Often times when coaches want you to run through the base better, they make you run farther than 60 feet. But that may not be the best idea.

You see, it doesn’t really matter if your coach makes you run 80 feet instead of 60 feet. If you always train to slow down at the end, you will ALWAYS slow down before your target no matter how far or close it is.

Excellence is a habit – so get in the habit of sprinting THROUGH any marker, goal, base or cone that is set for you, whether it’s 6 feet away or 60 feet away.

This habit is what will help you “get through the bag” more consistently at 1st base, put more pressure on the defense and get safe more often!

If you’re a coach, instead of making your players run farther, try shortening the distance and challenge them to run all the way through. After all, if they can’t consistently “run through the bag” at 30 feet, how do they expect to do it at 60 feet? Often times pointing this out to them is enough to get them focused on doing it right.

As they get better and better running all the way through the shorter distance, start adding more distance until they are running through any target you give them.

Always expect your player’s best speed all the way through ANY sprint you do, whether it’s a short spring or a longer spring, whether it’s their first sprint or their last sprint of the day.  Notice I didn’t say “fastest” because the more your work them, they slower they may get, but they should always be giving their best – whatever it is they have at that time.  Make them do it again if they don’t do it right. Help them create the good habit of going hard and giving their best ALL the way through to the end and beyond, just like you want them to do in a game – not only for baserunning but in every area of play!

However, for newer players, for my own daughters, and for myself, it’s not something I do or teach? Why?

Safety

Plain and simple, it’s a safety issue for me. Maybe I don’t pay enough attention, but I don’t hear about many baseball boys having season ending injuries from sliding head first into a base. However, I have seen and heard about many softball players breaking their collarbone, separating their shoulder, getting their fingers cleated, breaking their fingers, dislocating joints, etc from sliding into a base head first. I’ve seen it happen in games to people I know personally and I’ve heard about it happening to other softball players too. For this reason alone, I will always slide into a base feet first.

This doesn’t mean that I never dive. I will dive BACK to a base and I will encourage my players and my daughters to dive back to a base.

What’s the difference? Sliding head first into a base typically involves a players going at full speed running into a base and taking all the force and momentum into a possible collision. The same is rarely true when diving back to a base. Most times, you are not at full speed which means a much lower impact if their is contact. Is there still risk of injury? Yes, there is. But there’s risk with everything in this game. It’s just that for me, sliding head first into a base is not a risk I’m comfortable taking. The chance of game or season ending injury is too high for me.

What do you think?

• Have you heard about as many baseball players as softball players getting injured from this?
• Do you feel it’s a risk worth taking?
• Do you agree with the idea that the risk is higher going into a base vs back to one?

Don’t worry, I won’t be offended. I’d just like to know what other people, including you, think about this topic. Leave a comment below and share your thoughts!

Actually, this is one of my BIGGEST Pet Peeves when it comes to baserunning.

I’m telling you right now…Do NOT do this!

If you do, you WILL annoy me and drive me up the wall.  Of course, if I don’t see you play, I guess it’s not that big a deal (the driving me up the wall thing), but it IS a big deal for you as a baserunner if you do this.

What is this pet peeve of mine?  This baserunning no-no?

NEVER, under ANY circumstances…

Walk back to the base with your head down looking at the dirt because you “think” the play is more or less over

This is bad, bad, bad!!!

• First of all, in most situations, you should not be walking to a base
• Second: you should NOT have your back turned to the ball (unless you’re already diving or hustling back to the base)
• Third: your eyes should not be on the ground, or on your feet, or on the base…they should be on the BALL (again…unless you’re already diving or hustling back to the base)
• Fourth: how the heck are you going to take the next base if something happens if you’re facing the wrong way (back to the next base) and you’re not even paying attention to what’s happening with the ball?
• Fifth: a fiesty defender may just go ahead and try to see if they can get the ball to the base quicker than you can walk. Wouldn’t that be embarrassing and pretty close to shameful if you got thrown out or picked off because you took your eyes off the ball, turned your back on the ball, AND walked instead of hustled.

