This post is going to present a series of drills for baseball speed and agility. Some of these are for offense, some are for defense. We’ll fit these drills into the bigger picture of the athlete’s training in a future post, for now we’ll just present the drills along with some thoughts on progressions.
Offensive drills
Go Two
Purpose: To teach the athlete how to run from home plate to second base.
Set up (beginner):
- Baseball diamond
- Cone is placed in the base path in-between first base and second
- Cone is placed 1/3 of the way to second base
Execution (beginner):
- Athlete begins in the hitter’s box
- On command, athlete sprints to first base
- Upon approaching first base, athlete drops their left shoulder and adopts a curved path
- Athlete touches the inside corner of first base and sprints past the base
- Athlete chops their steps as they approach the cone, enabling them to see what is happening with the ball
- Athlete accelerates to sprint to second base making sure to stop on second
Set up and execution (intermediate):
- The drill is performed without the cone
Set up and execution (advanced):
- The drill is performed without the cone
- The drill is performed to the first base coach’s cues (i.e. “ Go Two!”)
- The drill is performed to the first base coach’s cues according to a live ball/game situation
Cross-over Step
Purpose: To teach the cross-over step for base running.
Set up (beginner):
- Baseball diamond
Execution (beginner):
- Athlete takes a lead of first base, assumes a ready position facing the pitcher and hitter
- While staying low, do several things simultaneously:
- Pivot the right foot towards second base
- Cross the left foot in front of the right
- Punch the left arm towards second base
- Step forward with the right foot and sprint to second base
- Note that this should also be performed in the other direction (i.e. getting back to first base during a pick-off)
Execution (intermediate):
- Drill is performed the same way, only to coach’s cues
Execution (advanced):
- Drill is performed with pitching, runner must learn to read the pitcher’s feet to decide whether to go to second or back to first
Defensive drills
Run to the Ball
Purpose: To teach the athlete how to charge a ground ball and complete a throw.
Set up (beginner):
- Five yard course
- Cones are set up indicating the start line
- A cone is placed on the ground at the five yard mark.
Execution (beginner):
- Initially this drill is done without the ball to teach footwork
- Athlete faces the course in the ready position
- Athlete has his glove on
- Athlete sprints the five yards to the cone on the ground
- Athlete reaches down to field the imaginary ball on the ground
- A right-handed athlete will have his left foot next to the “ball” as his left hand reaches down to field the ball
- Step forward with the right foot, then set up to throw
Execution (intermediate):
- The drill is performed exactly like the beginner variation only a ball is placed on the ground five yards away from the athlete. Now the athlete must field the ball on the run and prepare to throw it.
Execution (advanced):
- This drill is performed like the intermediate variation with two important exceptions:
- The ball is moving. This means the athlete must square up so that they are in front of the ball.
- Once the ball is fielded, it should be thrown to the appropriate base.
Fielding the Ball
Purpose: To teach the athlete how to move laterally while fielding.
Set up (beginner):
- Baseball diamond
Execution (beginner):
- Athlete assumes the ready position with his glove on
- On command, the athlete shuffles to the left or right to “field” an imaginary ball
- After fielding, the athlete sets up to throw to the appropriate base
Execution (intermediate):
- Athlete must shuffle to the left or right to field a ball that is rolled to either side of the athlete
- Ball should be reachable by the shuffle
- Once the athlete fields the ball, they should set up and throw the ball accurately to the appropriate base
Execution (advanced):
- The ball should be at different distances to either side of the athlete
- This will require the athlete to field the ball via shuffle or after a cross-over step on the run
- The athlete will throw the ball accurately to the appropriate base after fielding it
