Drop and Stick
The drop and stick is a landing drill: you step off a low box, land on both feet in an athletic stance and hold the landing still for two seconds, with no jump afterwards. It practises braking and landing control, mainly through the quadriceps and glutes, with the hamstrings and calves helping to absorb the landing.
Also called: Drop and Stick Landing, Drop Landing, Box Drop and Stick, Snap Down and Stick · Equipment: bodyweight · Pattern: squat
Step by step
- Stand tall on the edge of a stable box or step about 20–30 cm high, feet about hip-width apart.
- Step forward off the box with one foot and bring the other alongside, so you drop straight down rather than jumping up or out.
- Land on both feet at the same time, still about hip-width apart, meeting the floor through the balls of the feet and letting the heels settle.
- As your feet touch down, bend at the hips, knees and ankles together. Sit your hips back, keep your chest over your knees and let your knees track over your toes.
- Finish in an athletic stance, like the ready position before braking or changing direction, with your arms forward for balance and the landing as quiet as you can make it.
- Hold that position still for two seconds, with your feet staying exactly where they landed.
- Stand up, step back onto the box and reset before the next rep.
- Step off and drop straight down
- Both feet land together, quietly
- Hips back, chest over knees
- Knees over your toes
- Freeze for two seconds
- Feet stay exactly where they land
In VALDA, these cues are one tap away on the exercise while you train.
What it trains
| Muscle | Role | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Quadriceps: vastus lateralis | Prime mover | C |
| Quadriceps: vastus medialis | Prime mover | C |
| Gluteus maximus | Prime mover | C |
| Gastrocnemius | Secondary | C |
| Soleus | Secondary | C |
| Hamstrings | Stabiliser | C |
| Gluteus medius/minimus | Stabiliser | D |
| Erector spinae | Stabiliser | D |
Evidence grades: A = strong research base · B = good · C = limited · D = coaching consensus.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Jumping off the box
Fix: Step off with one foot and drop straight down.
Stiff-legged landing
Fix: Bend hips, knees and ankles together the moment your feet touch down.
Knees caving inwards
Fix: Land with feet hip-width apart and keep your knees over your toes.
One foot landing first
Fix: Bring both feet down at the same moment with your weight shared evenly.
Upright trunk, knees shooting forward
Fix: Sit your hips back so your chest finishes over your knees.
Extra steps or a wobble after landing
Fix: Freeze in the athletic stance for two seconds before standing up.
Bouncing out of the landing
Fix: Sink into the landing and stay there; there is no jump in this drill.
What the research says
Rehab & prehabSport performance
- Dose — Landing drills like this are commonly programmed as a few quality reps, such as 2 sets of 4, as skill practice rather than a fitness stimulus. There is no direct research on the best dose for drop and stick landings.
- Box height — Laboratory research on drop jumps found that a higher box made the landing more demanding without improving the jump that followed. A common approach uses a box of 20–30 cm and keeps it there while every landing stays quiet and still.
- Landing quality — Published clinical landing screens score knees moving inwards, feet landing at different times and loud landings as technique flaws. Many coaches use the hold at the end of each rep as the check, and only count reps that were stuck.
- Technique practice — A scoping review of training studies found that technique coaching and balance training changed knee loading during cutting tasks, while strength training and plyometrics with perturbations did not. This suggests landing drills work as coached practice rather than as a loading stimulus.
- Placement — It is commonly placed early in a session, after the warm-up, while the legs are fresh, because landing quality is the point of the drill. This is coaching practice rather than a researched finding.
- In season — In ice hockey programmes it is used in season as low-volume braking practice alongside the main lifts. There is no hockey study of landing drills, so this reflects coaching practice.
Swap it mid-workout
With VALDA Pro, FLEX offers alternatives like these when you swap an exercise mid-workout.
The studies behind this guide
Graded A (strongest: trials and reviews) to D (coaching consensus). What each study found, in brief.
- A
Plyometric training adaptations are predominantly tendinous and neuromechanical rather than hypertrophic.
Ramírez-delaCruz et al. (2022) · Sports Medicine - Open
- B
Drop-landing mechanics depend on technique and drop height; in this small sample (n=6) higher drops added landing demand without a matching gain in push-off output. Applied here to the box-height guidance only; the study measured drop jumps, not stuck landings.
Bobbert et al. (1987) · Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
- B
Change-of-direction tasks generate multiplanar knee loads (valgus and rotation moments with anterior shear, especially at extended knee postures) associated with ACL loading; balance training and technique modification changed these loads, while resistance training, perturbation-enhanced plyometrics and several standard warm-ups did not.
Dos'Santos et al. (2019) · Sports Medicine
- C
A clinical landing screen scores dynamic knee valgus, feet not landing simultaneously and excessive landing noise as technique flaws relevant to ACL loading. A methods paper; establishes the flaws used as coaching targets, not that correcting them changes injury rates.
Myer et al. (2008) · Athletic Therapy Today
Log the drop and stick in VALDA, with these cues one tap away while you train and your history for it in one place.
Get started freeGeneral information about exercise technique, not medical advice. If you have an injury or a health condition, your healthcare provider is the right person to ask.