When Speed Is More Than Stolen Bases

When people think about speed in baseball, they usually think about stolen bases. While stolen bases are certainly one of the benefits of having an athletic team, speed impacts nearly every aspect of the game. It changes how we defend, how we run the bases, how we put pressure on the opposition, and ultimately, how many games we win.

At Lansing Community College, speed has become part of our identity. As a result, we've consistently been one of the top stolen base teams in the country. Those numbers aren't the goal. They're the byproduct. Our goal is to develop athletes who can impact the game in every phase.

My passion for speed development began long before I entered college coaching. While I was still in the private sector, I earned my Speed and Agility Certification because I wanted to better understand how athletes move and how those movements could be developed. Although training methods and technology have evolved over the years, those principles still serve as the foundation for how we develop our players today.

Every season, we're looking for ways to improve. Speed development is one of those areas because it affects so many parts of the game. We work to improve acceleration, sprint mechanics, change of direction, and overall athletic movement, knowing that even small gains can make a difference over the course of a season.

Speed influences far more than baserunning. Defensively, it allows outfielders to close the gap on balls that might otherwise become extra-base hits. It helps infielders cover more ground and make plays that slower teams simply cannot make. Offensively, speed creates pressure, forces rushed decisions, and turns routine plays into close plays. In a game where inches and fractions of a second often determine the outcome, speed gives your team more opportunities to win.

One of the biggest lessons we've learned is that speed should be measured, not guessed. That's why we've built our speed development around six-week testing and retesting cycles. Every athlete begins with a baseline, trains with purpose, and then retests to measure progress. The data creates accountability, gives our players confidence, and helps us make better coaching decisions.

We don't train speed because it's popular. We train speed because we've seen firsthand how it changes games.

Because our speed tracking system has been such a valuable part of our program, we've decided to make it available to other coaches. If you're looking for a simple way to organize your testing, track your athletes' progress, and bring more accountability to your speed development, you can download our Speed Tracking System for free on the Resources page here at CoachCutter.com.

Whether you coach youth baseball, high school, college, or another sport entirely, I hope the system helps you build faster athletes and a more competitive team.