Changing Direction Quickly: Understanding The 5/10/5 Drill
In a sport where the longest straight sprint is 90 feet in between bases and defenders are rarely asked to run more than half of this distance in a single play, the ability to accelerate and change direction quickly is particularly important, regardless of position.
When a player is able to quickly accelerate, decelerate, and accelerate again it allows them to have a significant advantage in this game. When assessing these skills in an infielder or outfielder, it is important to gauge how quickly they are able to sprint toward a ball in play, stop on a dime to field the ball, and then gather themselves and make the proper play. In baserunners the ability to accelerate and decelerate quickly is also very important. Whether the player is stealing a base, running from first to third, or in a rundown, the ability to start and stop quickly will set the player up for success in their baseball careers.
This drill is typically performed by setting up two cones measured ten yards apart from one another and a starting position five yards from each cone. A coach with a stopwatch would prompt the player to start and they would run a cone, touch it with their hand, turn around, run to the other cone, touch it with their hand, and finish through the starting point where the coach would then manually stop the watch and calculate their time.
Pison’s technology revolutionizes this drill by replacing the starting point with a base equipped with a Pison powered device as well as equipping the athlete with a device of their own, worn on the wrist. In the Pison BASEBALL Pro mobile app, the coach will start the drill. When the athlete makes their first movement, the drill will begin. This is the first trigger. They will then run five yards to either the cone on the left or right, tap that cone, and then run ten yards to the furthest cone. After this, they will return to the base and run through it, the second trigger. The delta between triggers is calculated as the player’s 5/10/5 time, and displayed on the “Staff Member’s” phone in real time. The coach will then end the rep. After a user ends the rep on the app, their time will be visible on the BASEBALL Pro dashboard.
In the app, players will be able to initiate training sessions where they can continuously track and upload their scores to their own personal database for an overarching view of their scores and progress. They will be able to see where they stack up against their teammates and competitors and what the average scores are for players at the next level, giving themselves a benchmark to reach. Furthermore, there will be levels of trust among teams and organizations where training sessions can be verified and uploaded by a “trusted” user to discourage cheating the drill.
Pison has given the baseball world a new way to monitor and accurately track times on the well known 5/10/5 drill, giving coaches and scouts a reliable metric for assessing players’ ability to accelerate, decelerate, and change direction.
