Warm up essentials: Change of direction

The unpredictable, explosive nature of football requires lightening quick reactions and a sharp change of direction.

Simulating these actions during the warm up, switches on your mind and body for what's ahead, and helps to arm your muscles against injury.

“Agility is key to football,” Tony Daley, head of first team performance at Wolverhampton Wanderers, told FFT.

“Football’s not just played in a straight line, so it’s important that we mimic the types of movement we experience in a game of football.”

Change through the gears and ensure you're ready to slalom through the challenges, with this Premier League training video, courtesy of Daley.

Wash & Go has teamed up with Tony Daley to produce fitness tips. For more information visit www.pg.com

Also see:
Warm up essentials: Fire up your glutes – part one
Warm up essentials: Fire up your glutes – part two
Warm up essentials: Fire up your glutes – part three
Warm up essentials: Jogging
Warm up essentials: Skipping
Warm up essentials: Activate your hips
Warm up essentials: Balance and co-ordination
Warm up essentials: Explosive movements
Warm up essentials: Speed, agility, quickness

Huw was on the FourFourTwo staff from 2009 to 2015, ultimately as the magazine's Managing Editor, before becoming a freelancer and moving to Wales. As a writer, editor and tragic statto, he still contributes regularly to FFT in print and online, though as a match-going #WalesAway fan, he left a small chunk of his brain on one of many bus journeys across France in 2016.