Improving Your Base Running Speed
NSCA’s Performance Training Journal
www.nsca-lift.org
Improving Your Base Running Speed
By Greg Fredrick, Med, CSCS
In the past ten years or so, the phrase, "speed kills" has been thrown about by coaches, scouts, parents, and players. For those wanting to be a five-tool players (throw, catch, hit for power, hit for average), running the bases with speed, efficiency, and effectiveness is also a must. In determining what drills to do, it is always critical to examine the demands of the sport/game and the various positions/stances that you may be in as the athlete.
In examining the game of baseball there are three main movement areas for position players: getting out of the batter's box after contact, crossing over to steal bases or to field ground balls and fly balls, and lastly, running multiple bases on a bend or curve versus a straight line.
Getting Out Of The Box —Post Swing Sprints
One of the most critical and often overlooked aspects in improving home to first base time is making use of it the instant the ball is in play. Most high school and college players that I have seen, spend too much time watching and standing still. Think about it, the longer you are in the box, the more time you are giving to the opponent to have an easier play. Put the pressure on the defense, force them to move explosively, field cleanly, and make an accurate throw. Once the ball is in play, run.
Upon completing your swing and putting the ball in play, keep your feet set right where they are and push explosively with both legs and drive out of the batter's box. Oftentimes, players at all levels drop their front foot back a step, then make their motion toward first base. This is very inefficient and will, in no doubt, raise your home to first base time.
This movement of dropping the front foot back is called a negative step. By definition, a negative step means that your body as a whole or a segment moved in a direction opposite of where you intended to go. Why is this bad? Well, first your body is not moving toward your destination. Second, whatever ground you covered to move your front foot back has to be covered again in the forward direction (distance covered times two). Third, while you are performing this inefficient task, the ball just got that much closer to the infielder, allowing him or her to make the play under much less pressure. Make use of a good, firm front side (proper swing mechanics) and push with that leg, while you push and punch with your trail leg.
Come out of the batter's box with a good forward lean (around 45° – 50°), not upright and tall. The longer you can stay down and drive, the quicker you will make it to first base. Allow yourself to become upright and tall gradually over about 60 feet (20 yards) down the line. If you can see the first baseman as soon as you get out of the box, you got too tall too soon. This results in an inefficient and slower movement and time.
Punch or drive your knees forward toward first base with your heel underneath your hamstring, not out in front of your body reaching and pulling. While driving your knee/leg forward, keep your toes up toward your shin, this is called dorsiflexion. If you run with your toes pointed downward, called plantarflexion, you will experience a slower home to first base time.
Once you have driven or punched the knee forward with your toes pointed up toward your shins, attack the ground down and back (on that same 45° body lean angle), underneath your hips with the ball of foot, not the heel, making contact with the ground. As soon as you fully drive and extend that leg into the ground, be as quick as you can to get that foot back up off of the ground and into its next drive or punch repetition. This will help in reducing ground contact time.
Driving your arms while you run will help with coordination which will increase efficiency and help in lowering your home to first base time. Also, a good arm drive will help to deliver greater power and frequency into every repetition. Be sure to pivot from your shoulders, not your elbows. Drive your elbows and hands back behind you and your lead hand upward toward your chin. A good rule to follow is to have your hands go from your hips to your lips.
Drills
www.nsca-lift.org
Improving Your Base Running Speed
By Greg Fredrick, Med, CSCS
In the past ten years or so, the phrase, "speed kills" has been thrown about by coaches, scouts, parents, and players. For those wanting to be a five-tool players (throw, catch, hit for power, hit for average), running the bases with speed, efficiency, and effectiveness is also a must. In determining what drills to do, it is always critical to examine the demands of the sport/game and the various positions/stances that you may be in as the athlete.
In examining the game of baseball there are three main movement areas for position players: getting out of the batter's box after contact, crossing over to steal bases or to field ground balls and fly balls, and lastly, running multiple bases on a bend or curve versus a straight line.
Getting Out Of The Box —Post Swing Sprints
One of the most critical and often overlooked aspects in improving home to first base time is making use of it the instant the ball is in play. Most high school and college players that I have seen, spend too much time watching and standing still. Think about it, the longer you are in the box, the more time you are giving to the opponent to have an easier play. Put the pressure on the defense, force them to move explosively, field cleanly, and make an accurate throw. Once the ball is in play, run.
Upon completing your swing and putting the ball in play, keep your feet set right where they are and push explosively with both legs and drive out of the batter's box. Oftentimes, players at all levels drop their front foot back a step, then make their motion toward first base. This is very inefficient and will, in no doubt, raise your home to first base time.
