SPEED IN RELATION TO BASEBALL How do the speed phases - drive, recovery, acceleration and maintenance - relate to baseball players?  For one, they must drive and recover laterally, backward and forward while playing on defense.  As they switch to offense, they must run straight or linearly down the base path while running on a curve around the bases.  Base runners utilize great acceleration and speed between the bases especially considering the distance is greatly reduced by base leads and slide zones.  As runners, baseball players are unique in that while attempting to steal bases they must run in one direction while looking in another direction.  As he attempts to steal second base, for example, he must fall towards second base while looking towards home plate.  The player benefits by being able to add to the intensity and recovery of the fall by looking inside. And it also helps him to locate the ball and determine his course of action such as sliding into second, or rounding second and continuing to third should the catcher mishandle the ball.  On defense the same applies for infielders and outfielders as they handle ground balls and track fly balls. All Our Speed Training Programs Incorporates Our Proven Speed Formula & Advanced Training Equipment SPEED AND ACCELERATION Phases of Speed: Maximum Speed - 95 - 100% running effort .  This is when highest stride frequency and stride lengths are reached.  In most sports including baseball maximum speed is rarely reached. Top Speed - Very short lasting.  It occurs for only one or two seconds and is followed by a slowing phase. Acceleration:  The main focal point for baseball players is acceleration.  Quick acceleration allows us to steal bases, get jumps on fly balls, beat ground balls out at first and make the outstanding fielding play in the hole.  Improving your acceleration rate is more crucial than speed itself.  Improving acceleration requires the following: 1) Specificity - Exercises and training drills that mimic the competition skill. 2) Resistance and Overload Principle - Challenge the muscles.  Speed and acceleration only improve if the load is steadily increased. 3) Overall Speed Drills - Process of forcing the body to move faster than its normal top speed. 4) Mechanics - sound biomechanical efficiency. 5) Mental focus - See yourself improving your speed and acceleration with focused and concentrated work. 6) Effort - How much you improve will be decided by your desire, time and effort.  IMPROVING SPEED AND ACCELERATION Resisted Sprinting:  Resisted sprinting is very good for improving sprint technique as well as applying sprint power.  You have to concentrate on quick arm action to get more power.  We want to teach ourselves to improve speed with each step.  Powering through the resistance alone is not enough, you still want your legs and arm running at maximum speed.  You want to send your body the message you are fast, not just powerful. Overspeed Training:  Overspeed is the process of forcing the body to move faster than its normal speed.  It forces the neuromuscular system to send messages to   the muscles to contract faster.  Overspeed forces you to relax which will   help you to run faster.  Overspeed helps to improve four key areas of speed:  1) Stride frequency is improved 2) Develops longer strides 3) Sustain top speed longer 4) Sprint more relaxed in controlled Contrast: After resisted sprinting and overspeed exercises, always immediately follow with a contrast sprint.  This gives your body a feeling of freedom and teaches it the feeling of running faster.  Eventually it learns this process and your speed improves. Application: Use resisted and overspeed training to assist in the following: 1) Starts - first 10 - 20 yards 2) Crossover steps 3) Change of direction movements