Badminton Agility Exercises: How to Increase Your Speed on the Court

Are you looking to improve your agility on the badminton court? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Knowing the proper techniques, perfecting your footwork, and being quick with your shots are all great ways to speed up your game. 

But agility also comes down to how fast your body can move (and how quickly your mind can tell your body to move.) Fortunately, there are many exercises that can help you train yourself to move at a lightning pace.

Below, you’ll find five of the best badminton agility exercises and drills to improve your speed. 

1. Agility Ladder Exercises 

Agility ladder exercises are some of the best drills you can do for speed. This is because they’re incredibly versatile, and there are tons to choose from.

Before you get started, you’ll need an agility ladder of some kind. You can grab a product like this one off Amazon, or you can use tape to create a homemade version on the ground.

There are countless agility ladder exercises you can do, but one of the most popular is the lateral side-step. 

Here’s how you can do it:

1. Start by standing sideways in front of your agility ladder. 
2. Side-step your closest foot into the first rung of the ladder. Then, quickly bring your other foot into the same area. 
3. Repeat these side-steps all the way down the line. (Remember to keep up a high intensity with your speed here!)
4. Once you reach the end, return to the beginning by repeating these steps with your opposite foot leading.
5. Repeat the drill 3-5 times.

2. Front and Backs

Front and backs are one of the easiest badminton agility exercises that you can do at home.

To get started, all you’ll need is a line on the ground (and enough space to hop back and forth over it.) If you can’t find a line to jump over, you can use a piece of tape or a string.

To get started:

1. Face the line, standing a few inches away. 
2. Staying on your toes, use both feet to hop forward over the line. 
3. Then, return to your original position by hopping backward.
4. Do this for 20-30 seconds at a high intensity, giving yourself a 30-second break afterward.
5. Repeat 3-4 times.

3. Sprinting

Sprinting at maximum speed is a surefire way to take your agility to the next level. 

It’s important to note that you won’t have to sprint as hard as you can for as long as you can here. Instead, you’ll want to focus on using short bursts of high-speed sprints.

Here’s how you can use sprints to build agility:

1. Find an area that gives you at least a 10-15-yard stretch to run.
2. Whenever you’re ready, sprint as quickly as you possibly can down the stretch.
3. Then, jog back to the starting point, making sure to come back in a round-about way. This makes it so that you don’t have to make a sudden 180-degree turn once you reach the end.
4. Repeat this 4-8 times.

4. High Knees

High knees sound deceptively simple, but it can be hard to stick to them at a fast pace. 

Here’s the simple rundown for doing high knees:

1. Pretend you’re going to jog in place — but instead of doing a light jog, bring your knees up as high up as you can, as fast as you can.
2. Keep a high-intensity pace for 30 seconds, giving yourself a 30-second break afterward.
3. Repeat 3-5 times.

5. X Jumps

X jumps are another excellent badminton agility exercise that you can do anytime, anywhere. To do X jumps:

1. Stand with your legs a little more than shoulder-width apart.
2. Hop and land with one leg in front of the other by making an “X” motion with your feet.
3. Hop again, but bring the original front foot to the back, repeating the “X” motion in the opposite direction.
4. Do this for 30 seconds and follow up with a 30-second rest.
5. Repeat 3-4 times.

Ready to Try These Badminton Agility Exercises?

All in all, you don’t need to overcomplicate things to increase your speed on the court. The badminton agility drills listed here are simple and effective without requiring too much equipment or space. Best of all, it’s easy to do them wherever you are, even if you only have a few minutes to train.

For bonus agility exercises, be sure to check out this video that covers 11 different drills you can do to improve your speed. And for more tips, tricks, and resources to help you boost your badminton skills, be sure to check out Badminton Gurus today.