Is change of direction (COD) ability important in your players? Here be some thoughts continuing the vest loading, deceleration, horizontal force and force vector specificity themes.
When wanting to change direction, players need to control their momentum (mass x velocity) to execute the desired movement outcome. This usually involves applying some decelerative braking force as in a 45 degree turn to a full deceleration and re-acceleration in a 180 degree turn. The quality most important for decelerating the players momentum is eccentric (horizontal) strength i.e. force vector specificity.
One way of training this quality is by loaded vest training. By wearing a loaded vest whilst simply playing your sport or during dedicated COD training, you have increased the momentum of the system (your body mass + vest mass). As a result your muscles will need to work harder eccentrically to decelerate and reaccelerate the additional momentum.
This was proven in a study by Pedro Alcaraz (see Simplifaster blog) who found vest loading superior to electromechanical resistance, increasing player speed as well as decreasing the COD deficit. He concluded vest loading was a highly specific method for training COD ability.
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