How fast to first base????

[stickpile39]

thanks iM:

resources for proper technique?

 

[iMlearning]

There are a ton of videos that show proper technique on the internet. Here is one that is very basic. Proper Running Techniques | eHow.co.uk
I see a lot of girls swinging their arms in front of their body instead of using them in a forward motion- that is if they swing them at all. My DD is now swinging them a lot better except she could pump them higher and harder then she currently does to get more forward momentum.

 

[SBFAMILY]

Our very own Marc Dagenais on this site is good. My dd got some very good pointers from him. Currently she is working with a former player from Ohio State, that was rated the fastest player in the state at one time. You can always get quicker, not just faster.

 

[redhotcoach]

My dd(s) work with a football receiver. The single thing they work most is arms. He is always saying if your arms are fast, your feet will catch up, and cheek to cheek(face to butt). They work arm motion sitting holding 5 lb plates. Sit on floor feet out front straight a dumbell in each hand and move across floor just using arm movement to get momentum. The best thing that is helping them is a lot of work on the speed ladder.

Footwork: The biggest thing with kids coming into his speed class is overstriding and landing on their heel. They watch alot of video of olympic sprinters. They land on the balls of their feet and their feet land barely in front of their body. If you drew a line on their foot motion, it would be a circle. Their foot is moving back before it hits the ground, almost like pedaling a bicycle.

 

[shockcoach]

One of my former players has been timed at 2.62 at the combines in CA last year. There's fast and then there's crazy fast. She is crazy fast. Whenever she got on base for me, I expected her to be standing on 3rd two pitches later.

 

[glf0845]

My DD's profile has her timed at 2.7 home to first. She is consider a speedy lefty slapper outfielder and verbaled to a mid D1 college as a jr. The secrete is exploding from the plate and her trainer taught her how.

 

[Bcusano]

My daughter (Soph) was timed at 3.03..she was the 2nd fastest. Seems the avg was around 3.2-3.4

 

[JAD]

My top 14U players home to first time is about 3 seconds. I consider anything under 3.2 to be fast and 3.3 - 3.5 to be the average. Anything over 3.5 would be slow. For a 9 YO I would add about a second to these times. On the low end your DD's speed would be considered average and on the high end slow.

DITTO.....would also like to add that anyone who runs a sub 3.0 second home to first is FAST!!! Fastest players we have seen run @ 2.8 in A-level 14U TB. Clocking a girls time is a little like hand timing football players in a 40-yard dash - a coach can cut the time significantly with a late start trigger and quick finish trigger, so take everyone's claimed speeds with a grain of salt.

 

[JAD]

Also - some coaches time home to first with a simulated swing, while others use a runners stance from the batters box, so all times are subjective. Girls who start from the left handed batters box also have a two step advantage.

 

[mtnbama]

Our second year 14U team has been working on speed and quickness drills since the fall, and I probably time them home to first every practice just to show them how much they are improving.

The way I time them is that they all stand in the RH batter's box, I tell them to go, and I start the clock when their first foot hits the ground, and then stop obviously when they hit the bag.

Our average time just dropped to 2.95, with a range of 2.68 to 3.18. I've seen the different ways of timing, particularly soft toss/bunt and go, so a lot of the differences are in how you time the start. The main thing I'm looking for is showing how they improve, so as long as I'm consistent with how I time it, I get a read on that and on who is the fastest and slowest.

As for how these numbers compare to how it looks in real life -- I'd say my two fastest players are two of the fastest players we've played, so I don't think 2.68 overly exaggerates their speed. Our players in the 3.00+ are what i would consider average to slow. Put another way, I think if I timed using the bunt/soft toss, I'd add about .20 to their times.