How to Sprint Faster for Baseball and Softball

Gotta run fast if you want to score!

Building muscle memory is one of the most important aspects of training for athletes of all sports. When you train your body to properly perform sports-specific tasks, your skill level in that area should increase. When it comes to sprinting, there are multiple factors involved in being faster. Running faster requires good flexibility, explosive power and proper sprinting technique.

Instructions

Sprint Drills

1. Practice push-up sprints. Start in a push-up position on the ground. Keep your arms locked out, your back flat and feet together. Drive one leg forward, stay low and take off into your sprint.

2. Work on hill-climber sprints. From a push-up position, perform three hill climbers. To do this, drive your legs unilaterally between your arms while keeping your back flat and hips low. Immediately following the third hill climber, stay low and explode into your sprint.

3. Challenge yourself with leaning sprints. Stand tall with your feet together and arms at your sides. Rise up on your toes. When you reach peak height, lean forward and allow your body to begin falling. When your body gets to an angle of about 45 degrees or lower, drive one foot forward and begin your sprint. There is mental challenge associated with the drill -- you must trust yourself and know that you will be able to get your feet down before you fall and hit the ground. This is an excellent drill to teach your feet to respond quickly.

Tips & Warnings

• You can work on your strength and flexibility, but neither of these will make you faster. Pitchers increase arm speed by throwing, hitters develop more power by honing their swing; if you want to run faster, get out there and sprint.

• Rest between Sprinting repetitions to optimize your sprint performance -- try completing your sprint, then walking back to your starting position. Perform at least three to five reps of each sprint variation.

• All of these sprints should be done for a distance slightly shorter than your base path (80-foot sprints for 90-foot baselines, for example).

• Always warm up by performing jumping jacks, light jogging and dynamic stretching such as hip rotations and leg swings before practicing sprinting.

References

• Stack: For the Athlete by the Athlete
• Core Performance
• Strength Performance Network