3rd base play

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My DD plays 3rd base, both her middle school and travel coaches have told her not to dive for balls hit to her left. Just curious if this is the norm? She has a hard time not diving, i've taught her to attack everything. This is 12U btw. Appreciate any input.

 

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Why? Is her coach washing her uniforms? Get every ball you can......

 

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That's a head-scratcher to me too.

I wonder if the coach may be grossly mis-interpreting the LF/RF rule that you don't dive toward the foul lines...

 

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Doesn't make sense to me on the surface ... I am assuming they want the SS to make the play, and by 3B diving she may be deflecting some balls or perhaps not getting up in enough time to throw out some batters who they think the SS might be able to get ... but I don't want to teach a 3B not to dive for something that she can cut off. The only two infield situations where I think you might ask a player not to dive is for ground balls hit to the right of the pitcher that the SS should get, or right of 1B that 2B should get.

 

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I tell my 3rd baseman get all you can. Great angle on throws to 1st. I also want them to get dirty no guarantee SS will get the ball. BE GREEDY

 

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Thanks for the responses. The balls she is diving for, if fielded by the SS would be deep in the hole (they have her playing on the line and 5-7 ft in front of the bag). In either case it's a tough throw and out. I agree that the coaches must want the SS making the play but just don't see the benefit. Its hard to to tell a kid to be aggressive only part of the time. She is making the plays after she fields the ball, popped and threw to 1st from her knees for the first time this past weekend.

 

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Only thing I can think of is they fear if she doesn't field it and it deflects off her glove that the SS won't have a play either. I have seen this happen a few times... 3B dives, ball deflects to towards second base and the SS who was moving in behind can't get to it either. Only problem with the philosophy is (as you stated) the SS is likely gonna be pretty deep and have to make a throw going back the other way. Unless the runner is very slow the play likely won't be made. I say get dirty and make the attempt, better odds.

 

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Heck we had one and my favorite quote one parent made was "dang she makes the dirt bleed"

 

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Need a little more information here to give an opinion. If she's leaving her feet from her stance and not taking a step or two first, I can't see her throwing too many runners out this way. Yes, it will keep the ball in the infield, which helps to limit other base runners, but will most likely not make the out.

I'd rather see her take the angle and run through the ball, while throwing on the run, than leaving her feet every time. Every advantage goes to a right handed 3rd baseman in this instance, than taking a chance on letting it get to a shortstop's backhand, who is moving away from the play. I'd rather see one cross-over step and a stretch or dive to her right (3rd base line), and mostly running through the ball to her left.

Regardless, your 3rd baseman should always take anything they can get.

 

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is she taking one or 2 steps then diving for a line drive that would bounce in front of the SS? If so, always go for the out! If its a ground ball and one or 2 steps then diving, I would prefer the ball go through because the SS should be charging hard on this ground ball. If there arent any steps, by all means, the 3rd baseman should knock down every ball she can.

 

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The balls she is diving for are the hard shots to her immediate left...so she is basically diving from her stance vs taking one or two steps then diving. Otherwise she generally does a good job taking the angle and cutting grounders off that are hit to her left. She does have good SS's playing behind her on both teams. Thanks for the responses.

 

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End all the speculation and just simply ask the coach/coaches why??

 

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Maybe his daughter is at SS and he wants her to get the shot at the spectacular ones.

 

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The most important thing you can teach her is to talk to the coach and then to do what he/she says and not make it a right and wrong thing but a "the coach says" thing. There are many reasons not to leave your feet as an infielder, have her ask the coach and then support the coaches decision. The lessons she will learn from that is more valuable than including her in on a debate that has more than one possible answer. My daughter was taught to catch with two hands, always...until she got to college, then her coach said don't do that I want you to go get it with one hand. Learning to do what your current coach says is the lesson to be learned here.

 

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Good advice Jjen - PARTICULARLY important lesson for a kid with college ball ambitions. The answer to questions like this relates to the speed of the game, and at what level. In baseball it's common even in the majors for a third baseman to dive, get to their feet and still throw out a decently fast runner at 1st. In higher ages and levels of fastpitch however, if you leave your feet at 3rd, then make the throw to 1st, 99+% of the runners will be safe. The exception I would make is when runners are at 2nd or 3rd and a grounder through the gap would advance the runners. In that case, stopping the ball at ALL costs could save a run. However, with no base runners on, even a shot through the gap between short and 3rd can be fielded by left field and thrown to 2nd to hold the runner at 1st. Aggressive play is admirable, but it all depends on the game situation - will you help or hurt your team by diving (or not diving) to stop a ball?

 

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Thanks for the feedback, some great points have been been made. DD had practice and discussed this further with her coaches last night. As a general rule they like for 3rd baseman to stay on their feet on balls to the left so the SS can try and make a play. The exception is with runners in scoring position, in that case they want her to knock the ball down by any means necessary.

 

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Heck we had one and my favorite quote one parent made was "dang she makes the dirt bleed"

I'm officially stealing this!