Baseball
Improving Your
Base Running Speed
Greg Fredrick, MEd, CSCS
I
n 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 fivetool 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.
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
In examining the game of baseball there the batter’s box. Oftentimes, players at
are three main movement areas for posi- all levels drop their front foot back a
tion players: getting out of the batter’s step, then make their motion toward
box after contact, crossing over to steal first base. This is very inefficient and
bases or to field ground balls and fly will, in no doubt, raise your home to
balls, and lastly, running multiple bases first base time.
on a bend or curve versus a straight
This movement of dropping the front
line.
foot back is called a negative step. By
definition, a negative step means that
Getting Out Of The Box
your body as a whole or a segment
—Post Swing Sprints
moved in a direction opposite of where
One of the most critical and often overyou intended to go. Why is this bad?
looked aspects in improving home to
Well, first your body is not moving
first base time is making use of it the
toward your destination. Second, whatinstant the ball is in play. Most high
ever ground you covered to move your
school and college players that I have
front foot back has to be covered again
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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
Vol. 6 No. 2 | Page 10
Baseball
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).
Improving Your Base Running Speed
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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-
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count, or three-count. Try three
sets, two to three switches per leg.
4. 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
Vol. 6 No. 2 | Page 11
Baseball
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
Improving Your Base Running Speed
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.
tions. 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 Cone Drill
• 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
Running On A Bend or
the
circle feeling more inside edge
Curve
pressure.
Keep a normal stride and
You are now at second base, in scoring
running gait while utilizing good
position, and ready to get to home on
arm drive mechanics. Make two
a base hit to the outfield. But it is not a
complete circles, rest, and repeat.
straight line to home, and you have got
Try three to four repetitions in each
to make a turn around third base. No
direction, two sets total. This drill
problem, here are a few recommendawill help you to maintain accelera-
NSCA’s Performance Training Journal | www.nsca-lift.org/perform
Vol. 6 No. 2 | Page 12
Baseball
Improving Your Base Running Speed
tion around third base by utilizing
a good lateral lean, proper edges of
foot contact, running mechanics,
and arm drive.
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
Practice all of these drills twice a week youth, high school, collegiate, Olympic,
and before you know it, you will begin and professional athletes. Prior to joining
to see an improvement in your perfor- the staff in Louisville, Greg served as the
mance. Best of luck and keep training.
speed director for the Auburn University
Baseball Team from 2002 to 2004.
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Vol. 6 No. 2 | Page 13