For [tag]baseball[/tag] and softball players to jump high enough to catch flying balls and run fast enough to beat a baseman, they need strong leg muscles. While the running drills will help with this, drills based just on leg strength are also important. For [tag]high school coaching[/tag] as well as little league, this [tag]drill[/tag] does that–placing an emphasis on the quadriceps and the glutes. 
To do leaping [tag]lunges[/tag], athletes should start with their legs apart, farther than shoulder width. They should bend their knees until their legs make a 90 degree angle, with their knees over their feet. Their arms should be clasped behind their backs. From the lunged position, athletes should push into the air, jumping until their legs are straight. They land back in the lunged position.
Coaches should tell athletes to focus on doing the move safely for their knees and feet. When they land, they need to roll through the foot, starting at the ball of the foot. From the ball of the foot, athletes should press down through the foot, ending with the heel on the ground. This prevents damage to the foot, since there is not so much pressure put on the foot joint.
Coaches also need to inform athletes of the importance of keeping their knees over their feet. If an athlete lets their knees bend too far over the feet, so that their knees extend over the ankles, they risk injuring their knees. Also, if athletes keep their knees from overextending, they will use their gluteal muscles and not just their quadriceps muscles.