Coaches - have any players that LIKE to run? Probably not very many. Yet appropriate running training can help your players perform better - both from the speed angle as well as the conditioning one. The trick is to create running drills that are as "fun" as possible that also achieve some useful game-related purpose.

     The following is list of two sets of running drills that can be implemented at the end of practice. 

SERIES 1

1. Home to 1B, full speed, 5 times. Batter takes a full swing with a bat and his/her time is recorded. Variation - home to 2B, home to 3B, home to home.

2. One "base on balls." 3/4 speed to 1B, jog back to the next drill area.  This accomplishes several useful things: batters learn how they should hustle to 1B after drawing a walk, it teaches runners to be aggressive, making catchers pay attention to keep them from taking 2B, and allows players some rest between more difficult drills.

3.  At 1B: 2 steals of 2B off of RH pitcher, work on getting good jump.  Players line up 3 deep.  Pitchers on mound, mix up throwing to home or 1B.  Base runners run hard down to 2B, but don't slide.

4.  Fake steals with RH pitcher on mound: 2 each.  Work on getting a good jump.

5.  Diving back to 1B on pick off, 5 times.  RH pitcher on mound.  Get primary lead, using 1B line as 1B.  Players line up 3 deep.

6.  4-3-2-1, full speed half way down the 1B line, then half speed through each base.  Simulate full swing, use good base running technique at each base.

SERIES 2

1.  Repeat #1 above.

2.  Repeat #2 above.

3.  At 1B: 2 steals of 2B, LH pitcher on mound.  Runners 3 deep.

4.  At 3B, tag up situation.  Coach hits fly ball to OF (rotate OFs so they can run as well).  Two times for each runner, 3 runners at a time.  OFs make good throw to get runner.

5.  At 2B and on-deck: runner scoring on base hit, with play at plate.  Coach hits ground ball to OF, OF makes good throw to home plate (OF rotate into running).  On-deck hitter coaches home plate, giving signal "UP" or "DOWN." On-deck player rotates to 3B runner after coaching home plate.

6.  Hustle out to position from bench and back, three times.

    To make things more "fun" and interesting, you can divide your team into two groups to compete against each other based on their times to run various drills.  The losing group can run several laps or perform some other duty such as raking the field, with the winners getting to hit the showers!

    Remember, cutting just .1 (one tenth) of a second off of a player's running time is equal to 2-3 feet of distance.  This can be the difference between an IF hit or an out, or a stolen base and an out - and quite possibly, a win or a loss!

(C) 2005, Baseball Fit LLC. All Rights Reserved. Quotations with attribution permitted. Cite source as Steve Zawrotny's BASEBALL FIT Hitting & Pitching Academy - www.BaseballFit.com

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