The following kids baseball drills are ideal for helping your players to improve their power and quickness–two skills that will help them to be successful athletes.
Hurdle Jumps Drill
These are advanced. They’re explosive. You’ve got to really get everything from your body into these jumps.
Use a series of five to 10 track hurdles. Using both legs, arms, and a solid core, explode off the ground as you bounce repeatedly over each hurdle.
If this is too high, find an object that is a little bit lower but challenges your ability and skill level. Make sure to train safe. Use an object that can be knocked over or stepped on that’s not solid. You don’t want to scrape up your body and create an unsafe situation that you might get hurt.
Box Drops Drill
Here we want to use a box 12-20 inches high. Drop from the box with both feet, touch the ground, and explode into a sprint.
This loads the muscles and puts the pre-stretch on the power system to quickly respond and push off the ground. Pull the toes up, step down. Drive your hips forward. Elbows back. Keep that head up. Got to lock in good posture for force at the ground.
Harness Runs Drill
Now we want to provide a little bit of resistance. You’ll need a partner to do this drill and some type of a resistance harness.
Start from a nice tall position; we want good posture. Fall forward, hold that for a second, then do a nice technical run. Knee up, heel up, toe up, drive the elbows back. This is aggressive running. Moderate resistance, not heavy. We want good technique through the whole drill.
Now take the harness off and we want the free expression of speed. Resist it down, resist it back, now turn it loose. Let it know what speed really feels like. More muscle recruitment, turn it loose, and teach it how fast you want it to go.
If you don’t have a partner, pull an object. In this case we use about a 20-30 pound tire. We do the same thing that we did with our partners. Resistance down, resistance back, and then run free.
Down and back resisted and one free is one repetition. Do three sets of three repetitions.
Get Up’s Drill
These are for pure acceleration. Start in a flat position lying down on the ground. Now you want to push up and run all in one motion for about five to 10 yards.
Don’t stick the hips straight up in the air. Push up and drive your hips out. Gravity’s got a hold of you pulling you down and forward. Use that extra force to generate greater speed. Bring the knee up and toe up. Step down aggressively. Drive the elbows back. Keep your core solid. Suck in the belly button and tuck in the back to stabilize the core.
Now let’s start from the up position of push-up. Get a straight line from the ear to the ankle. Just simply explode into a sprint.
These are great for generating speed for base running. Down and back is one repetition. Do three sets of three repetitions.
Do you think these types of kids baseball drills could help your players improve upon their strength and speed? Why or why not? Sound off in the comments section below!