180º drill

The 180º Drill is frequently used in the world of sports and training. It’s very simple to perform and it only requires little equipment. This test is useful to measure the subject’s acceleration and changes of direction abilities, as well as how he/she is capable to displace by varying way the he/she moves. All these factors are considered determinant from a performance point of view in most sports.

• Required Material: A flat non-slip surface, 2 cones and marks to delimit the course of the circuit, a tape measure and a stopwatch.

• Procedure: For this test, 2 cones must be placed in a straight line 9 meters apart as shown in the illustration. The goal of this test is to complete the course (A-B-A) in the shortest possible time. The subject gets ready for the test with his/her foot behind the starting cone (A) in a sprint start position and at the evaluator’s signal starts running at maximum speed up to cone B, skirts around it and returns to cone A. What is new in this test is that during each of the 2 sections (outward and return), the subject must make a 180º turn, run backwards and make another 180º turn before reaching the cone, so that during the test he/she will make four 180º turns. The test finishes when the subject crosses the finish line (cone A) with any part of his/her body. There the stopwatch will be stopped and the elapsed time will be registered. It is recommended to perform the test turning 180º to both sides, left and right, to contrast results. Any attempt in which the subject passes over instead of skirting the outside of cone B will be considered void and will not be counted.

• Assessment: It is measured in seconds (sec) and the subject has a maximum of 3 attempts. (En Fisicalcoach,) The lowest time, as well as the mean and the median can be recorded.

• Remarks: Since in exercises that require changes of direction performance depends on the angle and speed during execution, different tests should be considered and the most specific and appropriate one should be chosen in each case. Fisicalcoach has a large set of tests available to perform.