Base Stealing Rules ... Anyone Heard of This One!??

[FastBat]

But the ball in the circles does means the runner has to commit, they can't just stand out there. They either have to advance to next base or return.

Agree! The runner must go one way or the other, they just can't stand paused between second and third, with the "deer in headlights" look, when the pitcher has possession of the ball while anywhere in the circle.

I should know, my dd got caught on it this past summer!

Also, you can't really argue if a pause is too long or not, it's one of those grey areas and it's the umps interpretation.

 

[SoCal_Dad]

But the ball in the circles does means the runner has to commit, they can't just stand out there. They either have to advance to next base or return.

True if they are standing still when LBR goes into effect. If they are moving, they are entitled to keep moving in that direction, make 1 stop and then immediately either advance or go back - at that point they are committed while LBR remains in effect.

 

[Lester]

elite catchers... "No show, all throw". Build the skills and embrace an aggressive throw/catch with the necessary fielder. Throw ahead of the runner "most" of the time. We do bust them lagging going back to 2nd and it also is based upon the player (obviously). Sometimes busting them 2-7 times a tournament back in the 12u and 14u days.

OMG on the look back rule. C'mon. This is a simple one and to suggest it's when the catcher has the ball. Gee-osh I've been away from this site too long.

 

[CARDS]

At the younger ages 10/12 you see a lot of running from the catchers. As the ladies get stronger and smarter they get better at gunning in place of running.
At 16/18U our teams were blessed with catchers that had guns. We also practiced plays we called mouse traps for the over aggressive base runner as well as snap throws to the bases that was successful for us.
By 18U our ladies pretty much called or put on their own plays and they did a good job of erasing and holding runners.

I would rather see the ladies work together to erase a runner than see a catcher run out in the middle of the field pumping their arm only to hand the ball to the pitcher.

One side note is the pitcher has a lot to do with how the base runners act. Pitchers that receive the ball back from the catcher and look down at the ground or dugout when runners are on base encourage runners to be more aggressive. I seen a ton of this at the younger ages.