Ninety feet
The first two steps
Nobody reaches top speed between bases. The gap is won in the jump, and the jump is footwork, which means it can be trained instead of hoped for.
Home / Baseball speed training
Baseball speed training in the metro-east
Ninety feet, a route to the gap, and force out of the ground. Elite Speed coaches the movement underneath all three, in Granite City, Illinois.
5.0 from 11 Google reviewsFirst session $0From $30 a month
[ 01 ] Ninety feet
What does baseball speed training change?
Elite Speed trains baseball players in Granite City, Illinois on the same foundation every athlete here gets: footwork, running form and the first three steps. For a ballplayer that turns into a quicker jump off first, a cleaner route to the gap, and a swing that gets more out of the ground.
The IHSA runs the Illinois high school baseball state series into June, with the Class 1A and 2A finals at Illinois Field in Champaign. Travel ball fills most of what comes before it, which is why the speed work has to fit around a schedule rather than replace it.
Baseball punishes a slow first move harder than almost any sport, and it never gives you room to fix it. Ninety feet is decided in the first two steps off the bag. A ball in the gap is caught or not caught based on the route an outfielder picks in the first second. And a swing is a ground-force problem long before it is a hands problem. None of that gets coached at a travel practice, because travel practice is reps of hitting and fielding, which is exactly what it should be.
Built around the metro-east travel-ball calendar
Around here a ballplayer’s year does not stop. Fall ball rolls into winter cages, winter cages roll into spring, and there is never a clean block for anything else. Elite Speed runs on a flexible membership instead of a season, so your athlete comes when the calendar allows. Miss a week for a tournament and nothing is lost. Athletes come to this building from Granite City, Edwardsville, Collinsville, Belleville, O’Fallon, Glen Carbon, Troy, Maryville and Alton.
The same foundation, pointed at a diamond
Every athlete at Elite Speed works the same three things. What changes is what those three things buy you.
- First-step acceleration. The jump off the bag, the break on a ground ball, the read that turns into a stolen base instead of an out.
- Base-running mechanics. Running the bases is running, and running is teachable. Cleaner form means less time between bags without anybody working harder.
- Outfield tracking. Body control and a trained first step out of the ready position shorten the route to the same ball.
- Rotational power. A swing and a throw both start at the feet. Coordination and lower-body mechanics are where that force actually comes from.
Groups run 1 to 15 athletes, so a coach can watch your kid and fix the specific thing holding them back. It is the thing the Google reviews come back to.
[ 02 ] Three moments
Where ballplayers lose ground
Three moments decide most of the speed in this sport, and none of them last longer than a second.
The read
The route to the ball
An outfielder’s first move decides the catch. Better body control out of the ready position turns a bad angle into a routine play.
Force
It starts at the feet
Bat speed and arm strength both trace back to what the lower body does against the ground. Coordination there shows up everywhere else.
[ 03 ] On the calendar
“Love that it’s a pretty flexible program.”
★★★★★ Shannon A. · Google
See all reviews[ 04 ] Inside the hour
Sixty minutes, start to finish
Warm-up, speed and agility work, then a coach on one athlete at a time. You watch all of it.
Dynamic warm-up
Every session opens the same way. It is not filler. It is where hips and ankles get ready to do something useful, and it is the part most young athletes have never actually been taught.
Speed and agility work
Footwork, running form, and the first three steps out of a stance. This is the block that shows up on the base paths and in the outfield, and it is the same block every sport here runs.
One correction at a time
Coaches take time with each athlete to fine-tune technique. One kid, one thing, then the next thing. That is the entire difference between coaching and a drill video.
[ 05 ] Questions
Baseball parents ask these
Does speed training actually help a baseball player?
Yes, and in more places than base running. Elite Speed coaches footwork, running form and the first three steps, which on a diamond is the jump off first base, the route an outfielder takes to a ball in the gap, and the ground force behind a swing and a throw. A better mover is a better ballplayer.
When in the year should a baseball player train speed?
The off-season is the obvious block, but Elite Speed runs a flexible membership rather than a season, so plenty of metro-east ballplayers train straight through fall ball and spring. Athletes come when their schedule allows and there is no penalty for missing a week for a tournament.
What ages does Elite Speed train for baseball?
The speed and agility class is built for ages 13 and up, in groups of 1 to 15 athletes. Younger ballplayers train in the general speed program, where coaches scale the work to the athlete. Elite Speed trains athletes from youth through high school and beyond.
Will this conflict with our travel ball schedule?
Elite Speed should not conflict with travel ball. The membership works like a gym membership rather than a season-long contract, which is the whole point for families already driving to practice four nights a week. Come when the calendar allows, skip the weeks you cannot make, and keep the membership going.
What does baseball speed training cost at Elite Speed?
Group speed and agility starts at $30 a month, a single drop-in class is $30, and memberships run from $30 to $480 a month depending on the program. The first session is free, so your athlete can try the training before anyone pays anything.
[ 06 ] Start here
Bring your ballplayer. Watch one session.
The first one is free and there is nothing to sign. You will see the drills, you will see the energy, and you will know inside an hour whether this is your spot.
5.0 from 11 Google reviewsFirst session $0From $30 a month