We have also had a parent of an athlete who has been in our program discuss with me how they want us to work on "quick feet" with their daughter. And my response to that is "What do you mean by that?"
This usually elicits a surprised reaction when a simple phrase like "quicker feet" gets questioned by a fitness professional, but it must be asked because there is a clear lack of understanding between what the goal is within sport and how to obtain that goal within a sports performance setting.
Here is the disconnect, I completely understand what parents and athletes are talking about when they say they need "1st Step Quickness" what they are asking for is they need to improve their acceleration mechanics and/or capabilities. This is a concept that we are well aware of and look to improve in our athletes every day they enter our facility. But the disconnect lies in what athletes and parents are expecting to do and see when it comes to training quickness.
They are expecting to see this...
In the above video the second component is covered very impressively, this guy is moving! However, from an acceleration standpoint the force he places into the ground is minimal. When breaking down the development of acceleration from a physics standpoint we look at the force velocity curve.
When we design our program, specifically from a speed and agility standpoint, we have looked at how the qualities of acceleration and absolute speed are plotted on the Force/Velocity curve and design training components to enhance those qualities.
The third component of acceleration is the direction of the force development. When maximizing acceleration the predominant force vector is ideally as close to horizontal as possible. The ability to minimize vertical forces and stay low and drive away from the starting point is key to maximizing acceleration.
With these acceleration qualities brought to the forefront you can see that when comparing the speed ladder to actual acceleration properties the lack of force production (center of gravity is displaced minimally or not at all), the ground contacts are 3-5x too fast, and the direction of force is aligned primarily in the vertical direction as opposed maximizing horizontal force in acceleration the speed/agility ladder is not the ideal method to improve acceleration ("get quicker", "first step quickness", "quicker feet") type goals.
The central statement that we always us is, a good athlete may be good in a speed ladder, but a speed ladder doesn’t make you a good athlete. Another great analogy that we love is you wouldn't see a high level baseball player increasing their bat speed by using a wiffleball bat during training. In fact you could even argue that if a baseball player did that they may be worst off. We feel the same way when it comes to the speed/agility ladder in regards to developing acceleration/1st step quickness.