First base lead off and feet positioning.

Is there a general consensus on foot placement to lead from first base and the reason why?

For example, I've seen the runners front foot on the "face" of the bag as shown below. I've also seen the foot at the side of the base in the same stance.

I've also seen the front foot positioned one step toward second and the back foot against the "face" of the base. And then the same, but the tailing foot to the side of the base.

Is one better than the other or is it all preference? Does this change for younger players?

I prefer the style in the photo you've included. It takes a bit of work with younger girls to get the timing down but it is worth it. With this technique, the girl is already moving well before the ball leaves the pitcher's hand and will have essentially taken her first step before she ever leaves the base. This gets her up to speed faster than the one foot in the playing field method and using the face of the base gives her something to push off of, which makes it faster than the foot beside the base method.

Obviously, others don't agree because the two slower methods get used enough that you are asking the question.

Little Angels Softball said:

I prefer the style in the photo you've included. It takes a bit of work with younger girls to get the timing down but it is worth it. With this technique, the girl is already moving well before the ball leaves the pitcher's hand and will have essentially taken her first step before she ever leaves the base. This gets her up to speed faster than the one foot in the playing field method and using the face of the base gives her something to push off of, which makes it faster than the foot beside the base method.

Obviously, others don't agree because the two slower methods get used enough that you are asking the question.

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Lol...I like the rocker position in the picture the best also as long as the girls work on their timing. I would actually do a drill where I would load the bases (with girls lined up at each base waiting their turn) and have the pitchers delivery the ball and have all the girls simultaneously take their 3 step lead, it should looks like a synchronized dance move, once everyone moving at once and they got it right rotate the next girls at each base and so on.

Top_Notch said:

Is there a general consensus on foot placement to lead from first base and the reason why?

For example, I've seen the runners front foot on the "face" of the bag as shown below. I've also seen the foot at the side of the base in the same stance.

I've also seen the front foot positioned one step toward second and the back foot against the "face" of the base. And then the same, but the tailing foot to the side of the base.

Is one better than the other or is it all preference? Does this change for younger players?

Click to expand...

I am convinced that this is the fastest and most efficient method bar none. If you work on the timing and get it down to a science I guarantee you will lead your team in getting called out for circle violations, 99% of which will be unwarranted. While this is efficient it is totally unnecessary. Let's face it few plays are so close that a few hundredths of a second will matter one way or another. In addition how often do you see a player get double off on a hot shot vs out at 2nd on a bang-bang play. A technique where you minimize your motion will be just as effective as you will not get called out for leaving early. You cannot steal a base from the bench so keep it simple and do not over think it.

I prefer that stance too, I call it the steal position.

It is the 2nd or 3rd step that is important, not the first.

We use the rocker stance exclusively and only had three girls called out for leaving early. Trust me when I say we run the bases quite aggressively, too. ��

In two of those cases, the girls did indeed leave early... So early it was obvious to everybody. The third time was a homer ump trying to help out the local club.

I prefer the sprinter start. They get their timing down much easier.

Using the stance shown or the alternative where the back foot is on the face of the base gives you no advantage over the other except for a fraction of a fraction of a second. When the differential is so small it's almost immeasurable you teach the base runner to use the method they feel most comfortable with. Have then pick a method they like, tell them to stick with it and to use it in practice at all times. The key to learning good base running is consistency too, so concentrate at practice, take it serious.

The key to not leaving early is to watch for a cue that all pitchers do, regardless of their windup, and the cue you want to look for is the heal of the foot on the pitching plate. Once the heel comes up off the pitching plate, the runner should treat that as the light just turned green, time to go! You don't need to rock or any other timing sequence. Just be in your athletic sprinters position, and watch the heel, the heel is your starters gun or green light.

Once her eyes see the heel go up the brain will communicate to the muscles to get going, by the time that happens and the hands and legs react with an explosive push off, the ball will be leaving the hand with perfect timing.

In this regard, I don't believe there is a one size fits all. I've filmed most of my players on this. I have found that those who have a chronic problem of getting off too late using the rocker start seem to do much better with the front foot positioned one step toward second approach. Personally, I think it is somewhat wrong to make all players do the same type of start.

Lickety Split said:

Using the stance shown or the alternative where the back foot is on the face of the base gives you no advantage over the other except for a fraction of a fraction of a second.

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Got any numbers to back that up? It is a question of momentum, and the momentum is greater with the rocker start.

I teach the rocker start to me rec, all star, and school teams exclusively. Even a small advantage is an advantage.


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