T Drill

How to do the T Drill

1. 1Set up four cones in a T shape: place cone A at the starting line, cone B 10 yards directly ahead, and cones C and D each 5 yards to the left and right of cone B.
2. 2Stand behind cone A in an athletic stance — feet shoulder-width apart, knees bent, weight forward over the balls of your feet.
3. 3On your signal, sprint forward from cone A to cone B and touch the base of the cone with your right hand.
4. 4From cone B, shuffle laterally to your left toward cone C, keeping your hips square to the front and your feet from crossing.
5. 5Touch cone C with your left hand, then immediately shuffle to your right all the way past cone B to cone D.
6. 6Touch cone D with your right hand, then shuffle back to your left until you reach cone B.
7. 7Touch cone B, then backpedal in a straight line — staying low and facing forward — back to cone A.
8. 8Drive your arms actively throughout every phase to maintain stride rate and generate power through the cuts.
9. 9Stop the clock when you cross cone A and record your time; rest fully for 60–90 seconds before the next repetition.

Form tips

• Stay low the entire time — a high center of gravity slows every change of direction and makes deceleration harder on your knees.
• Touch each cone with the hand closest to it; this keeps your weight in the right position for the next movement without extra steps.
• On the backpedal, push through your quads and drive your elbows back in a pumping motion rather than simply falling backward.
• Warm up your hips and ankles thoroughly before going all-out — cold lateral shuffles on stiff joints are a common cause of strains.
• Run the drill at the start of a session when your nervous system is fresh; speed work performed when fatigued trains bad habits, not maximal quickness.

Common mistakes

• Crossing the feet during lateral shuffles — this collapses your base of support and increases ankle-roll risk; maintain a step-slide pattern with feet parallel at all times.
• Standing upright instead of staying in an athletic crouch — a tall posture shifts your center of mass backward, killing first-step explosiveness and putting excess load on your lower back.
• Skipping or failing to fully touch each cone — missed touches undermine the change-of-direction demand and make your recorded times meaningless; confirm contact before every direction change.
• Turning your back to sprint back to start — running back instead of backpedaling removes the posterior-chain challenge and trains a different movement pattern than the drill intends.
• Taking too little rest between repetitions — insufficient recovery converts a maximal-speed drill into aerobic conditioning, preventing you from training true first-step power.

Frequently asked questions