Remember…

• Even if you’re standing on the base, if the play is not dead yet, your eyes should be on the ball!
• IF you are going to slowly make your way back to the base because you see the ball coming in to the pitcher, then again, keep your eyes on the ball as you retreat.
• The only time you turn your back or take your eyes off the ball is when you know you have to get back quick and you are on your way back to the base at whatever your top speed is at that time.

photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lcrward/ / CC BY-ND 2.0

Base Coaches Are For Stopping, Not Sending

You see too many players mistakenly wait for their coaches to tell them to go or to send them off to the next base.  However, in crucial cases, if you aren’t already going when your base coach says, “GO” chances are you’ve already missed out on the opportunity to take an extra base or score a run.

Now, it’s true, there are cases when you DO need your base coaches help to make a decision, primarily when the ball is behind you and you’d have to turn your head back to see it.  In these cases, you ARE most certainly going to rely on your base coach to be your eyes and tell you whether to go or stay.

However, when the ball is in front of you…

you need to learn to make your own reads.  YOU, along with your coach, should be looking for any and all opportunities to take the next base.  There are even some situations where only YOU know if you can make it or not.  Only YOU will know if you’re in a good position to take advantage of an opening in front of you.  There’s simply no time for your coach to direct your every move.  In these particular cases, you will miss the opportunity EVERY time if you always wait for your base coach to send you.

Then there are times when, in order to make it to the next base and take advantage of an opening, you really need to already be GOING by the time the command to take the next bag comes out of your base coach’s mouth.  Basically, in these situations, you are making the read and decision to go yourself and your base coach’s direction to go is simply on confirmation of what you are already doing.

Of course, there are times when you think you can go and your base coach tells you not to.  For some reason, players seem to be worried that they won’t be able to get back to the base in time if they try to make their own read and go.  But honestly, if you think you can make it the next 40-50 feet to the next base, chances are VERY good, that you’ll be able to make it the 10-20 feet BACK should your base coach exercise their judgement to stop you.

The Bottom Line is…

• Basecoaches are for Stopping, Not Sending
• The only time you are going to rely solely on your base coach is when the ball is behind you
• Learn to think for yourself on the base paths
• Always be looking for opportunities to take extra bases (which also means keeping yourself in an athletic position until the ball is dead)
• You WILL have enough time to get back should your coach decide to stop you

Base Coaches Are For Stopping, Not Sending

It’s an idea I had to share with you because even though this is the mentality I had as a baserunner, I’d never heard anyone say it quite like that until I went to the coaches clinic with the UW coaches. I think it’s very cool and very true.

Hopefully it’s an idea, a mindset, that can help you improve your baserunning this season!

photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8136496@N05/ / CC BY 2.0

However you hit the ball, strong or weak, fair or foul ALWAYS,
ALWAYS, ALWAYS hustle down the line.

Hustle is your second weapon in an at bat. First, you hit the ball,
then you RUN like heck!

The defense needs to first defend your hit THEN beat out your
hustle. Your first strike is the hit you put on the ball, you
“attack” again by running your FASTEST to put as much pressure as
you possibly can on the defense AND to make them PAY if they make a
mistake.

I saw too many girls, including my own daughter, slow down before
first base. Granted some of them were already out by the time they
were within a few steps of the base, but I believe all players
should run all hits out at their best speed no matter what. If
they’re able to slow down and stop before the base on a ground out
to the left side, they probably weren’t running their hardest.
Some are slowing down before the bag and are only out by a step or
two, that’s just not the way to play. Imagine if these players had
been hustling down the line, they could have rushed a throw, they
could have shaken up the 1b to possibly mishandle the ball because
they were right there – you never know, RUN LIKE HECK after you hit
the ball.

Then there was another situation when a girl popped up soooooo
high, she should have been standing on 2nd when the ball popped out
of the SS glove. Instead, she’s dogging it and almost gets caught
in a pickle between 1st and 2nd because she wasn’t going hard. She
was just trotted around 1st and then, bam, the ball pops out of the
SS glove and now she’s in no man’s land between bases not even at
top speed. Seriously, she would have made 2nd easy if she had run
as hard as possible from the get go. She hurt her team by giving
less than her best. I didn’t stay at that field to see what
happened after that, but it’s quite possible that her team had to
give up an out to move her to 2nd, a base she could have had “free”
if only she gave her best effort after her mis-hit rather than
pouted and felt sorry for herself. Team players, and players
giving their best effort, never give up on a hit. If you’re giving
up on hits, if you have players that are, it’s time do to a self
check and step up your game because you’re selling yourself short.

