In today’s blog post, I’m going to discuss a variety of baseball conditioning drills that will work on agility and quickness.
Line Drills
These are simple–a great training tool. Put both feet together so they’re working at the same time. Do side-to-side jumps.
Over and back is one repetition. Do 10 as quickly as you can. Keep the toes pulled up toward the shins so you can respond to the ground as quickly as possible.
Now do one foot hops. Simply just start on one foot, do the same thing. Over and back is one repetition–do 10.
Three sets of 10 on each of these is great for increasing your speed and quickness.
Now let’s face the line and go forward and back. Pop off the foot. Don’t stab the toes into the ground. Pull the toes up so that you bounce off the ground.
Do both feet, then go to single-leg.
Next are ski jumps with both feet together, moving forward. Go side to side across the line, both forward and then back.
Running & Skipping Turn-Ons
With this baseball conditioning drill, we want to turn on and off the speed on our command.
We’re going to use a simple five to 10 yard distance using a jog and then wildly fast feet. Start slow, go into real fast feet. We want to keep the toes pulled up and bounce off the ground.
Now let’s go to skipping. This is really going to challenge the rhythm and synchronization of your skills. You master this baseball conditioning drill, you’re going to be quicker.
Start with a slow skip, step down to the ground quickly. You’ve got to really concentrate on stepping down and increasing that rhythm. This is a tough skill that teaches the brain and the muscles to work together. We’ve got to force speed out of the body. This’ll challenge you in ways you never dreamed.
Down and back is one repetition. Do three sets of three repetitions, trying to get at least three changes of speed each time you go.
Ball Drops
You’ll need a partner and a ball to do this drill. Very simply, the person doing the explosive running is trying to get to the ball before it bounces twice.
You’ll need to adjust your distance according to your athlete’s skill and ability. Don’t make it too easy, don’t make it too difficult.
We want to not have a false step. We want everything to be positive, going forward. Don’t take that negative or backward step. Jump and explode into a full sprint.
Now let’s start from a lateral position and do crossover ball drops. When the ball drops, cross over, explode into a sprint, and catch the ball before it bounces twice. Make sure you work each direction to balance up your skill and ability.
Now do backward ball drops. This drill works off a verbal command. The partner with the ball says “ball” and drops it at the same time.
Our athlete has to pivot and open the hip as they go backward. Make sure to work equally right and left sides.
We want to do sets of three to five each direction. Do forward ball drops, crossovers each direction, and backward.
If you like these, make sure to check out our complete collection baseball conditioning drills. You’ll find fresh, fun ideas for improving strength, speed, agility, and quickness… all designed to boost your baseball performance!