This movement of dropping the front foot back is called a negative step. By definition, a negative step means that your body as a whole or a segment moved in a direction opposite of where you intended to go. Why is this bad? Well, first your body is not moving toward your destination. Second, whatever ground you covered to move your front foot back has to be covered again in the forward direction (distance covered times two). Third, while you are performing this inefficient task, the ball just got that much closer to the infielder, allowing him or her to make the play under much less pressure. Make use of a good, firm front side (proper swing mechanics) and push with that leg, while you push and punch with your trail leg.
Come out of the batter's box with a good forward lean (around 45° – 50°), not upright and tall. The longer you can stay down and drive, the quicker you will make it to first base. Allow yourself to become upright and tall gradually over about 60 feet (20 yards) down the line. If you can see the first baseman as soon as you get out of the box, you got too tall too soon. This results in an inefficient and slower movement and time.
Punch or drive your knees forward toward first base with your heel underneath your hamstring, not out in front of your body reaching and pulling. While driving your knee/leg forward, keep your toes up toward your shin, this is called dorsiflexion. If you run with your toes pointed downward, called plantarflexion, you will experience a slower home to first base time.
Once you have driven or punched the knee forward with your toes pointed up toward your shins, attack the ground down and back (on that same 45° body lean angle), underneath your hips with the ball of foot, not the heel, making contact with the ground. As soon as you fully drive and extend that leg into the ground, be as quick as you can to get that foot back up off of the ground and into its next drive or punch repetition. This will help in reducing ground contact time.
Driving your arms while you run will help with coordination which will increase efficiency and help in lowering your home to first base time. Also, a good arm drive will help to deliver greater power and frequency into every repetition. Be sure to pivot from your shoulders, not your elbows. Drive your elbows and hands back behind you and your lead hand upward toward your chin. A good rule to follow is to have your hands go from your hips to your lips.
Drills
Skipping
Nothing is better at improving timing, rhythm, and coordination than skipping. Take a 20 yard area and rehearse the aforementioned mechanics (knee drive to almost hip height, heel under hamstring, ankle dorsiflexed, contact with ball of foot and the arms driving in sync with the legs). Do two to three sets daily as a part of training or warm-up.
Wall Drill Series
These drills will also rehearse good running mechanics, but will be performed while leaning against a wall at an angle about 45° – 50° (similar to that of the start of a post swing sprint).
Wall Drill March — Upon attaining a 45° – 50° lean (with your body in a perfectly straight line), begin alternating your legs in a marching fashion all the while maintaining a straight body line lean and appropriate mechanics. Keep the toes up, drive your knees to the wall with your heel underneath your hamstring and attack down and back toward the ground with your foot contacting exactly where it began. It is important to keep your head in line with your spine, which means your eyes should be focusing a few inches below your hands. Try three to four sets, five to six seconds in duration.
Wall Drill Skip — Performed exactly like a wall drill march, but with a skipping cadence. Be sure to not move the feet closer to the wall with each repetition, but contact in the same spot in which you started. Try three to four sets, five to six seconds in duration.
Wall Drill Counts — Start with a good 45° – 50° lean with one leg in the up position (knee just below hip height and driven to the wall, with the heel under the hamstring, toes pointed upward toward the shin) and the other leg still in contact with the ground, fully extended. With a coach, friend, or by yourself switch the positions of each leg at the same time, finishing in the same position that you began, just with each leg in the opposite role – this is called a one count. It is important to maintain good body posture throughout all sets and repetitions. This drill can be performed on a one-count, two-count, or three-count. Try three sets, two to three switches per leg.
Wall Drill Sprint — With a proper starting posture and position, sprint as fast as possible for five to six seconds. Maintain good drive and attack form and keep your core strong. Try three to four sets.
Crossing Over
You have put the ball in play and you have used proper form and mechanics to be quick, explosive, and efficient in getting down the line. Now the next step, getting to second base. Again, we want to be efficient and explosive so the first thing we need to do, once we have a good lead, is to sit in our hips, without back flat, chest over our thighs, and our toes forward.
