping in front of left
- UL to UR: side shuffle
- UR to C: right foot leads by stepping behind left
- C to LR: left foot leads by stepping behind right
- For both C transitions, plant your outside foot (right foot for [LL to C]) with the toe turned slightly inward and your hip slightly turned in the direction of the next cone so your leg absorbs the load with your hamstring and glutes instead of full lateral on your knee. Lean to the inside of the turn to swing momentum, then push off the bent plant leg to initiate the next segment.

All reps should be

For a different flavor, change your hip orientation. If you start by facing left on an M path, [LL to UL] becomes a side shuffle, [UL to C] becomes a back-left diagonal, etc.

For a tougher (Set 3) version, align your hips with your direction and do acute cuts around all cones. For X path, [LL to C] ends with a 90 degree turn to UL, which ends in a 135 degree turn to UR, etc. The near-complete loss of momentum and initiation around each turn gets tiring very quickly. I won’t try to describe the form for a 90 degree turn here; if you’re interested, hit me up.

Ladders

There are dozens of good ladder movements described in detail on YouTube, so you should definitely go there when you get tired of these. I’ve done my best to make clear diagrams, but if they don’t make sense, again, YouTube exists.

The number in each notation is the order of the step in the sequence
The letter in each notation is the left that should be touching the ground (left or right)
The grey line is the general movement of your body, sometimes adjusted so it doesn’t overlap the step notations.
Every trip down the ladder should be mirrored (return by starting on a different side or with a different foot/orientation)

The idea is to touch each foot once in each square while moving diagonally back and forth across the ladder, planting outside the ladder. You’ll naturally fall into a 1-2-3 cadence (center, center, plant). Swing your arms on each step. Mirroring this one isn’t terribly important since it already alternates within each rep.

Start back and to the right of the ladder
Step your left foot near the center of the first square, but only “bounce” it as part of your motion across the ladder.
Step your right foot (also) near the center of the first square as the trailing part of the weight transfer.
Plant your left foot outside of the ladder even with the second rung
Pivot your weight forward using your left foot as a base
Step your right foot near the center of the second square as a bounce
Bright your left foot down near the center of the square as the trailing part of the weight transfer
Plant your right foot outside of the ladder even with the third rung
Pivot your weight forwarding using your right foot as a base

A variation that can be done early in a ramp up process is holding your balance a second or two every time you plant outside the ladder. Focus on even balance and the weight transfer, not allowing your knees to bend inward.

The idea is to go down one side of the ladder, touching both feet alternately inside a square and outside the ladder (roughly even with a rung). Your body/center of gravity should stay over the side of the ladder, and your arms should be swinging at half time (once each time you cross over the side of the ladder). Mirror this in down and back pairs.

From the perspective shown above, start down and to the left of the ladder.
Step your right foot a little over halfway across the first square
Step your left foot a little less than halfway across the first square
Step your right foot outside the ladder just past the second rung
Step your left foot outside the ladder just short of the second rung

The idea is to step both feet into each square in sequence, then step each outside the ladder on opposite side before bringing them back together in the next square.

Start just back from the ladder
Step your left foot into the left-center of the first square
Step your right foot into the right-center of the first square
Move your left foot laterally and step outside the ladder to the left
Move your right foot laterally and step outside the ladder to the right
Step your left foot into the left-center of the second square
Step your right foot into the right-center of the second square
Move your left foot laterally and step outside the ladder to the left
Move your right foot laterally and step outside the ladder to the right

Mirror by leading with one foot on the way down and the other foot on the way back. Your body should go straight down the middle of the ladder. Swing the opposite arm with each step.

Variation 1: Vertical Out and In. Start with the outside steps instead of the square steps.
Variation 2: Hops In and Out. Hop with both feet to the first square, then do the outside steps at the same time before jumping with both feet to the second square.
Variation 3: Hops Out and In. Hop to the outside steps simultaneously, then bring your feet together in the square before hopping to the outsides of the next square.

Slalom

The idea is to use short, choppy steps to go around two lines of cones, alternating sides. Your hips are always pointing up/forward, so there will be some element of overlapping steps (even if they’re not fully over your other foot). Your feet should go above the top cones and below the bottom cones; the grey line is between the lines because your center of balance should stay somewhere between the lines. The better you get at the drill, the less your head moves forward and backward.

I generally set up the cones in each line 2 yards from each other and the lines about 2.5 yards away from each other. This distance is intended to work on short/quick directional changes. The ideal stride length with that setup is 3-4 steps between each cone (not including the plant to change direction). This drill works on situations where you have to change directions multiple times in a small space, and part of that is keeping your feet in contact with the ground as much as possible: you can’t change direction when your plant foot is in the air.

The closer the cones are left/right, the more you’re working on straight backpedals. The farther apart they are, the more you’re working on diagonals. Moving the lines farther apart works more on fitness and less on consecutive quick directional changes.

Mini Hurdles

Shuttle

Hip Switches

Comebacks

2-Person Drills

Mirror

Gaps

Route Tree

Evening Latte