You can certainly practice backpedaling on an unstable surface—for balance/coordination, rehab/return to play situations, but it’s not an effective way to develop peak Rate of Force Development (RFD) for football.
Why?
1. Energy Leakage—Much of the effort (force) is absorbed by the air-filled surface which increases ground contact time—the very opposite of what you want—decreased ground contact time, and what high-RFD training aims for.
2. Force Reduction—Research ( Behm, Anderson, and Curnew et al, 2002) shows that training on highly unstable surfaces can reduce the maximum force production of the quads by up to 70.5%. You can’t develop explosivepower if you cannot apply high levels of force.
How do you increase its effectiveness—same drill just do it on grass or turf—now you’ve increased its ability to actually transfer to the game.
Wow: Ravens star CB Chidobe Awuzie posted his unique training in preparation for this upcoming season.
Awuzie is going to be a PROBLEM 😈