Lateral slides and slide board training are powerful tools — but only when athletes avoid common technical mistakes.
Elite athletes spend thousands of hours perfecting their craft. Yet when it comes to lateral training, even the most dedicated performers make critical errors that limit performance and increase injury risk.
These mistakes don’t just affect speed and agility — they create movement patterns that can derail entire seasons.
Below are the seven most damaging lateral training mistakes we see across sports, along with practical fixes you can apply immediately.
If you’re evaluating equipment for lateral training, our Buyer’s Guide to choosing the best slide board for lateral training explains what features matter most and how to avoid costly mistakes.
Mistake #1: Standing Too Upright During Lateral Movements
The Problem: Most athletes maintain an overly vertical posture during lateral exercises. You'll see this everywhere: players running lateral shuffle drills looking like they're standing at attention instead of getting into proper athletic position.
This upright stance severely restricts your ankle's contribution to power generation. When you can't access ankle mobility, your heel lifts off the ground, and you lose the foundation for explosive lateral movement.
The Fix: • Drop into a proper athletic stance with 15-20 degrees of forward lean • Keep your chest up but hips back: think sitting into a chair • Maintain knee bend throughout the entire movement • Feel your weight distributed across your entire foot, not just your toes
Pro Tip: Practice this stance during every warm-up. Master the position before adding speed or complexity.
Mistake #2: Poor Foot Positioning and Planting
The Problem: Watch most athletes during cutting drills and you'll notice their feet turning inward instead of planting parallel to their intended direction. This single error destroys your ability to generate maximum force and sets you up for knee injuries.
When your foot isn't properly aligned, you're essentially putting on the brakes when you should be hitting the gas.
The Fix: • Plant your outside foot parallel to the direction you want to go • Drive through your entire foot, not just your toes • Focus on "sticking" the landing: no sliding or adjusting after contact • Practice slow-motion cutting drills to groove proper foot placement
Game Changer: Spend 10 minutes daily on controlled cutting movements. Quality over quantity: every rep should be perfect.
Mistake #3: Relying Only on Knees Instead of Engaging Hips
The Problem: Too many athletes treat lateral movement like it's all about knee action. They bend their knees but forget their hips exist, missing out on the most powerful muscle group in their body.
Your hips drive lateral power. When you neglect hip activation, you're leaving serious performance on the table and overloading your knees.
The Fix: • Initiate every lateral movement from your hips, not your knees • Practice hip abduction and adduction exercises daily • Feel your glutes fire during every direction change • Think "push from the hip" rather than "step with the leg"
Training Focus: Add lateral hip activation drills to your daily routine: monster walks, clamshells, and lateral lunges will transform your movement quality.
Mistake #4: Losing Positive Shin Angle During Deceleration
The Problem: During lateral deceleration, many athletes let their shins fall backward, losing the forward angle that's crucial for controlled stopping and direction changes.
This backward shin angle forces your body to decelerate automatically, robbing you of control and making you a passenger in your own movement.
The Fix: • Maintain slight forward knee position throughout deceleration • Think "knees over toes" during every stopping movement • Control your deceleration: don't let it happen to you • Practice coming to controlled stops in various positions
Mental Cue: "Stay on top" of your movement: never let your body get ahead of your control.
Mistake #5: Failing to Maintain Core and Body Stiffness
The Problem: Many athletes approach lateral training with loose, floppy movement patterns. They twist around their knees instead of creating the body stiffness needed for explosive direction changes.
Without proper stiffness, you leak power through unnecessary movement and increase injury risk exponentially.
The Fix: • Engage your core before every lateral movement • Create tension through your entire torso • Move as one unit: hips, core, and shoulders working together • Practice lateral movements with slower tempos to feel proper stiffness
Visualization: Think of your torso as a steel rod: rigid and powerful, not a wet noodle bending in every direction.
Mistake #6: Landing Too Far Forward During Transitions
The Problem: When transitioning between lateral and forward movements, athletes often land with their foot too far in front of their center of mass. This recruits excessive hamstring forces and creates dangerous loading patterns.
This mistake is particularly common during sport-specific movements where athletes are trying to transition quickly between directions.
The Fix: • Keep your landing foot closer to your center of mass • Focus on landing "under" yourself rather than reaching out • Maintain slight forward lean but avoid overstriding • Practice controlled transition movements daily
Safety Note: This single adjustment can dramatically reduce hamstring and ACL injury risk.
Mistake #7: Neglecting Progressive Overload in Lateral Training
The Problem: Most athletes treat lateral training as just a warm-up activity or conditioning tool. They rarely progress the difficulty, resistance, or complexity of their lateral movements.
Without progressive overload, your lateral movement patterns plateau, leaving massive performance gains on the table.
The Fix: • Gradually increase training intensity and complexity • Add resistance through bands, weighted vests, or specialized equipment • Progress from slow, controlled movements to explosive, reactive patterns • Track your lateral training metrics just like your bench press or sprint times
Equipment Solution: Tools like the MaXXSlide Adjustable Slide Board allow you to progressively challenge your lateral movement patterns with adjustable difficulty levels.
The Bottom Line: Small Changes, Massive Results
These seven mistakes are costing athletes across all sports. But here's the good news: every single one of these errors can be fixed with focused, deliberate practice.
Your Action Plan: • Pick one mistake to focus on this week • Practice the fix daily for 10-15 minutes • Master one correction before moving to the next • Track your progress and hold yourself accountable
The difference between good athletes and great ones often comes down to the details. Master these lateral movement fundamentals, and you'll unlock performance levels you didn't know existed.
Ready to take your lateral training to the next level? Start with these fixes today, and watch your game transform from the ground up.
Elite athletes don't leave performance to chance: they master every detail. Make these corrections, and join the ranks of athletes who move with power, precision, and purpose.
Visit MaXXSlide to explore training tools designed specifically for serious athletes who demand excellence in every aspect of their performance.