Do coaches still spend time on rundowns(pickles)?

[uncdrew]

Thankful that my dd’s 18U team worked on it often. She was playing 1B the other day in her college game - ground out to 3B with throw to 1B (no play at 2B) and runner who went to second kept going 1/2 way past 2B. Dd immediately began to run at her after she got the out at 1B. Girl just froze - dd tossed to 3B and then they tagged her out after a quick rundown.

That’s the key - running at the baserunner. If my dd just threw to 3B or to 2B runner most likely would have been safe. Running at them causes confusion and many times they freeze.

Running at them also shortens the throw, making it more likely to get an out.

So why no pump fakes? I've heard the reason before and I believe it, I just can't remember it. Is it because it just makes the play go too long?

 

[Rolling Hard]

Thankful that my dd’s 18U team worked on it often. She was playing 1B the other day in her college game - ground out to 3B with throw to 1B (no play at 2B) and runner who went to second kept going 1/2 way past 2B. Dd immediately began to run at her after she got the out at 1B. Girl just froze - dd tossed to 3B and then they tagged her out after a quick rundown.

That’s the key - running at the baserunner. If my dd just threw to 3B or to 2B runner most likely would have been safe. Running at them causes confusion and many times they freeze.

When the baserunner at 1st takes a huge lead and wants to break for second on the throw to the (righthanded) 1st baseman. Have your catcher immediately run as fast as she can straight at the runner. I have seen the catcher put the tag on the runner. The baserunner freezes. They were coached to go to 2nd when the catcher throws the ball to 1st. They were not coached what to do when the crazy catcher runs full speed straight at them.

 

[_MIA_]

So why no pump fakes? I've heard the reason before and I believe it, I just can't remember it. Is it because it just makes the play go too long?

because you are also faking out your player..

 

[GunnerShotgun]

The bases are too close and someone is running at you with the ball making pump fakes, this is a recipe for disaster. Also, we are only throwing the ball one time at this point and it's at the "safe" base.

• Only three players in a rundown (other fielders can backup bases as they normally would);
• Stay in the same lane;
• Be visible (with the ball), but never pump fake;
• Communicate. The receiver should call for the ball;
• Get the out at the safe base. Two throws max.

If you follow the above rules life is good. The best case is an out and the worse case is a safe play at the prior (original) base.

 

[Rick M]

As a broader answer to the OP, I’ve always thought of rundowns as one of the most important things to work on at practice.

So much of softball is reliant on individual skills. You can work on hitting, pitching, fielding, throwing, all the basic skills, away from a full team practice.

But the rundown is one of the few scenarios that really requires teamwork. And it’s so important, a team that executes it well early in a game can shut down the other team’s running game.


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[JayW]

Problems I see the most:

-not throwing soon enough
-chasing runner to the wrong bag
-not getting out of the running lane after
throwing ball

 

[GunnerShotgun]

Best drill for rundowns as you can have multiple lines going at once.

• Two defensive players 60 feet apart at the "bases".
• Third defensive player, with the ball, at the middle of the baseline 20 ft away.
• The runner starts in the middle of the baseline;
• Blow the whistle to start;
• If one of the above rules gets violated the runner wins. If not the defense wins.

Kill the drill immediately when a rule is violated and restart. It's dead simple and you will never have to worry about your rundowns turning into a circus.

 

[Rolling Hard]

Best drill for rundowns as you can have multiple lines going at once.

• Two defensive players 60 feet apart at the "bases".
• Third defensive player, with the ball, at the middle of the baseline 20 ft away.
• The runner starts in the middle of the baseline;
• Blow the whistle to start;
• If one of the above rules gets violated the runner wins. If not the defense wins.

Kill the drill immediately when a rule is violated and restart. It's dead simple and you will never have to worry about your rundowns turning into a circus.

I like this ^^^^^^ but I still think the pump fake has great value. If you have the other player calling for the ball she shouldnt get faked out by the other players pump fake.

 

[_MIA_]

I like this ^^^^^^ but I still think the pump fake has great value. If you have the other player calling for the ball she shouldnt get faked out by the other players pump fake.

If it is a pump fake which fakes out the offensive player it will fake out the defensive player too..DD was at a team camp at OSU a few years ago and Gajewski stopped the game DD was playing in and made a point of mentioning this to the catcher who was repeatedly doing it.

 

[ang2bmd]

This is part of our 15u team warm up drills before every game and part of our standard infield practice at every practice. IMO you shouldn’t ever stop practicing fundamentals


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