When you start your practices for the season, new teams need to run through basic baserunning drills. You may have beginners on your team or players who have not been thoroughly coached in all aspects of base running. These drills can be accomplished quickly with players doing them one after another and can also be a good change of pace in between drills or at the end of practice.

Running through first base

The most basic of all drills for beginners is to run all the way through first base. You will want to set up a cone 5-10 feet past first base or have a coach stand there and high-five the player once they’ve gone far enough through first base.

Once players have accomplished that, you may also want to add in breaking down and looking for an overthrow.

Stopping on second base

The ability to overrun first base sometimes confuses players and they think they can also overrun second base. The next drill would be running as fast as you can and stopping on the bag at second base.

Scoring from second base

If you’re doing these drills sequentially you can now have players practice rounding third and sprinting through Home plate. You can use cones to help them understand how to take a banana turn through third-base as opposed to trying to run it at a 90° angle.

Rounding first base

Rounding first base involves veering into foul territory to get a good round going and touching the inside corner of first base. You can draw a line in the dirt for rounding when the ball is in right field or centerfield and a further line in the dirt for when the ball is in left field or left-center. You will also want to cover picking up the ball, advancing on a bobble by the fielder and returning to first base.

Fun baserunning drills

Finish off the instructional drills with some fun drills.

Baserunning relay

Line up half of your players at second base and the other half at home. Have two players go head to head on a two base race and watch to see which player wins. You can work towards a championship by eliminating the players who lose.

Speed inning

Have all of your players lineup near home. Have the first player fake swing and run through first. When he returns to first base have the second player fake swing and the player on first advances to second. Players continue advancing base to base until they score. They can then join the back of the line until it’s their turn again.

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