Head first slide. Like or dislike

Silver 2200 said:

In regards to injuries from foot first slides.

If you were to watch 100 girls slide in a game I would estimate that more than 90 of them would be foot first slides. So it makes sense that there would be more injuries from sliding foot first because it is done so much more frequently that a head first slide.

Now if you were to watch 100 girls slide head first, and then watch another 100 foot first slides. I would certainly expect there to be more injuries from sliding head first.

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I don't really see why, unless they're sliding headfirst wrong. Almost every headfirst slide injury I've seen from pro ballplayers is because they're just not doing it correctly.

And even if there is a slightly higher risk, well, they're playing a sport. There is always a risk of injury. We want to mitigate those risks as best we can, but I'm not going to stop my players from performing a perfectly reasonable, viable, and sometimes necessary act because there's like a .01% higher chance they'll get hurt.

CoachJD said:

I don't really see why, unless they're sliding headfirst wrong. Almost every headfirst slide injury I've seen from pro ballplayers is because they're just not doing it correctly.

And even if there is a slightly higher risk, well, they're playing a sport. There is always a risk of injury. We want to mitigate those risks as best we can, but I'm not going to stop my players from performing a perfectly reasonable, viable, and sometimes necessary act because there's like a .01% higher chance they'll get hurt.

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The reason why there is more injuries with head first slides is because your feet are protected by shoes. Batting gloves provide very little protection.

Silver 2200 said:

The reason why there is more injuries with head first slides is because your feet are protected by shoes. Batting gloves provide very little protection.

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Then why do ankles, knees and sometimes hips get injured in a feet first slide??

4 girl's dad said:

Then why do ankles, knees and sometimes hips get injured in a feet first slide??

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Because you don't wear shoes on your ankles, knees, and hips. lol

I was clearly referring about shoes protecting your feet. There is no protection on your fingers/hands.

CoachKevin said:

I've seen plenty of injuries sliding feet first (2 broken ankles, a bunch of ankle sprains, a few twisted knees), so the whole concept of potential injuries strikes me as odd. To dismiss the technique for all is closed minded. IMO I don't think teaching your slowest runner to slide headfirst into home is very smart, but taking your fastest runner teaching her how to do it into 2B or 3B may actually benefit.

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I agree...I’ve seen a few broken legs and complete knee destruction related to sliding feet first and a couple jammed finger and wrists head first. I think there’s risk in both, but I wouldn’t stop kids from sliding head first because I don’t see it as more dangerous.

Better an ankle or even a knee, than a spine, neck or head injury. Someone who can't slide right feet-first is likely to have at least as much problem head-first. Sure...accidents happen...I rolled an ankle over the bag myself when I was in my late 30s. I can't count the number of times I've seen a feet-first slide safely executed in fastpitch, but can count the (all minor) injuries on only one hand. I do know kids who have repeatedly injured themselves on head-first slides, one of which ended her softball career at the age of 14.

There actually are published studies that have been done on this topic in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. Just wish I had full access to the publication.

I read an article, in the Wall Street journal, on sliding and it shows injury is more common with head first slides, but injuries requiring surgery are more common with feet first slide. Surprisingly, wrist injuries are more common with feet first sliding, and finger injuries dominated head first sliding injuries.

The study also noted that sliding injuries are rare vs. other causes.

The evidence in that article basically said there wasn’t a definitive winner on which slide was better physically; however, it did indicate that sliding feet first was slightly faster.

I teach head first slides everywhere and feet first only into a force. It is the right way. HFS are the safest slides when taught properly. Too often the player is sliding HF right into the bag. 100% wrong. Away from the bag with only hand on bag. Softball not baseball. Faster game. Every inch counts. Players are not comfortable become coaches don't work on sliding at all or enough. I have coached teams at the 16U and 18U levels often with players from multiple other teams. It blows me away when I ask..then to raise their hand and tell me if they have ever worked on sliding. It is typically never. Except at 12U on the garbage bag coaches throw on the floor.

HEAD FIRST SLIDING TAUGHT PROPERLY IS THE SAFEST, MOST EFFECTIVE FORM OF SLIDING IF YOUR INTENTION IS TO LEVERAGE THE ANGLES AND BE SAFE.

Silver 2200 said:

Just a random thought. Do you teach your players or daughters to slide head first? Personally not a big fan of the head first slide in softball. In baseball, the head first slide is used much more due to leading off. It is much more common to slide back into a bag on a pickoff move.

It just seems like injuries to the wrist and fingers are much more likely on head first slides that I am not a big fan of the move.

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teach head first slides everywhere and feet first only into a force. It is the right way. HFS are the safest slides when taught properly. Too often the player is sliding HF right into the bag. 100% wrong. Away from the bag with only hand on bag. Softball not baseball. Faster game. Every inch counts. Players are not comfortable become coaches don't work on sliding at all or enough. I have coached teams at the 16U and 18U levels often with players from multiple other teams. It blows me away when I ask..then to raise their hand and tell me if they have ever worked on sliding. It is typically never. Except at 12U on the garbage bag coaches throw on the floor.

HEAD FIRST SLIDING TAUGHT PROPERLY IS THE SAFEST, MOST EFFECTIVE FORM OF SLIDING IF YOUR INTENTION IS TO LEVERAGE THE ANGLES AND BE SAFE.