Alternate Leg Diagonal Bound

Execution

1. Bend the standing knee slightly and sink your hips to load up before the bound.
2. Drive hard off that leg at a diagonal angle to the side, while driving the opposite knee up and forward.
3. Travel through the air on that diagonal line, swinging your arms forward for momentum.
4. Land on that same driving leg (the leg opposite your original standing leg), bending the knee enough to absorb the impact.
5. Hold your balance for a beat on the landing leg before bounding again to the opposite diagonal.
6. Repeat continuously, alternating the takeoff leg each time to trace a zigzag path side to side.
7. Do 4-6 landings a set and rest 2 minutes, because every landing here is on one leg and what has to hold up is the power, not the count; the first landing that needs an extra step to steady you ends the set.

Quick cues

• High knee, soft landing
• Land on the driving leg
• Keep the distance modest
• Imagine hopping over a puddle

Common faults

• Fault: Landing on both feet instead of the driving leg

  Fix: Go back to the lateral bound until you can hold five one-leg landings in a row, then return to the diagonal version

• Fault: Bounding too far and losing balance on landing

  Fix: Cut the bound distance to 50-70% and build back up once landings are stable

• Fault: The landing knee caving inward on touchdown

  Fix: Cut the number of continuous bounds and cue the knee out the instant it lands

• Fault: Landing with a loud thud on a nearly straight, stiff knee

  Fix: Touch down on the ball of the foot, let the heel settle, and bend the knee and hip to absorb the force; still loud means fewer bounds per set