For all the other people who are reading these posts, from what I have seen throughout the years, when executed correctly, diving head first is quicker to the base, including 1st base. It is more dangerous therefore it's not for everyone. You can agree or not, that's up to you. Also, umpires seem to have more trouble making the call. As far as Davis making it to the hall of fame, his chances are nil yet they are much better than yours. Also, what does that have to do with the subject at hand? And how do comments like that help the many people who come here for advice? On the other hand, don't bother responding, I'm not interested...
Run Thru or Dive Head First to 1st Base?
- Thread starter lgill
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- Jul 26, 2010
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Science has already disproved this. That's the thing, head-first sliding appears more dramatic over running through a base, but it is not faster. Now, if you want to compare head-first sliding to feet-first sliding, you would have a valid argument. It's simple really, consistent acceleration is faster then a braking motion.
-W
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meg.w.stev
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I agree with the others. Running straight through is faster. We actually did an experiment with our travel ball team.We had a few girls wanting to dive to the bag so we put a stop watch on it and every time running through was always quicker than diving.
The answer might not be so cut and dry. Again, if done correctly and by the right athletes...
Diving into 1B - YouTube
Diving into 1B - YouTube
- Jul 26, 2010
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The analysis of that video is poor. It uses the baserunners centerpoint to determine when he would have hit first base, and does not take into account a reaching step towards first base using when his foot would have touched the bag, rather than his centerpoint. It's a really good attempt at using misinformation to prove the authors point though, had you confused, didn't it?
-W
- Oct 25, 2009
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I would say if it's more dangerous it's not for anyone. Especially since it offers no advantage. Why risk an injury for no gain?
The only two possible advantages that I see are 1) avoiding a tag and 2) taking away that thump, thump the umpire is expecting; the sound of the ball in the glove versus the sound of the foot hitting the bag. At 12-U I just don't feel comfortable endorsing it although if the player's parents are teaching it at home I'll let her give it a shot. I have at least one tall girl on our team who just has a difficult time getting her feet out front on a slide. It's psychological. She's been working on a dive and has been given a green light to try. It just hasn't come up in a situation of late.
I worry tremendously about injuries with a head-first slide to a fixed bag. At our age, even if you work hard at it you can still have brain freezes or unforeseen situations occur. As they get older however we will teach the head-first as just another tool in the tool box, along with our other slides.
I worry tremendously about injuries with a head-first slide to a fixed bag. At our age, even if you work hard at it you can still have brain freezes or unforeseen situations occur. As they get older however we will teach the head-first as just another tool in the tool box, along with our other slides.
No, after all these years, there's not much about softball that really confuses me but there are certain things about some people that is somewhat puzzling at times. At least there's one important thing I've learned over the years. You learn a lot more from listening to the opinion of experienced people than listening to opinionated people. Next practice perhaps I should strongly encourage outfielders to never dive for hard to catch fly balls and for infielders to never dive for ground balls because apparently, the player will get to the ball quicker/easier by staying up. I don't encourage players to dive at first base because it's not for everyone and it can easily lead to injuries. I don't want to be responsible for that. On the other hand, I have seen some very quick/aggressive elite male players use this approach very successfully over the years. The players I'm referring to seem to be convinced it is quicker or at least more confusing for the umpire. To each his own.
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