First, it's a foregone conclusion that the player should be able to feel whether she hits a ground ball, a line drive or a fly ball. I just don't know what to say to anyone who assumes otherwise, or assumes other people think otherwise.
Some of you have said that the runners should know when it is their decision to run, and when it should be the coach's. I agree 100%. To me the test is simple: if the ball is in front of the runner, it's her decision; if it's behind her it's the coach's.
Every ball that batter hits is in front of her.
On ground balls she's taught to "take a peek" after about 5 steps to see whether the IF plays it cleanly, bobbles it, or it gets through. On clean plays, bobbles, or if it hasn't reached the fielder it's through first. If the throw is errant, the 1B coach will be her eyes and dictate whether or not she goes 2. If it the ground ball gets through, she's automatically thinking two and doing the ole banana. Again, the ball is in front of her so she makes the decision whether or not to try for 2, depending on what happens in the OF.
What is "taking a peek"? Let's be real here, the runner doesn't have to turn her head one iota to see whether the IF makes a play on a ground ball; she can move her eyes left or use peripheral vision. I will concede that balls right up the 3B line are tougher, but you can see the 3B bag without turning your head until you're about 15' up the 1B line. Don't believe me? Look for yourselves when you go to the field this afternoon. By the time the runner is 15' up the baseline, the decision has been made, so there need not be a head turn, or just a slight one if she waits a little long to peek.
I understand that players run faster with their heads straight forward than they do with them turned to the side, but they don't have to turn their heads to find the ball. Besides, the reality is even if the runner does have to turn her head once for a ball up the 3B line, the amount of time that takes off the time to first is negligible when you consider a human is making the safe or out call.
I don't want to get off topic here, but I'm really curious to know: those of you who say the runner should know when it's her decision and when it's the coach's, by what criteria do they make that determination?[/QUOTE]
The coach always has the authority to stop the runner. If he/she thinks its not a proper time to be aggressive, he/she puts up the stop sign.