Introduction: DIY Low-Cost Agility Ladder

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Do you find agility ladders in the market too pricy? Make your own low-cost agility ladder with these simple steps!

Step 1: Materials!

For this project you will be needing these materials:

  1. Medium-density-fiber (MDF) board: thickness of 2.5mm - 5mm; at least 14" x 20"
  2. Double-sided tape
  3. Scissors
  4. Old tarpaulin (you will only need two strips of 1" x 90" of tarp; strips may be connected to make them longer)

Step 2: Methodology Preview

To give you an idea on how this project can be done, I will first explain the parts of an agility ladder.

An agility ladder has two main parts: the steps and the straps.
The steps are the pieces that go across the length of the ladder. The straps go along the length of the ladder; these connect the steps to each other to create boxes in between the steps.

In this project, the steps are made out of cut MDF board, while the strap is made out of tarp material.
The strap is attached to the steps through a buckle type hole in each step.

Step 3: Ladder Steps

The steps are produced by cutting MDF board with these dimensions:

2" x 20" with four holes in each corner
Each hole is 1/8" x 1" placed at a 1/4" margin from the top, bottom, and side.

You can check the pdf file to know what it will look like. You may also use this file to cut the MDF board with a laser cutter. However, note that if you are using a laser cutter, you can only use MDF boards with thickness 2.5 mm - 3 mm.

Cut out as many steps as you want. A minimum of 6 steps is suggested.

Attachments

Step 4: Straps and Attachment

The straps are made simply by cutting long strips of tarp that is 1" wide. The length will vary depending on your preference, but 90" is suggested. Cut a piece of 1" wide strap as long as you can, then connect the straps length wise to produce your desired length.

After cutting two straps of your desired length, you may now attach the strap to the cut steps from the previous step. The straps are to be attached by inserting it into one hole of the step and then to the other.

The steps are connected by the straps attached through them. For the inside boxes of the agility ladder, the dimensions 17" x 17" is suggested. These dimensions may be modified according to your preference. Attach the steps and straps according to your preferred dimensions.

Make sure the attachments are done such that the produced ladder is straight. Lastly, use double sided tape to secure the attachments.

Step 5: Final Product

With the suggested dimensions, an agility ladder with 6 steps, with 5 inside boxes (each 17" x 17") is produced. This ladder is 20" wide and 90" long. This costs approximately 13 Philippine Pesos only (approximately 0.25 USD).

You can now do tons of footwork drills and exercises with it!