Understanding Baseball Speed Training: Part I
I remember the spring days very well. My friends and I would be outside at the first sign of warm weather. We would grab our ball gloves and stomp through the damp muddy ground to play some catch or perhaps engage in an intense game of run-down. Whatever the activity may be, we all knew that our baseball season was fast approaching. Like any young athlete we were always looking for ways to improve our game and gain a step on our competition. And like any young athlete we always looked to our superiors for advice. At times they would offer suggestions and teach us a thing or two, but more often than none we usually picked up ideas from observing them. The one memory that is very vivid in my mind was a training technique that we used called “jogging”. We would band together like a small platoon and jog around the local football field. I can’t remember how far we would jog or for how long? But I can tell you that we jogged and took it quite serious. Sometimes we would jog twice a day; once in the morning and again in the evening. Now my question is: What the hell does jogging have to do with baseball? Let me think for a minute………..oh that’s right, NOTHING! The purpose of this article is not to give you a speed program or template to follow, but rather outline some ideas that you can implement right away to get on the right track to help increase your speed for your game. So let’s get to it. First and foremost you are not an Olympic sprinter. You are a ball player. I say this because when I was working with a young player; his father had made the observation that his son’s running mechanics did not resemble Maurice Greene or Tim Montgomery? I almost fell over. The boy was only 12 years old and just looking for support. He was nowhere near his physical limit. He’s 12 dad! Greene and Montgomery work on sprinting (straight ahead) every single day. They are Olympic athletes with Olympic trainers! We need to be cautious of our mechanics but we are ball players. Next, aerobic training is pretty much a waste of time. That’s right all of that jogging I did; not going to help me in baseball. There is nothing in baseball that is done aerobically. When was the last time you witnessed a pitcher jogging back-and-forth from the pitcher’s mound to home plate over and over again? Hopefully never! Baseball requires hand and eye coordination and explosive acceleration to get from point A to point B. The last time I checked, it’s only 90 feet between the bases. Ok, depending on what level of baseball you are playing! But you get my point. So, why train slowly, if our sport needs us to be fast? So what exactly do we need? Most multi-directional sports such as baseball, football, basketball, soccer and tennis require us to have that first-step quickness, acceleration and agility. Have you ever noticed how quickly a major-league infielder reacts to a ground ball? They can take one or two steps perhaps dive and field that ball and turn and make a play. This doesn’t happen from jogging! Here are some drills that can help you get started. I always prescribe a dynamic warm-up before jumping into any type of agility or sprint training to elevate the body temperature and warm the connective tissue in the joint areas. • Set up two cones or bases (just so you have a starting and finishing point) approximately 30 yards from each other. Have a partner hit the baseball or softball into the ground and you take-off when you hear the sound and sprint to the designated spot or cone. Remember that when you are playing sports you rely on several of your senses and this drill will help increase your auditory response. • Have one of your parents throw the ball from behind you and you run in the direction of the ball based on the visual cue. Now you are relying on your visual sense to help develop that speed you need for your game. • Play a mock game of game of baseball by yourself or with friends. But play it backwards, pretend to hit the ball from home plate swinging opposite of your normal swing and run to third base. Then get a lead off and steal second and so forth. This will seem quite confusing to your body because we’ve become so adapted to playing our sport in one direction. • Simply a good game of tag with friends will help to increase your agility and first step quickness. Sounds fun…well it should be. • The centipede: If you have ever observed a centipede walking on the ground you will notice that his tail end always follows along in different directions that the head is moving. This drill will require a few of your friends. Simply form a straight line with roughly 3 yards between each one of you. The person at the front of the line begins the drill by starting with a slow jog and each person will follow accordingly. The leader can then change the tempo and direction of the run as he or she chooses and those following need to mirror that movement. Thus simulating the tail of the centipede. Remember this is just a starting point. These simple drills will deliver the change of direction and acceleration skills needed for the game of baseball or softball. In part II of this series I will outline a basic template for a speed program so that you can see how to put some of the pieces together. Until then; remember keep it fun and work hard! Shawn is an independent performance coach. He is a graduate of Waynesburg College where he was an all-conference defensive back and attended CFL/NFL tryouts in 1994. He is a certified Renegade Training practioner under world renown Strength & Conditioning Coach John Davies, and is a certified Speed / Agility and Quickness Trainer through N.E.S.T.A. (National Endurance and Sports Trainers Association) Visit his website http://www.gamespeed.biz which is the most comprehensive web site regarding performance training for anyone. He delivers top notch products and information for anyone! |
