The change of direction is one of the most frequent gestures in football. Training it is important both in terms of performance and in a preventive perspective. The high-level teams do this specifically with repeated training in the field and targeted work in the gym, through eccentric overloads, with exercises that approach the specific football activity. «At a preventive level it is a strategy that is also advisable for amateurs, who even if they do not have ad hoc tools at their disposal, can carry out courses on the field with changes in direction of variable sense» says Ermanno Rampinini, head of the Human Performance Lab (HPL) of Mapei Sport Research Center and consultant for team sports such as soccer, basketball and ski. «It is fundamental to train with various degrees of angle, given that in the field we do not move only at 180°, indeed such wide variations are very rare. Variations of 90° or 45° are more frequent so it is important to prepare the athletes for all the variety of stimuli to which they will have to respond during the game. I recommend this type of training at least once a week, two would be even better to get more consistent and meaningful adaptations».