Cut: I'm looking for sharp angular changes here. There's probably an element of deceleration and re acceleration. My first thought goes to a running back in football looking for the right hole, or a wide receiver breaking on a route. There is angle that you could measure with a protractor.
Classically we've spent a lot of time training a player to cut and use changes of direction in a very linear, even if it's side to side, fashion. But maybe we should be putting just as much time in on the curvelinear movements. I challenge you to turn on a soccer match and look for the differences. What you'll likely see is that every cut is followed closely by either a) a pass b) a curved run.
Here’s how I implement curved runs:
1. Introduce the concept.
2. Practice a few runs around an object.
3. Add the idea of going down to speed up
4. Make it a two player game, such as tag
5. Make it a multiplayer game that layers in decision making and special awareness
Note re: 3- by actually trying to speed up around a curve, you have to lower your center of mass. Lowering your hips makes your shins drop closer to the ground which in turn keeps you going faster. If you stay y’all, your shins get vertical, which is what you do to slow down.
All of this to say, the best reason to curve your runs is to change direction faster. A true cut requires a hard STOP and restart in a new direction.
Enjoy!
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