Get Quick or Get Gone - Baseball players need hand speed, foot speed, and bat speed.

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I Truly Believe that on the Field, the Game becomes about 3 things:

• Hand Speed
• Foot Speed
• Bat Speed

I also believe that NOT every player is born with the quick twitch muscles necessary for these 3 important traits to become second nature on a ballfield... much of this can be taught and learned... through years of training.

Some Great News

There are plenty of little "cheats" that players can be taught and sometimes will figure out on their own.

Watch The Japanese Players

I swear that every Japanese ballplayer I see in America is at least Major League Average in all of the 5 tools in which ballplayers are measured (ok, maybe a slight exaggeration).

I doubt they were all born that way...they were trained... and Japanese practices are legendary for their attention to detail.
(Note that Japan beat the world in the 2009 World Professional Baseball Classic, with Korea taking 2nd place.)

Time Everything

All of this is the primary reason why I believe that you need to time everything from catchers throws down to 2nd base (the most violent throw in baseball, so limit the numbers that you test during any session), to the time it takes your pitchers to deliver a pitch from the stretch to the number of seconds it takes each of your players to reach 2nd base from where they take their lead on 1st base... (that's what those stopwatches hanging from 1st base coaches pockets are for)... now you know.

By timing everything... then working on improving specific areas   of your game or that of your players... over a season or off season, newfound quickness will be achieved... and that is how you stay on the field.

A Quickness Tool I Swear By

Our Pancake Training Glove will quicken up any infielder or catcher forcing them to improved quickness through better footwork and allowing the hands to work together for turning those double plays and relays and pick offs and steals that catchers must defend against!

My Team's Game

We had 4 pancake gloves on 4 infielders where we placed them in a line with the 1st player 1 step behind 2nd base on the shortstop side.

I underhand toss from a knee or on bucket #1, perfect feeds to these "shortstops" and they would in turn find the bag with their feet and quickly trap (you can't and shouldn't catch), transfer the ball to the throwing hand and then throw on the 1st Baseman who simply refilled empty bucket #2 with these completed throws. Note that we emphasized the 1st basemans proper footwork too.

What you Will Need

• 36 Baseballs
• 1-2 Coaches Bucket (hold 50 balls)
• 4 pancake gloves
• 1- 1st baseman,
• 1-2 coaches

The Building Block Steps

Make It A Game. Players love to compete/
Each successful game-speed catch & throw receives 1 point.

Step #1 - Perfect Feeds
3 rounds at 1/2 speed for teaching & tweaking purposes
3 rounds at 3/4 speed for confidence
3 rounds at game speed*
Then refill bucket #1

Step #2 - Low Feeds
3 rounds at half speed for teaching & tweaking purposes
3 rounds at 3/4 speed for confidence 3 rounds at game speed*
Then refill bucket #1

Step #3 - High Feeds
3 rounds at half speed for teaching & tweaking purposes
3 rounds at 3/4 speed for confidence
3 rounds at game speed*
Then refill bucket #1

*This also means to go beyond game-speed levels for older players... you can always make it a do or die situation... complete with utilizing your stopwatch for the fastest times. It's the Fun-Stuff and the   makings of the web gems players see on ESPN!

Summary Notes:

Adjust attempts and degrees of difficulty for your players skill and age level.

Our Awesome Pitch Back Backyard Trainer

Remember those pitchbacks that you have seen for years? Most of them are junk but the idea is awesome and loads of fun for single player quickness training.

I had more fun with my own son, even up through High School by going out to the backyard and playing a game we made up that had about the same rules as tennis or racquetball.

Our Pitch Back and Rookie Pitch Back models allow work and play with groundballs, drives and even short pop ups.

Our Game

We simply threw and caught, where all bobbled or mis-played balls added a "run" to the throwers score...1st to 11 is the winner... and you must win by 2 (ratcheting up the competition when you are at your weakest and most tired).
A great cardio and skill drill/game that would allow even a dad to sweat, compete & dive to make game-saving catches (FYI - My nickname was "Old Man River").

In Summary

You may never be closer to your own child than when you are doing something fun in baseball...it goes so quick, you don't want to miss a thing. These drills are really just fun...they just happen to be the drills that produce quicker ballplayers... Always strive to find ways to make these times fun!

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