Base running starts

[riseball]

This is by far the most over thought, least consequential part of the game. Much bigger fish to fry!

 

[quincy]

You have a slow DD.

 

[CoachJD]

its not a steal but a reaction to the pitch in the dirt. without a good jump no advance.

If a girl needs a sprinting head start to advance a base on a pitch in the dirt (that, I presume, is not fielded cleanly), she's probably in trouble no matter what. I'm sure the level of play matters quite a bit here, too. From the high school games I've seen in my area, pretty much anybody is going to be safe if she has any kind of lead at all and is paying attention when the catcher doesn't field the pitch cleanly.

What I've learned in this thread is that there's no real reason to force them to start facing the next base as long as you teach them to leave the base at the right time, get a good lead, and be alert. The fractions of a second can matter, but the opportunities for it to matter don't seem to outweigh the potential for getting doubled off or getting picked off because they're not able to get back.

 

[Greenmonsters]

If a girl needs a sprinting head start to advance a base on a pitch in the dirt (that, I presume, is not fielded cleanly), she's probably in trouble no matter what. I'm sure the level of play matters quite a bit here, too. From the high school games I've seen in my area, pretty much anybody is going to be safe if she has any kind of lead at all and is paying attention when the catcher doesn't field the pitch cleanly.

What I've learned in this thread is that there's no real reason to force them to start facing the next base as long as you teach them to leave the base at the right time, get a good lead, and be alert. The fractions of a second can matter, but the opportunities for it to matter don't seem to outweigh the potential for getting doubled off or getting picked off because they're not able to get back.

The first step with a "baseball" lead is a crossover, which means that after the first step, and just like the sprinters start, the runner is facing second base. Thus, the concern about getting doubled off is equally applicable. Which suggests, as RB notes, that more emphasis should be placed on base running (i.e., what to read and do once off the base) than on how to get off the base.

 

[CoachJD]

The first step with a "baseball" lead is a crossover, which means that after the first step, and just like the sprinters start, the runner is facing second base. Thus, the concern about getting doubled off is equally applicable. Which suggests, as RB notes, that more emphasis should be placed on base running (i.e., what to read and do once off the base) than on how to get off the base.

The first step after taking the primary lead isn't a crossover. It's the secondary lead. You don't cross over until after you take the secondary lead. The secondary lead is three (maybe two, depending on the runner, but I was always taught three) lateral hops.

So, I guess to revise my question: Why aren't we teaching the baseball secondary lead to softball players? It seems to make so much more sense than getting a short running start where they're constantly thinking about when to stop.

Of course, I agree that more emphasis should be put on the other, more important aspects of base running. Doesn't matter how they start if they don't know what to do once they're off the bag.