Four Ways to Improve Your Base-Running Speed

By Thomas E Wilson

Whoever claims that you can not make improvements to your base-running speed is certainly wrong! Despite the fact that each player has a maximum potential speed, barely anybody actually gets to that. There is a bunch of room to improve, and it is crucial to do just that! Speed is an extremely critical aspect scouts look for while watching players. Granted, you'll find exceptions to the rule, nevertheless usually you need to have at least average speed to get a chance at reaching the major leagues. Don't worry if you've got below average speed though, as there are a lot of ways to improve.

1. Good Mechanics: This is the most significant aspect to improving your baseball "speed." The best part about this is you don't actually have to run faster! You merely need to find out the way to run correctly. Proper body angle while running, lifting the knees high enough for the perfect stride, as well as swinging the arms high enough with the ideal angle at the elbow joint are all items you should work on when improving your running mechanics. It would take way to long to discuss how you can do each one of these things in just one paragraph, but you can find lots of training books and DVDs available that are specifically dedicated to good running technique.

2. Reaction Time: Reaction time is the stretch of time between the cue to run and when you actually start running. A baseball example of reaction time is the amount of time it takes for you to react when the ball is hit, or a base-runner stealing on a pitcher's first movement. The simplest way to improve reaction time is to just practice getting balls hit to you in various locations and then reacting to them and fielding them. There are also reaction balls out on the marketplace that will bounce in random directions and you have to react in time to catch it. You don't need to have very good reaction time to succeed in baseball, however if you don't you at least have to make up for it by superb positioning. For example if you're a shortstop and you know what kind of pitch the pitcher is going to throw, you want to get yourself in a great position where the ball will likely come before the hitter even hits the ball!

3. Base-running Skill: You may be capable of running fast, but how fast can you run the bases? Do you hit the inside corner of the bag as you round a base? If you do not, you will be making yourself take a longer loop in the direction of the next bag likely increasing the distance you will have to run from around 90 feet to 100 feet or more! Simple errors like this are enough to make the difference between being safe or being out. Also being a smart base-runner can make a huge difference! A smart base-runner can easily turn a single into a double simply because he knows if each outfielder's arm is good, poor, or average.

4. Fitness: Most likely there is some area for improvement in your overall fitness level. By exercising on a regular basis and focusing some of your baseball workouts on cardio exercises like running on the treadmill or using a stationary bike, your speed will improve over time.

Are you interested in improving your base-running speed or any other aspect of your game? If so, make sure to check out www.BestBaseballWorkouts.com for more information as well as tons of great products to take your game to the next level! With this information, you're baseball workouts will be more effective than ever!

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