Baserunning Conditioning Drill

This drill is used to help condition players and to increase their running speed.  It comes from Coach Kenny Buford.
How it Works:
All players line-up at home plate. The coach will blow the whistle to signal the first player in line should begin. Once the first player gets a third of the way to first then the whistle should be blown and the next player should begin. This should continue until all the players are running around the bases.

The players should change their running style at each base.

From home to first the players should be kicking their butt. They should be kicking up their heels and kicking their butts with their heels. The goal isn’t to go fast from home to first. The goal is to kick their butt as many times as possible.

From first to second, the players should be running with high knees. They should be kicking their knees up so that their knees come up above their waist. Again, the goal isn’t to go fast from first to second; the goal is to kick up the knees as many times as possible.

From second to third the players should use the “hop/skip.” Players should skip and kick up their knees one leg at a time. As they kick-up their knee they should also bring-up their arm on the same side. For example, as they kick-up their right knee they should be bringing up their right arm.

From third to home the player should sprint as fast as possible.

This drill takes a lot of energy if it is run correctly.

Coaching Points:

The coach should make sure that each player is performing each part of the drill correctly. Again, the only part of the drill that should be fast is from third to home. The coach should tell the players to keep the same space at all times. Then the coach can make sure that the first player is going the proper speed and this will ensure that all the other players are doing it correctly.