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Member
After watching well over a dozen games this past weekend--most at the 16U level--I'm convinced that the 1st base position is completely neglected. I did not see a single first baseman who appeared to have had any training at all with regard to footwork around the bag. The standard operating procedure for girls' softball first baseman appears to be: run to the bag and anchor your right foot as quickly as possible; try to catch the ball with your right foot touching the bag.
I watched with my head shaking at least five plays that resulted in batter/runners going to second base because of basic incompetence on the part of first basemen. In one instance, the third baseman threw a wet ball just a bit low and to the right field side of the bag with two outs and two on. If the first baseman had been straddling the front corner of the bag with her heels in a wide, athletic position and with shoulders square to the fielder-- and had shifted her feet to place the left foot on the right field side of the bag as the ball arrived, she would have caught it easily and the inning would have been over.
Instead, she got tangled trying to keep her anchored right foot on the base and she missed the ball. It bounced out of play and two runs scored. The coach, unaware of her mistake because he's in the majority of coaches who think anybody can play first base and that there is no technique to be taught, blamed the third baseman and said nothing to the first baseman, who was actually an outfielder with no first base training.
In a sport where thousands of dollars are being spent by members of organizations that promote first rate play, it is absolutely unconscionable that this important position on the diamond is virtually ignored. A good first baseman can win a lot of games. Any coach who doesn't educate him/herself on the proper techniques for playing the position --and then pass them along to his players-- is doing himself and his team a terrible disservice.
I watched with my head shaking at least five plays that resulted in batter/runners going to second base because of basic incompetence on the part of first basemen. In one instance, the third baseman threw a wet ball just a bit low and to the right field side of the bag with two outs and two on. If the first baseman had been straddling the front corner of the bag with her heels in a wide, athletic position and with shoulders square to the fielder-- and had shifted her feet to place the left foot on the right field side of the bag as the ball arrived, she would have caught it easily and the inning would have been over.
Instead, she got tangled trying to keep her anchored right foot on the base and she missed the ball. It bounced out of play and two runs scored. The coach, unaware of her mistake because he's in the majority of coaches who think anybody can play first base and that there is no technique to be taught, blamed the third baseman and said nothing to the first baseman, who was actually an outfielder with no first base training.
In a sport where thousands of dollars are being spent by members of organizations that promote first rate play, it is absolutely unconscionable that this important position on the diamond is virtually ignored. A good first baseman can win a lot of games. Any coach who doesn't educate him/herself on the proper techniques for playing the position --and then pass them along to his players-- is doing himself and his team a terrible disservice.
