Effective baseball drills help in boosting a player's confidence and improving his game. This write-up provides information on agility training for baseball.
For every baseball player, agility is the most sought after attribute. This is a game where swift movements are extremely essential for winning the game. Every player strives to achieve agility. A player's fitness is reflected by the way he accelerates, decelerates, and changes directions in a swift manner. Several players and athletes have been able to gain superior athletic abilities by being by showing dedication towards the sport during their baseball agility drills. These help in improving the athlete's performance and resilience, besides greatly reducing the chances of injury. The aim of the drills for Major league stars is to focus on building on their strength, agilit, and speed. These will help the players enhance their speed along with the ability to switch directions. Such training sessions can also help to reduce response time and will certainly help the player achieve greater infield coverage, a quicker break to run down a fly ball, and to be able to field a ball of the mound as swiftly as possible.
Agility Drills for Baseball
The following drills are usually recommended by coaches. These will help you improve footwork and make you agile.
Lateral Bounds
This drill aids in lateral speed. It is of tremendous help in hitting, planting, and cutting. To practice a lateral bound, stand on your right foot and jump as high and as far as possible to your left and land on your left foot. Repeat the lateral bound with your left leg. Perform around two to three sets of three to five bounds with a minute's worth of rest between sets.
Base Rotations
For this drill, think of a large X on the ground. Place your feet at the terminals of one leg of the X. Square up your shoulders and rotate the hips 45 degrees. Try to rotate the hips so that the feet move from one leg of the X to the other. Sweat the abs and core to ensure the rotation of the lower body. The shoulders should be square and then proceed to pump your arms in the opposite direction of the legs. This drill should be practiced for two sets of around five seconds and then work it up to a level of two sets of six to eight seconds. If this comes easily, then try to perform three sets of five seconds and work it up to six to eight second sets. Rest for only a minute between the sets.
The Three-Hurdle Drill
This drill enables a more rapid response by quickening the feet. This enhances the fielding range, reduces the reaction time, and pushes the speed and quickness for base running of the players. To perform this drill, you should setup three six-inch high obstacles with each one being a yard apart. Straddle the first hurdle with the left foot on the outer side of the hurdle. Then try to dash laterally over the hurdles to the right. While stepping over the last hurdle, plant the right foot and try to hold this position for at least three seconds. Repeat this drill while sprinting laterally to the left now. Hold this position on the left foot as you step over the last hurdle. Perform at least two to three sets of four to six repetitions. You should rest for a minute between sets of this drill.
The objective of the aforementioned drills is to increase strength, stamina, speed, power, and agility. Make use of these drills, so that you can excel at playing baseball.