Other Sport Betting Articles
Premiership Betting Review - 2 April 2006 Manchester United closed the gap on leaders Chelsea to seven points after a hard-fought victory at Bolton. Kevin Davies gave the Trotters the lead after 26 minutes but Louis Saha equalised for the Reds on 33. Ruud van Nistelrooy scored his 150th goal for 9/10 United with 11 minutes remaining.Birmingham salvaged a precious point at St Andr ...Success Tips From Boxing Ray Winstone, the London East End barrow boy, who became an actor famous for acting hard men, did some boxing when he was younger. He learned a key lesson from boxing which helped him in the acting world and which could help any of us in any situation."You would go into your corner and look at the man in the corner opposite you and you w ...League Two Season Preview 2006/07 - Stockport County Stockport CountyOdds: 40/1Last Five Seasons 2005/06 - 22 (League Two), 2004/05 - 24 (League One, Relegated), 2003/04 - 19 (League One), 2002/03 - 14 (League One), 2001/02 - 24 (Championship, Relegated).2005/06 Cup Progress FA Cup Third Round vs Brentford (h) - lost 3-2. Carling Cup First Round vs Sheffield Wednesday ...Boxing Sparing Robot; Hit Me, but I Hit Back Too Most Boxing Sparing partners for the big name boxers get paid to get beat up on. But what if we could save that money and build a robot to take the brunt of those hard-training workouts? And while we are doing this why not program in the very best fighters that they may go up against into the robotic sparing partner? Could this be done?Ap ...Winning Coaches Know the Secret of Goal Setting When asking the majority of people before a contest, whether it be a rugby match or a spelling bee, what they want, they will inevitably say, “I want to WIN.”Who doesn’t?I have yet to meet anyone who competes that says they don’t care if they win as long as they have fun. That was fine when we were six but it isn’t going to cut it ...Much Adu About Nothing? Freddy Adu is one of the most famous young players in the world – it seems as though there is nobody who has not heard of the young DC United star. Since a young age he has been hyped up as the next ‘big thing’ in world football, but is he as good as all the hype that surrounds him? Or is he a prime example of the hyperbole that surrounds all th ...Who Will Win the 2006 Soccer World Cup? As the 2006 soccer world cup approaches there are may that believe Brazil will once again emerge winnners and collect their record breaking sixth world cup. But can anyone challenge the samba stars of Brazil? Let's have a look at some possible contenders for the 2006 world cup.Germany The host nataion always tend to perform ...The NHL - The Who Cares League The NHL is suffering from low ratings. While they pay untalented underachieving players millions of dollars, no one is watching.The only networks covering the sport are OLN and NBC (On Saturdays). The NHL is a fifth tier sport that trailed NBC’s poker series for the week ending 05/07/06 according to Zap2it (http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditor ...Premiership Betting Review Chelsea officially clinched the Premiership on Saturday lunchtime with a crushing 3-0 victory over second placed Manchester United. The Blues only needed a draw to confirm the champions status but William Gallas after five minutes, Joe Cole on 61 and Ricardo Carvalho on 73 sealed victory in style as Jose Mourinho’s side retained their Premiershi ...Guide To Be A Successful Soccerpunter Why becomes a soccer bettor one may ask? Where it is considered a negative occupation where it is often regarded as non productive, immoral behaviour. well as for every other thing everything there is the pros n cons.if you able to use it to your advantage it could be becomes your full-time occupation or a second income. morever, soccer betting ...World Cup 2006 Group Stage Review - Phase One - Part Two All 32 teams have played one match each as the World Cup has begun in explosive fashion, but are things going according to plan for the favourites or are the underdogs having a say in proceedings? This is a short round-up of Groups E to H, of the results as they stand after one match.Group E1. Czech Republic 3pts, 2. Italy 3pts, 3. ...Boxing is Not Just "Fighting" -- Where Are The True Champions of the Past? I’ve been a boxing fan since my first Cassius Clay match against Sony Liston, which was literally in another century. Since then my love for the sport has never waned.Since I’m a pretty peaceful person in daily life people who know me are surprised that I like boxing so much. Perhaps it’s just “displaced and sublimated aggression,” they s ...Rules of Soccer Playing soccer is easy; being good at soccer takes a bit more effort. To be competent on the sport, the only way is to practice and play.Like basketball, soccer players that are on the game field have their own designated positions. In the game of soccer there are eleven designated soccer positions on each team in the playing field. A ...World Cup 2006 Group Stage Review - Phase Two-Part Two All 32 teams have played two matches as the World Cup groups have started to take shape. Some teams