Training Drills for Improving Athletes' Reflex Time

While playing competitive sports, there’s often just a few milliseconds’ worth of difference between winning and losing. It is imperative for an athlete to have great coordination, incredible reaction speed, and refined reflex time if they want to stay on top of the game. 

Effective Reaction Time Exercises for Athletes

Here’s a list of some reaction drills for athletes that they can use to improve their reaction skills.

1. Kneeling jump squat

It is one of the best plyometric reflex exercises and can be extremely useful for all athletes. 

Start with kneeling on the floor. Keep your knees a bit wider as compared to the position of your hips. Then pull your hands back and try to swing them to the front forcefully. 

Do this at a speed that creates sufficient momentum so that you can jump to make a squat position and land on your feet.

2. Pistol squat roll and jump

It is another of the best plyometric sport practice drills for improving reaction time.

Slightly bend your knee and stand on your right leg to start. Move your left foot in front of you and lower your body slowly and keep bending your right knee while the left leg is stretched straight forward. 

When you are at the bottom of the squat, rest your hip on the floor and roll your body to the back while your back is slightly bent.

Use the momentum of your body to rock forward and stand up on your right leg. Repeat the whole thing, switching the legs every time.

3. Lateral lunge

Another of the great exercises to improve reaction time in sport is the lateral lunge.

Start by standing on one end of the agility ladder. Now, jump to make a lunge position, moving your right foot in the first square of the ladder and the left one out of it.

Then, jump and exchange your legs while you are in the air so that you land with the left leg on the first square and right outside the ladder.

Keep doing this and move to the side slowly so that you slowly reach the end of the ladder.