In order to use all the power we have in our gluteals, hamstrings, and quadriceps, we need to initiate our crossover sprint by pushing with both legs, not just the left leg. Oftentimes, runners push with their left leg and open and spin with their right leg. This is inefficient and reduces power or explosive starts. Think about it, can you jump further vertically, horizontally, or laterally off of one leg rather than two? In addition, do not forget that the pitcher is watching you and may attempt a pick-off move to first base. If you have opened up your right side, you are dead meat, you cannot get back too well. The same push effect that you need toward second base to steal is the same push effect that you want as you return to first base when the pitcher is trying to pick you off. You want to be quick, efficient, and explosive in either direction. You also want to move this way in the field when you have to cover ground to your right or left when fielding ground balls or tracking down fly balls in the outfield.
As you push laterally toward second base, continue to push with your right leg until it fully extends, while at the same time punching and driving your left leg across your body to second base. Once your left foot has contacted the ground, the rotation of your torso will bring your shoulders and head around, a lot like your swing. Upon squaring yourself to second base, utilize all the linear sprint mechanics you just learned (45° – 50° lean, knee drive toward second base, heel under hamstring, toes up, attack down and back contacting the ground with the ball of foot, and coordinating efficient and powerful arm drives).
Drills
Double Leg Lateral Jumps
Start off in an athletic stance. Keeping your toes forward, initiate your lateral jump by pushing through your heels. As your body rises, finish your extension by pushing with the inside edge of your left foot and the outside edge of your right foot, when jumping to the right (roles are reversed when jumping to the left). As always coordinate your arm drive with your leg drive. Try two sets each way, four to five jumps per side. This drill will help you to explode better out of your start.
Crossover Wall Drill Pickups
Set yourself in the exact position as a regular wall drill (45°– 50° lean). Now, turn 90° to the right so only your extended left arm is on the wall, with both legs still full extended (you should still have a 45° – 50° lean). At this moment you should feel a lot of outside edge pressure to your left leg and inside edge pressure to your right leg. In a quick, explosive manner drive your right leg across your body, with your knee facing the wall, heel under hamstring, toe facing upward, the left leg still fully extended and the head, shoulders, and chest still facing forward (your left ear faces the wall). Set the right leg back down and repeat. Perform two sets, five to six repetitions, turn 180° and repeat the same process for the other leg. This drill will help you to improve your knee drive across the body in an explosive and efficient manner.
Single Leg Outside Edge Hops
Start off with your right foot on the ground and your left foot off the ground. Sink your hips and extend laterally to the right covering three to four feet of distance. Land only on your right leg and absorb the landing by resinking in your hips. Remain square (sideways) throughout this process, keeping your toes forward. Repeat this process five to six times, rest for 60 seconds and repeat. Repeat the above process on your left leg hopping to your left. This drill will help you to drive more explosively with your lead leg (which ever way you are facing), allowing you to cover more ground out of your start.
Running On A Bend or Curve
You are now at second base, in scoring position, and ready to get to home on a base hit to the outfield. But it is not a straight line to home, and you have got to make a turn around third base. No problem, here are a few recommendations. First, once you have moved a safe distance off of (and slightly behind) second base, take a few shuffle steps toward third base while the pitch is on its way to the plate. Once you realize that you can score off of this play, begin your motion to third base just like you did stealing second base (by pushing with your right leg and punching your left leg across your body). As you approach third base, you want to utilize a good lateral lean to the inside of the field, as well as the inside and outside edges of your feet. Your objective is to not take a lot of steps getting around the bag (this slows you down), but to maintain your acceleration and stride, thus reducing the amount of your steps. Drive off of the bag with a good knee punch, attacking with the ball of foot, and driving your arms with both speed and power. Continue this process until you safely reach home.
Drill
Large Circle ConeDrill
Set up cones in a circle five yards in diameter. Begin circling around the cones running with your feet contacting more in a straight line (one foot in front of the other as you circle around), then side to side as you would do when running in a straight line. Keep your lean (and bodyweight) to the inside of the circle with the foot nearest to the circle feeling more outside edge pressure and the foot furthest from the circle feeling more inside edge pressure. Keep a normal stride and running gait while utilizing good arm drive mechanics. Make two complete circles, rest, and repeat. Try three to four repetitions in each direction, two sets total. This drill will help you to maintain acceleration around third base by utilizing a good lateral lean, proper edges of foot contact, running mechanics, and arm drive.
Practice all of these drills twice a week and before you know it, you will begin to see an improvement in your performance. Best of luck and keep training.
About the Author
Greg Fredrick is the sports performance director of Velocity Sports performance in Louisville, Kentucky. He currently oversees a staff of ten coaches working with youth, high school, collegiate, Olympic, and professional athletes.Prior to joining the staff in Louisville, Greg served as the speed director for the Auburn University Baseball Team from 2002 to 2004.
