position in front of base or behind?

[playball13]

At 10U you will have to have a lot of confidence in F2 to make a good throw if you are straddling the bag. At 16U most of the throws to 3B are throws under duress, a runner taking 3B on a ball in the dirt or F2 fielding a bunt. Not always a good throw.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Well, I know what I am going to be looking for from now on, where U of Az.'s 3rd baseman is taking those throws.

I truthfully have no idea, but I would have thought it was front of the bag, also.

DD's coach was a D1 athlete from Purdue and she taught, front of the bag. But, she was a 2nd baseman.

I have a niece that played 3rd at a very good community college (Kankakee, IL). I might have to call her out of the blue. Ha.

 

[SnocatzDad]

Thank you ALL for your input!!
To start with ~ let me say that I love the way our game has evolved over time. It does, however, remind me of just how OLD I am! LOL There are so many changes in the game from the days when I played! To answer your question, Amy... I am the 'in front of the bag' mindset. Here is/was my reasoning:

I'm a catcher. We always set up in front of the plate to receive a throw.
The 3rd baseman in softball IS on the inside of the baseline (as opposed to baseball where they play behind the bag).
- it seems to make more sense to me that a baseball 3rd baseman would take the throw from behind the bag because he is coming IN to the bag
- the softball 3rd baseman is going BACKWARDS to the bag.... makes more sense to me to take the throw in front.
The throw from anywhere on the infield (with the exception of the shortstop) is going to be coming from the homeplate side of 3rd base.
- Why would we want to take the chance that the throw (which SHOULD be low and at the bag) actually hits the runner? On a bang-bang play, your throw isn't going to get there early enough to get through the baseline to the glove that is behind the bag.
- If the 3rd baseman is set up inside the bag, she doesn't have anything else to distract or impede her from catching the ball. There is no runner in the .... should the throw be off target. If she's behind the bag - seems to me there is much more chance for error and having the ball get past her.

That being said ~ I DEFINITELY see the benefit to the safety aspect of being behind the bag. Hadn't ever seen/heard of anyone getting injured stepping back to make a tag after receiving the throw on the inside.

I'll have to give it more thought. But I have to admit that I'm still not entirely sold on the 'behind the bag' approach.

I'm with you, throw to a F5 retreating to the bag, ideally I'd like her set up with her left foot on the front side of 3B(side facing home). F6 covering 3rd base is going to stay on the back side of the bag (assuming she is playing behind the baseline) because I would not want her to collide with runner on way to bag.

 

[Greenmonsters]

IMO, the preferred position for any tag play on the bases is a straddle. On an attempted steal of 3B, the ideal position is straddling the bag w/ rt foot on the foul line on home plate side of bag and left foot adjacent to the OF side of the bag w/ shoulders squared to the catcher. However, in SB, the coverage of 3B often requires substantial movement of the fielder (either the 3B or SS) to get to the bag unless the 3B is playing even w/ the bag. Therefore, whoever is covering typically needs to adjust from the ideal position based on when they'll be arriving at the bag relative to the baserunner's arrival and the accuracy of the throw i.e., if the throw from C is toward 2B, the best (and safest) place to move is diagonally into the diamond (ie. towards the pitcher's circle) so they are not in the base runner's line and don't have their view of the ball blocked temporarily by the runner. If the throw is high, need to drop step toward the OF to try and catch the ball and not obstruct the runner if they turn the bag. Need to make sure the fielders understand and practice these adjustments so that they can safely and effectively make the plays.

Fundamentally, the girls should be taught to understand that the throw is traveling at a greater velocity than the fielder can move their glove after catching the ball. For a tag play on the bases, its quickest to 'wait' for the ball and then drop the glove straightdown in front of the bag rather than reaching out for it then swinging it it back and down to the front of the bag. How many times have you seen a SS or 2B reaching toward the C to take a throw in front of 2B in seemingly plenty of time to get the runner, but the runner avoids the sweeping tag by sliding by (i.e., toward the OF side) and grabbing the back corner w/ a hand tag. This can be avoided if the throw is taken at the bag and then dropped straight down.

I'm a catcher. We always set up in front of the plate to receive a throw. Agree that's proper because a) the catcher has shin guards, chest protector, and, if they're smart, the helmet/mask is still on! and, a) the base runners can over-run home plate w/out risk of being tagged out
.

Regards - GM