<p>Less than a week into his first spring training camp with the Atlanta Braves, 39-year-old catcher Todd Pratt reached a stunning conclusion:</p><p>"I think I've been trained the wrong way," Pratt said.</p><p>Pratt's eyes have been opened, he said, by the no-nonsense spring approach of Braves manager Bobby Cox. No timed mile runs. No non-baseball drills. Most notably: No 12-hour work days.</p><p>"It's a get-it-done camp," Pratt said. "It's a new-school approach for an old-school manager. Old school would be grinding it out all day."</p><p>Another veteran in his first spring camp with the Braves, shortstop Edgar Renteria, also likes the routine.</p><p>"It's quick work," Renteria said. "Everybody should change in their system because it's quick work and you're ready to go. It's been very good so far."</p><p>Cox, a former third baseman in the New York Yankees' organization, says he remembers barely surviving the opening days of rugged camps as a player.</p><p>"I've just never understood why everybody tries to get the team in shape the first three or four days," Cox said. "I was in camps when I couldn't even walk the second day, let alone try to do something."</p><p>Cox's plan: "Make it hard work but quick work and enjoyable and a lot of fun and have them ready for the opener."</p><p>Cox believes the spring routine has contributed to the Braves' string of 14 straight division titles.</p><p>"Knock on wood, but we've had less leg injuries and stuff," he said. "We've had our fair share of luck, I guess."</p><p>Outfielder Brian Jordan, in his second stint with Atlanta, laughed when he recalled bouncing around in a swimming pool in a conditioning drill with the Texas Rangers.</p><p>"Texas was the wildest I've ever had to experience," said Jordan, a former NFL safety with the Atlanta Falcons. "You're in the pool, holding the water bottle over your head and getting yourself in condition that way. I thought I was back on the football field."</p><p>Similarly, relief pitcher Mike Remlinger, also in his second stint with the team, says he never understood players having to go through drills with hurdles and ladders in his spring camps with other teams.</p><p>"I can understand the need for somebody who is a base-stealer, but I don't understand how that helps a pitcher," Remlinger said. "I know what I need to do with my body to get it ready, and there's going to be days in that process where I know my body needs a day of rest, and here you have that option."</p><p>Cox says it makes more sense to get in shape while honing baseball skills.</p><p>"I just believe in taking ground balls for 20 minutes to a half hour," he said. "If you think about it, it's your eye-hand coordination, your ability to catch balls. You're bending your back, you're bending your legs.</p><p>"Instead of going out there and running all this time, at least we're doing something that has to do with the game, and it's a heck of a workout. It's harder than it appears, believe me."</p><p>When the players' work is done, Cox wants them off the field.</p><p>"I just never believed in spending four or five hours on the field standing after you've worked hard," he said.</p><p>Added Jordan: "Bobby played the game. He knows the game as a player and he knows the bottom line is you want to leave camp healthy and in baseball shape."</p><p>Players report as early as 6:30 a.m. and take care of individual extra work. Team drills begin in the midmorning and usually end by 1 p.m.</p><p>If it's not the draining routine found in other camps, that's fine with general manager John Schuerholz.</p><p>"We're satisfied they keep doing what they're doing," Schuerholz said of other teams' routines.</p><p>"Bobby always has, and always will, run an excellent camp. It's not just about players enjoying themselves. It's about getting the job done. Cutting the fat and getting to the issues. Everything we do gets right to the heart of things."</p><p>Cox's schedule is based on the presumption that players will do what is necessary, including extra work, to be in shape for the start of the season.</p><p>"You know what it takes," Jordan said. "There's no sense in him baby-sitting you. He treats you like a professional. I'm not saying all clubs don't respect you, but I don't believe they think players are going to automatically do that on their own."</p><p>Pratt says players appreciate the respect given by Cox and understand what is at stake.</p><p>"Here, if you're not in shape you don't play good," Pratt said. "If you don't play good, you're gone."</p>
