TAP® Flag Conditioning Belt

The TAP® Flag Conditioning Belt is a novel training tool that can be used to emphasize athletic skills and improve general conditioning. The device is intended for athletes of all ages to improve lateral movement, foot speed, balance, coordination, and quick reaction time using self-directed learning and following guided discovery techniques. The Flag Conditioning Belt permits two players to face off in a head-to-head competitive environment for a short duration, a high-intensity activity that can be exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. Training stations utilizing the Flag Conditioning Belt can add an exciting dimension to a training program that helps keep training fun while preventing physiological adaption of training boredom to occur. The implement is a great way for developing skills and ensuring participants train with intensity.

• Enhance speed and agility
• Improve balance and coordination
• Enhance reaction time
• Promotes chaotic activity with clear goals
• Provides training variation to prevent boredom

Developing speed and agility in athletes, particularly young athletes, does not always have to be complicated. The TAP® Flag Conditioning Belt is an excellent way for athletes to discover and develop movement concepts while being challenged to execute high-speed movements in a chaotic environment. The Flag Conditioning Belt is not intended to replace hurdles, cones, ladders, or other conventional speed and agility training methods, instead, the device provides an opportunity for goal-oriented movement within a chaotic environment.

The TAP® Flag Conditioning Belt is an excellent tool to be used in pre-activity preparations as a neural primer, increasing attention, focus, and readiness. When utilized in short durations, the Flag Conditioning Belt can prepare the body for high power, explosive, or strength activities without fatiguing the athlete to exhaustion. The explosive nature of the high-intensity movements stimulated by the device raises body temperature levels, warming and loosening the body. By exciting the nervous system and warming the body, this tool can help prepare an athlete for the demands of training or competitive movement.

The TAP® Flag Conditioning Belt can help develop speed and agility while decreasing reaction time. The device combines elements of the reaction belt with elements of flag football to provide a tool for fast-paced workouts paralleling those speed drills using cones, ladders, or hurdles to develop athletic and coordination skills. While the high-intensity workout may be chaotic, it has a clear goal and outcome for the participating athletes. Regardless of the sport, the TAP™ Flag Conditioning Belt is a training implement that can be used to take athletic performance to the next level whether it is on the court or on the field.

Using the TAP® Flag Conditioning Belt permits two athletes to compete with each other while tethered together utilizing a tear-a-part (hook and loop connected) tether to assure they remain in close proximity to each other. Each athlete wears two flags (attached to the tether belt by hook and loop fastener) that hang down at their sides from the waist. The exercise consists of one athlete (pursuer) attempting to capture one (or both) of the flags of the other athlete (evader). The evader must prevent the pursuer from capturing the flag without exceeding the distance permitted by the break-away tether, preventing a speedy evader from simply running away from a slower pursuer. The exercise is intended to have a short time duration, usually 6 - 12 seconds, requiring a high-intensity pace. After a recovery period, the athletes can change roles. Exercise intensity can be increased by shortening the tether. Because of the location of the flags, the hands and arms of the pursuer are always positioned low, between the hip and the knee, to be in a position to grasp the flag(s) and prevent accidental upper body contact.

The TAP® Flag Conditioning Belt is economical, versatile, and durable. Available individually or in sets of four or eight, the device consists of two easily adjustable waist belts attached to a 10' tether that limits the distance between the athletes and four flags. Each device is in its own carry bag.