I recently received an e-mail from Tom Hanson and he talked about this very issue.
Here’s something he reported from an MLB game…

“I loved that he pulled Upton (after he’d run out to his OF
position…ouch) for not hustling on a play.

Even with Longoria and Crawford out he pulls arguably his most
talented remaining player for not running out a ball.”

Apparently, even pros need do to self checks every once in a while,
so don’t beat yourself up over it if that’s you. Just make the
adjustment and get better.

AND….more coaches need to have the guts to reward those who do
play all out and sit those who don’t. You’re not doing a player
any favors by rewarding them with playing time (or anything else)
when they play and practice selfishly (showing up to practice when
and if they feel like it, walking on the field, doing drills half
way, etc, etc, etc). You’re only asking for trouble because the
ones who only go all out when they feel like it will continue on
that path, and those who do go hard all the time (and never get
rewarded for it) will start playing like the others – only going
“all out” sometimes. Next thing you know, your whole team is
playing selfish, “go hard only when I feel like it” softball.
You’ll have far bigger problems than you started off with and
you’ll wish your only issue was having to play a game or two with
your “stud” on the bench and “less talented/big hearted” on the
field.

If coaches can do it (sit “studs”) in the major leagues where jobs
depend on success and wins and losses, then you can do it too.
Telling your players that they should give their best all the time
and backing that message up with your actions are two different
things. But if you can create an environment where your players
know that nothing less than their best is acceptable and nothing
less than their best will be tolerated, your season will be filled
with much less headache. However, that will never happen if you
continue to reward the “slackers” and the “it’s all about me”
attitudes. The rules have to be the same across the board -
consistency is key. You can’t have one reward/punishment for some
players and another for other players. Be fair, be consistent,
back up your words with actions, and you’ll have much more success.

Here’s to having the guts to “honor the game.”

If you want to learn about how to run bases or learn about how to teach baserunning. This is a video you have to see.

Baserunning is such a tough skill to teach. A good baserunner is such an asset to the team. In this video, Mike Candrea explains that you don’t necessarily have to be the quickest on the team to be a good baserunner. Knowing what to do in different situations and how to properly maneuver around the bases, though, are very important.

Of course, the cool thing about this video is being able to see demonstrations!

Watch the baserunning video here…

CLICK HERE to go to the page of softball instructional videos.

This link will take you straight to the pitching video.

I hope you enjoy these. Oh yeah, did I mention that it’s Mike Candrea and members of the USA National Team that are doing the instructing/demonstration in these videos?

I know this happens on a regular basis because I’ve seen it myself. You probably have too.

Here’s the situation…

Bottom of the 7th…

Score tied…

2 outs…

Bases loaded…

Batter rips one to right field…

…can you guess where I’m going with this?

Batter doesn’t hustle down the line and gets thrown out at 1st base!

Ugghhhhhh

Always Hustle Down the Line!

Those hits to right are no where near a guarantee any more. Especially when you hit it solid with today’s high performance bats, that ball get there in a hurry. Right fielders and coaches are aware more now than ever that they CAN gun that runner out at 1st. Outfielders train for that now. They aggressively pursue that out ESPECIALLY with 2 outs and runners in scoring position because if they can get that out at first, it wipes out the score of any runner that crosses the plate on that hit.

Always, Always Hustle Down the Line!

Another situation that drives me nuts as a coach AND as a former player….Batter pops up the ball SKY HIGH and trots to first all frustrated. Then the ball is misplayed and drops. Instead of the batter/runner being able to take advantage of that next base, they are scrambling to get to first after the drop. Thankfully I’ve never been subject to seeing anyone get thrown at at first due to their lack of hustle. Maybe you have.

In those situations, the weak grounder, the ugly pop up, you’ve already “messed up” in a way by not hitting the ball as solidly as you can. You owe it to yourself AND TO YOUR TEAMMATES to give your best effort to get to that bag. Don’t choose to compound the poor hit with a poor run. Get you butt in gear and get down that line as quick as you can and put pressure on that fielder or make the other team PAY if they make a mistake. Never give up on any hit.

Always, Always, Always Hustle Down the Line

I’ll tell you about another situation similar to this in another post. When a coach told me about this other situation, it was another one of those “wow” moments.