Butterfly drill

The Butterfly Drill is a test frequently used in the world of sports and training, very simple to perform and it only requires little equipment. This test is useful to measure the subject’s acceleration and change 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, 5 cones and marks to delimit the course of the circuit, a tape measure and a stopwatch.

• Procedure: Five cones are placed in an “M” shape, with the outer cones forming a square of 9 metres on each side and the fifth is placed right in the centre. The goal of the test is to complete the course (A-C-D-E-A) in the shortest possible time, always passing through the central cone (B) and skirting the cones on the outside, avoiding cuts. Any attempt in which the competitor passes over a cone instead of going around the outside shall be considered void. The subject starts the test with a foot behind the first cone (A) in a sprint start position and at the signal of the evaluator he/she starts the run at maximum speed until completes the course in the shortest possible time. During this test, the participant must alternate the type of displacement in such a way that he/she always follows this pattern.
  • Front run: when the subject moves from one cone towards the central cone (B).
  • Lateral run: when the subject moves fromcentral cone (B) towards the next.

The test finishes when the subject reaches back the first cone (A) with any part of his/her body. There the stopwatch will be stopped and the elapsed time will be registered.

• Assessment: It is measured in seconds (sec) and the subject has a maximum of 3 attempts. In 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.