How to condition?

Question

OK, I am moving up to Babe Ruth (1 level above little league) and I will be playing with 13-15yr old, I am 13. I guess I am pretty strong and can run kinda fast, but I need a little more practice. My dad and I have been playing catch, and kinda fielding grounders and pop-ups. I need ideas how to practice, what to work on, and how often I should practice.

Please be as helpful as you can because I am going to be picky on the best answer.

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Mentally playing the game is just as important as physically playing the game. I played 4 years of college ball and have been coaching for the last 5 years since ive been out. Though i do stress conditioning, it doesnt matter how fast or in shape you are if yuo cannot properly field a ground ball or fly ball. Your legs must be in shape, true..but your arm has to be better conditioned to make it through the season without fatigue. One way to develop arm strength is to do long toss about twice a week. Long toss not only strengthens, but it also stretches your arm. As far as conditioning, i stress plyometrics more than all out spriniting or jogging two miles. Footwork is one of the most important aspects of fielding. you need to work on angles and dropsteps, and you need to be able to have range in the infield without triping over your feet. Sprinting wont cure this. You need to do footwork drills to improve agility. If you are an infielder, work on getting the ball out of your glove quickly . If you are an outfielder, work on your angles to the ball. If you take ground balls and fly balls at 100%, that should be all the conditioning that you need at your age. Always go hard and practice like you play. If you are really concerned about your speed then remember these key numbers. For college aged players a good time to judge good speed is that you should be able to run from homeplate to first base in 4 seconds or less....you should also run a 60 yard dash (180 feet) in 7 seconds or less. If yuo have questions on drills to do, let me know.

Answer 2

It really depends on what position.

PITCHER- get a buddy to throw to. also play long toss, but work your way up to it.

CATCHER- Have someone throw short hops at you to block. Practice catching pop ups.

INFIELD- Field Grounder, practice double plays, field bunts

OUTFIELD- Catch popups, practice hitting your cut off man

BATTING- Hit off a tee, focus on your mechanics, take 100 swings a day. hit in a batting cage. Try using a wood bat

CONDITIONING- do sprints, jog just stay in shape, hit the weights

Answer 3

you need to keep your endurance up. run as much as you can. grounders and popups are the easy stuff. if you got that down already, then work on things that you're not so good at, or haven't done before.