Caterpillar Slide

This one is a little more complex, but a great read and react drill that really can be used for all ages. We call it the Caterpillar Slide and it's an awesome defensive/conditioning drill. The high school kids in our Pre-Season IDP always start groaning when they see us start to set it up.

Players are partnered up (by quickness preferably) and form two lines side by side. Cones about 2.5 feet apart are set in a line. Have at least two more cones than the number of groups. The first player in each line stands next to the first cone and gets into their defensive stance. When the coach shouts "Go", both players defensive slide as fast as they can away from the cone. When coach yells "Stop" both players sprint to the next cone and the next two people in line take their spot at the first cone. The drill continues until eventually the whole group is in the drill.

After finishing at the last cone (after coach yells "Stop"), players go back to the start of the line, switch sides and wait for everyone else to finish (the break is very necessary). Once everyone has completed the drill we run it another time to focus on sliding the opposite direction.

The first time we run it our coaches pause at each cone to allow some recovery time. The second time through we go quicker to really accentuate the conditioning benefits. Make sure to vary the time between "Go" and "Stop" commands so players don't anticipate and they also get the read/react benefits as well. Let us know if you have any questions in the comments section below.