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Member
First of all: I went to church this morning and prayed for guidance. I was told to stop being a smart*** and a mean smart*** at that, on the OFC-- and to apologize to those I've offended and to start contributing in a positive way. Ok. Sorry. Now I want to make an appeal to coaches to spend some time teaching base running. I've seen some good base running, but I've seen more awful base running over the years and I've wondered many times: doesn't anyone teach these girls how to run the bases?
1. Players hit the ball and don't watch it. They run past the bag at first and turn right as
the ball is going between the legs of an outfielder and rolling to the fence.
2. Players don't get a good push off the base, timing their push with the release of the
pitch to create momentum when the ball is hit, enabling them to beat a force play or
score on a hit.
3. Players slow down as they approach a base and don't slide, often getting forced out
instead of being safe easily had they gone full speed and slid.
4. Players show no instinct or feel for whether a pop fly is going to drop or be caught.
5. Players hesitate coming around third even though the coach is waving and screaming
for them to run home.
6. Players sliding into home have no training for going head first or hook sliding.
7. Players running from first to second on ground balls to the second baseman don't (for the
most part) know that they have an alternative to running into a tag play.
They don't know they're supposed to stop and get into a rundown so the batter can be
safe at first. Conversely, second
basemen don't know that if the runner does stop, they're supposed to make a quick
throw to first to get the batter/runner out--- then the first baseman is supposed to
initiate the rundown on the other runner.
Since good base running can win a lot of ballgames, I'm very surprised that whole practices are not dedicated to teaching it. In fact, most practices held by most coaches I've watched include no base running instruction. I've been watching the same mistakes being made from 10U through 18U for years. It has to end. Thoughts?
1. Players hit the ball and don't watch it. They run past the bag at first and turn right as
the ball is going between the legs of an outfielder and rolling to the fence.
2. Players don't get a good push off the base, timing their push with the release of the
pitch to create momentum when the ball is hit, enabling them to beat a force play or
score on a hit.
3. Players slow down as they approach a base and don't slide, often getting forced out
instead of being safe easily had they gone full speed and slid.
4. Players show no instinct or feel for whether a pop fly is going to drop or be caught.
5. Players hesitate coming around third even though the coach is waving and screaming
for them to run home.
6. Players sliding into home have no training for going head first or hook sliding.
7. Players running from first to second on ground balls to the second baseman don't (for the
most part) know that they have an alternative to running into a tag play.
They don't know they're supposed to stop and get into a rundown so the batter can be
safe at first. Conversely, second
basemen don't know that if the runner does stop, they're supposed to make a quick
throw to first to get the batter/runner out--- then the first baseman is supposed to
initiate the rundown on the other runner.
Since good base running can win a lot of ballgames, I'm very surprised that whole practices are not dedicated to teaching it. In fact, most practices held by most coaches I've watched include no base running instruction. I've been watching the same mistakes being made from 10U through 18U for years. It has to end. Thoughts?