hill sprints

[baseballplaya92]

Whats everyones opinion on uphill sprints?

[StraightGrain11]

Great work out. Will definitely make you get your knees up and drive. Great for getting jumps on balls and getting out of the box. They're equally as tough on the way down - run 'em both ways. Running them downhill will help you lengthen your stride and build up your "impact mucles" - which help you with quick direction changes [on the fly].

[PhilliesPhan22]

I second.

[jamesh23]

Great work out. Will definitely make you get your knees up and drive. Great for getting jumps on balls and getting out of the box. They're equally as tough on the way down - run 'em both ways. Running them down hill will help you lengthen your stride and build up your "impact mucles" - which help you with quick direction changes [on the fly].

wouldnt going downhill tear up your knees pretty bad from the impact?

[StraightGrain11]

wouldnt going downhill tear up your knees pretty bad from the impact?

Never hurt mine. How do you expect to "build" something up if you don't put extra pressure or strain on it? Like anything else you do when you train - if it hurts, stop; if it doesn't, I guess that's to your advantage, isn't it?

[CoachB25]

Michael Johnson once spoke on his conditioning program and mentioned that he ran hills in both directions in a type nof overload, underload training. I am a believer and so, my teams did so after every practice. We have our fields along an access road that goes downhill. So, we run up 120 feet and down 120 feet. The players were not huge fans of it but they were always in great condition.

[Go Cardinals]

You want to get faster? try uphill and downhill sprints in water, or simply do sprints in water. When I swim, I sprint in the shallow end until I can't anymore (pool gets deeper.......). Then, I swim to the wall (depending on the day it may be a sprint or just nice and easy), then I come back. I start swimming, then at the same spot and then start sprinting. It has helped me a lot. I've had a sub 7 sixty time since I was in 8th grade.

[LAball]

Uphill might improve accelleration. Downhill sprints is said for overspeed training and top speed, but I dont like it. Top speed is all about rhythem and foot turn over which I cant concentrate on when going down hill cuz Im always afraid to fall flat on my face .

[korp]

They are tough if the hill is a good one ... pretty good conditioning though.

[Jon Doyle]

Great conditioning. But be careful on the incline. When it starts getting too steep, stride length is greatly reduced and this can have a negative impact on running speed.

Speed is stride length, stride frequency and ground force contact.

Most do not have proper running mechanics to handle downhill sprinting. Creates a great deal of stress on knees unless the decline is very low.

There are so many other ways to condition/improve speed that these are not needed in most cases.

[Go Cardinals]

Great conditioning. But be careful on the incline. When it starts getting too steep, stride length is greatly reduced and this can have a negative impact on running speed.

Speed is stride length, stride frequency and ground force contact.

Most do not have proper running mechanics to handle downhill sprinting. Creates a great deal of stress on knees unless the decline is very low.

There are so many other ways to condition/improve speed that these are not needed in most cases.

can you explain some of the other ways? I've been meaning to pm you this question for a while.

[Jon Doyle]

can you explain some of the other ways? I've been meaning to pm you this question for a while.

Here are a few. If you do these correctly you'll have 95% of the job done

-Proper strength training - focus on posterior chain and hip development
-Traditional sprinting - Keep it simple, just sprint. If you want momentum do what's called a "flying start". Build up to full speed over 10 or 20 yards then run full speed for 40-60.
-Proper running mechanics. Again, stride length, frequency and ground force contact.

[Go Cardinals]

Here are a few. If you do these correctly you'll have 95% of the job done

-Proper strength training - focus on posterior chain and hip development
-Traditional sprinting - Keep it simple, just sprint. If you want momentum do what's called a "flying start". Build up to full speed over 10 or 20 yards then run full speed for 40-60.
-Proper running mechanics. Again, stride length, frequency and ground force contact.

Could you elaborate a little more on proper running mechanics? or point me in the direction of some info that you think is good?

[LAball]

Acceleration is about pushing back with your feet and pumping arms. Top speed is about high knees, but in baseball you really dont get to top speed.

[Jon Doyle]

Least amount of wasted energy. Everything should be moving forward, not to the side. Most runner loses a great deal of time with wasted motion.

If we are talking baserunning, getting to top speed quickly is a huge advantage. same with certain areas of defense.