Agility is the ability to quickly change the body and chair's position to get from point A to point B. Doing this in a wheelchair is challenging because lateral (side to side) movement is restricted. Agile movements involve a two step process - realigning the chair in the intended direction followed by pushing forward. This two step process gradually will become automatic and fluid as skills improve. One trick to becoming more agile is to always keep the chair moving. Taking advantage of the momentum of the chair will make it easier to dart in and out of tight spaces.
In games where there are others or limited space, this challenge increases while the room for error decreases. For this reason, practicing not hitting objects (or others) when there is more space and less of a hurry is a good way to learn to better control.
To improve agility, a child could work on:
- Speed and strength
- Coordination
- Balance
- Stroke mechanics