For baseball and softball players to jump high enough to catch
flying balls and run fast enough to beat a baseman, they need
strong leg muscles. While the running drills will help with
this, drills based just on leg strength are also important. For
high school coaching as well as little league, this drill does
that–placing an emphasis on the quadriceps and the glutes.
To do leaping lunges, athletes should start with their legs
apart, farther than shoulder width. They should bend their knees
until their legs make a 90 degree angle, with their knees over
their feet. Their arms should be clasped behind their backs.
From the lunged position, athletes should push into the air,
jumping until their legs are straight. They land back in the
Coaches should tell athletes to focus on doing the move safely
for their knees and feet. When they land, they need to roll
through the foot, starting at the ball of the foot. From the
ball of the foot, athletes should press down through the foot,
ending with the heel on the ground. This prevents damage to the
foot, since there is not so much pressure put on the foot joint.
Coaches also need to inform athletes of the importance of keeping
their knees over their feet. If an athlete lets their knees bend
too far over the feet, so that their knees extend over the
ankles, they risk injuring their knees. Also, if athletes keep
their knees from overextending, they will use their gluteal
muscles and not just their quadriceps muscles.