Can anyone give me advice or drills that will enable our hitters to increase the speed in which they leave the batter’s box after hitting the ball? At last weekend’s tournament, we were thrown out at 1st base, by less than 6 inches, on at least 8 occasions. We are willing to try anything. On all of the outs, the girls did not slow up when approching the 1st and ran past the bag.
Increasing Speed From The Batter's Box
- Thread starter coach D'E
- Start date
Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch
Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.
That's great that your girls are not slowing down. That's usually a common culprit.
Aside from working on running speed in general, you can also practice getting out of the box. Often times coaches will have players practice hitting or practice running, but hardly ever both where players actually hit then run down the line in practice. So sometimes it's simply a matter of actually practicing this more rather than only having players do it in games.
Aside from working on running speed in general, you can also practice getting out of the box. Often times coaches will have players practice hitting or practice running, but hardly ever both where players actually hit then run down the line in practice. So sometimes it's simply a matter of actually practicing this more rather than only having players do it in games.
Last edited by a moderator:
depending on the age, girls like to take a look at where the ball went on contact,
it is difficult to break them of the habit of watching the ball. This usually constitutes at least one step
from Home-1st
it is difficult to break them of the habit of watching the ball. This usually constitutes at least one step
from Home-1st
- Dec 28, 2008
- 386
- 0
Drill - Stand a few feet up the line on a bucket holding a ball that will bounce like basketball, kick ball or whatever. Hold the ball out and as soon as the girl swings you release the ball and they must catch it before it bounces a second time. As they progress you just move a little further up the line to enforce them exploding quicker.
Out by 6" - Are they running 60' to the base and being thrown out by 6" or are they running 61 1/2 feet and being thrown out by 6"? What? The front of the bag is 1 1/2 feet closer or so to home than the back of the bag is and they are just as safe touching it as they are when they touch the middle of the bag or the back of the bag. If they are stepping on the middle of the bag and are out by 6" that's easy to fix quickly ... practice-practice-practice running to the front tip of the bag. In a race we would never give anyone a lead or let them run a shorter distance than us, but typically teams never even focus on the front of the bag they are looking up the line and just accept whatever distance they end up running.
Out by 6" - Are they running 60' to the base and being thrown out by 6" or are they running 61 1/2 feet and being thrown out by 6"? What? The front of the bag is 1 1/2 feet closer or so to home than the back of the bag is and they are just as safe touching it as they are when they touch the middle of the bag or the back of the bag. If they are stepping on the middle of the bag and are out by 6" that's easy to fix quickly ... practice-practice-practice running to the front tip of the bag. In a race we would never give anyone a lead or let them run a shorter distance than us, but typically teams never even focus on the front of the bag they are looking up the line and just accept whatever distance they end up running.
Similar threads
