3 Conditioning Drills for Baseball Players
Baseball season will be here before you know it so it’s time to step up training and focus on conditioning for the season ahead. The aim of targeted drills is to prepare the body for the demands, thrills and spills of the competition ahead. It’s not enough to have pristine youth baseball uniforms primed and ready for action. Your body needs to be in tip-top condition too. If you’re counting down the days until it’s time to play ball, here are 3 great conditioning drills for baseball players.
Building-Up Sprints
Baseball requires you to sprint, but often, you’ll move at maximum speed in fits and starts. Building-up sprints are designed to get the body used to going up a gear and hitting full speed from a moving start. Rather than setting out on a 100-meter dash, build up your speed gradually. Set out a 60-meter area with cones at the 30-meter mark. Start at 50% for the first 30 meters and then put your foot down and go all-out for the final 30 meters. This drill is very simple, you can do it anywhere, and it’ll get you used to changing speed quickly, building pace and speeding up your footwork.
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Sled Pushes
When you’re playing baseball, you’re hugely reliant on the power in your legs. If you’ve got strength in your legs, you can drive forward when you’re hitting, running between bases and moving around in the field. Sled pushes are an excellent way of building leg strength and increasing your speed and stamina. You can choose to load the sled with weights if you really want a challenge. When you’re awaiting a ball, you want to have confidence that you can hit that ball as hard as possible. You don’t just need strong arms and a solid core to get the best results. You need to be able to drive through the legs and hips to reach the next level.
The X Drill
The X drill is a very simple but effective exercise, which is ideal for increasing speed and agility in the build-up to baseball season. If you’ve had time off, and you’re feeling a little rusty, this will sharpen up your fielding skills and increase your speed in perfect time to hit the field. For this drill, you’ll need a set of four cones, which are positioned in an X shape. The cones should be placed at an equal distance from the center. The player starts in the middle of the X. They then move from the center to one cone and then back to the center, repeating this action moving around the X shape to cover every point. The stance should be solid, and players should be encouraged to stay low. Moving between the cones and the center point requires quick feet, coordination, balance, a rapid change of direction, and stamina and endurance in the legs.
Baseball is a game that requires a broad set of skills. Conditioning is all about building fitness, working on specific muscle groups and attributes that are essential for playing ball, and giving you the confidence to start the season feeling like you’re in great shape. These three simple drills are designed to build strength and stamina and increase speed, agility, and balance.
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