have qualified for the knockout stage while others will sweat on the last match. This is a short round-up of Groups E to H, of the results as they stand after two matches.Group E 1. Italy 4pts, 2. Czech Republic 3pts, 3. Ghana 3pts, 4. ...FA Cup Third Round - Possible Upsets Surprisingly, there are no "all Premiership" ties for the third round and has set up more "Championship vs Premiership" matches than usual. Championship sides awarded a home tie against Premiership opposition have a good winning record in recent seasons and here are a few matches where an "upset" could be on the cards:WBA vs Reading @ 3.4 ...League One Betting Review - 29 January 2006 Southend United took advantage of Colchester United’s FA Cup commitments by taking over pole position in League Two. The Shrimpers were 4/7 to see off struggling Swindon Town at Roots Hall and did not disappoint with a 2-0 win.Luke Gutteridge, who was suffering from flu in the week, broke the deadlock after 31 minutes and former Tottenham ...Horse Racing - The Sport of Kings Thousands of years ago, man discovered that an animal from the Equus order was good for carrying his burdens and lightening his load. Then one day, as the human race as a whole are natural competitors, we began to use that animal, called the horse, to race against others.Then man began breeding horses to excel in speed and endurance. Wh ...Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso was born in Oveido in Northern Spain on 29th. July 1981. He was fortunate to be born to hard working parents who were willing and happy to devote their time and attention to developing the skills he showed from a very early age that would eventually lead to him becoming a Formula 1 World Champion.His father, an explosives ...The Coaching Ball Revolutionize the Way Kids Learn to Kick a Soccer Ball Now there is a soccer ball that will guarantee that you will strike a soccer ball low and on target and that will show you where to kick a soccer ball to swerve it or loft it. The Coaching Ball IS soccer's new training revolution! The Coaching Ball is the soccer ball to improve YOUR technique. Youth Soccer will benefit from the strong training e ...A Regular NBA Season After a break in the summer, basketball-training camps begin in October. During this time, coaches decide which players to add to the twelve person active roster. Following training camp there is a series of preseason exhibition games. The regular season for the NBA starts in the first week of November.Over the course of a regular season, ...Horse Racing Primer Horse racing is a very exciting and lucrative sport. Anyone who hasn’t been to a good track is missing out. Winning lots of money at horse racing is very possible. In fact, it tends to get overlooked in the sports betting world. Think about this. If you were going to wager on a baseball team that was far better than the team it was facing, you m ...League Two Season Preview 2006/07 - Macclesfield Town Macclesfield TownOdds: 40/1Last Five Seasons 2005/06 - 17 (League Two), 2004/05 - 5 (League Two), 2003/04 - 20 (League Two), 2002/03 - 16 (League Two), 2001/02 - 13 (League Two).2005/06 Cup Progress FA Cup First Round (replay) vs Yeovil Town (a) - lost 4-0. Carling Cup Second Round vs Cardiff City (a) - lost 2-1. ...World Cup 2006 Group Stage Review - Phase Three - Part One All 32 teams have completed the group stage and 16 are preparing for the knockout phase. This is a short round-up of Groups A to D, of the results as they stand after three matches. Did your country qualify or fall at the first hurdle?Group A 1. Germany 9pts, 2. Ecuador 6pts, 3. Poland 3pts, 4. Costa Rica 0ptsBoth Germany and E ...A Brief History Of Golf The game of golf originated from a game played in Scotland in the 15th Century. In the first games that are related to golf, there were no holes. But eventually holes were added, and the fact that the game originated in Scotland can't be denied. In the 16th century golf's status and popularity grew due to the fact that it got royal endorsemen ...Football Camp for Kids Since the devastation of Katrina, residents in New Orleans have been trying to put their lives back together. NFL stars Peyton Manning and his brighter Eli have given time, money, and support to their city. They will be donating more time at their family’s summer football camp started by their father eleven years ago to help kids improve their s ...September's UK Horse Racing Action Punters are in for a busy time of it in September as the Flat racing season moves swiftly into its autumn phase starting with the William Hill Sprint Cup, a Group1 contest over six furlongs at Haydock on Saturday September 2.Class has traditionally been the defining factor in this well-contested sprint course and it’s therefore no surpris ...Baseball's Greatest Cheaters The great American game of baseball!! Home runs, triple plays, and the World Series, make viewing this sport a great pastime. Fans, over generations of time, have come to hold special individual memories of baseball. It’s sealed in their minds; baseball IS the greatest sport of all time. Remembering, all is in the eye of the beholder, can it be ...Spank Your Bookie To the all who wants to be independent in the next year!Overview:When I get this book for review I said to myself "another book with advice how to become a millionaire over night". Then I started to read it and read it all in one single day. Now I must admit that this book is really good and most important thing for me is that this ...
|
