Welcome to Baseball Speed
Training To Increase Baseball Speed Article
This is a selection made from among articles on Training To Increase Baseball Speed. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for future reading, click here.
Speed Training - Maximum Velocity Running
from:by Patrick Beith CSCS, PES, USATF Lv. II
Training speed is more then just working on acceleration and trying to sprint as fast as possible. You must actually coach your athletes how to run and stay relaxed, especially when they are running at top speed.
Maximum Velocity is another way of saying running at full speed. The point in a race, workout or game that you reach maximum velocity depends on strength levels, experience and running mechanics. However, regardless of where and when you reach full speed, there are some differences in running mechanics and effort when compared to acceleration.
When running at full speed, you no longer need to try and apply the same level of force to the track as during acceleration. This is a common mistake among inexperienced athletes. Now that you are at full speed, you will be completely upright (perpendicular to the ground) and your body will no longer be leaning at an angle as you were during acceleration. By continuing to try to run faster and faster throughout a run, as though you were still accelerating, you are actually going to have a breakdown in running mechanics. By continuing to try to accelerate while beginning to fatigue, you will only slow yourself down faster because you can not continue to coordinate your movements with accuracy.
Instead, you want to relax or 'float' during maximum velocity. What this means is that you want to ease back in the amount of effort you are expending while running, but without slowing down and losing any speed. This idea sounds contradictory and like any new skill, it takes some practice to perfect. While running, you want to continue to step over the opposite knee, but instead of driving the ball of the foot down into the ground, you are just going to tap the foot downward, letting the ground come to you. Continue to drive the elbows down and back at the same speed, but without the same intensity as during the early part of your run. Remember, you are not going to get any faster at this point so energy conservation is important. We know that your brain tells you to keep running harder so that you do not slow down, but you have to fight the urge to do that and run smart. It is the ability to make these types of adjustments that can be the difference in running a fast time, outrunning an opponent or chasing one down to make the play.
Maximum Velocity Cues
Continue to step over the opposite knee, but let the ground come to you.
FLOAT - Ease back in intensity, but don't slow down. Fight the urge to continue to run faster and harder. One of the goals of top speed training is to learn how to decelerate the slowest. The athlete who decelerates the slowest runs the fastest. Relaxation is the only way to decrease the speed at which you slow down.
Sample Speed Workouts:
1. Fly 20s, 30s and 40s:
Place a cone at the starting line, at 15y, at 35y and at 55y. Accelerate hard to the first cone (15y). Maintain the speed you have generated by running relaxed and following the maximum velocity cues from 15 - 35y. Once you hit 35y, slowly decelerate for the next 20y coming to a full stop at the last cone. This is a fly 20. Once you are comfortable holding that speed for 20y, you can move the second cone to 45y (fly 30s) and 55y (fly 40s). Total volume for these workouts should be between 250 - 350 yards.
2. Sprint/Float/Sprint
Place a cone at the starting line, 15y, 25y, 35y, 45y and at 65y. Accelerate hard to the first cone (15y). Maintain a hard sprint for 10y, focusing on maintaining the speed and intensity created during acceleration. Once you hit the next cone (25y) go into a float by easing back in intensity (don't try to continue to get faster) without losing any speed. At the next cone (35y) go back to a hard sprint, running at full intensity and trying to increase your speed. At the next cone (45y), shut down by slowly coming to a stop. You should not be at a complete stop before the final cone at 65y, giving you a full 25 yards to slow down.
Those are just a couple workouts you can perform to help your athletes clean up their form and not tense up during competition.Try and keep the workouts in as much as a 'game-time' situation as possible so your athletes can practice staying relaxed and it will seem to come natural during the real thing.
About the author:
Patrick Beith is a Performance Consultant for Athletes' Acceleration, Inc, http://www.AthletesAcceleration.com.
To learn more about speed training and for free access to Coach Beith's Speed Training Report - Secrets to Developing Dominant Speed visit: http://www.CompleteSpeedTraining.com
Training To Increase Baseball Speed Specific links
Training To Increase Baseball Speed News
Community Sports - Visalia Times-Delta
Clinic — Train with the pros at the Chamberlin Baseball Academy Winter Clinic for ages 7-15 on Dec. 22-23 and 27. Prices: $95 for winter clinic, $55 for pitching and catching clinic, $135 for both camps and $55 for junior hitting camp on Jan. 10 ...
Read more...DOB weighs in on Vazquez - Atlanta Journal Constitution
The entry titled "What of the Vazquez trade? I think....," and any of the comments about it. I’ve known aces. Aces have been friends of mine (OK, that’s a stretch). And you, Javier Vazquez, are no ace. That said, Vazquez is a definite middle ...
Read more...Hey, Hoynsie! - Cleveland Plain Dealer
Got an Indians question? Send it in. Submit your question to cleveland.com/heyhoynsie , and Plain Dealer Indians beat writer Paul Hoynes will choose several to answer each Sunday here in the sports section. All of Paul's answers are archived online ...
Read more...New CIP request approved by panel, goes to supervisors - Northern Virginia Daily
WINCHESTER — Road improvements, an aquatic facility and more parking spots at Bowman Library — all are part of a wish-list of projects now headed to the Frederick County Board of Supervisors for discussion. Members of the county Planning ...
Read more...Register for FREE - Wall Street Journal
Please register to gain free access to WSJ tools. An account already exists for the email address entered. Parents’ obsession over their kids’ athletic skills never seems to end. The latest case in point: A front-page report about a new kit that ...
Read more...Gaming and Culture - CNET News
NEW YORK--"Even in a down year that we're all facing, this industry's growing," said J.J. Richards, the newly appointed general manager of in-game advertising company Massive, at an advertiser event Wednesday. "Versus other mediums," Richards said ...
Read more...Hot stove odds and ends - San Francisco Gate
If the Braves and Padres complete their much-discussed trade sending Jake Peavy to Atlanta, the Giants' (and A's) pursuit of shortstop Rafael Furcal could be impacted. Media reports suggest the Braves would consider a push for Furcal if they send ...
Read more...Posted by Seth Landman, Special to ESPN.com - ESPN.com
It won't rank very high on my list of things for which I am thankful, but it was nice to see J.R. Smith have a huge game for the Nuggets in their Thanksgiving loss to the Hornets after I spent the whole offseason believing he was about to have a huge ...
Read more...Ted Rogers: A Titan and a Visionary - MSN MoneyCentral
TORONTO , Dec. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - It is with great sadness that Rogers Communications Inc. announces the death of company founder Edward Samuel "Ted" Rogers , a visionary communications industry pioneer and a titan in Canadian business. He ...
Read more...Once Greyhound Racing is banned ! - Harness Link.com
How easy is it for harness racing to be prohibited in your state? Easier than you think. On November 4, over the course of just 13 hours, a sports and business institution spanning a period of over seven decades was shattered by a state's electorate ...
Read more...