freddy77 posted:Stealing second vs. RHPs was noticeably easier 15 years ago in HS ball.
Back then, a lot more RHPs leg-lifted with runners on, probably because they didn't slidestep on the small diamond. Now, RHPs have been slidestepping since they were 11 yrs.-old.
For you guys that have been around for a while--do you agree it's harder to steal second?
Btw, as a result, I spend quite a bit of time working on our running game.
Don’t don’t believe it has anything to do with kids playing open bases starting at age eleven. A lot of 11u and 12u players still don’t learn the slide step. The games were track meets when my son played. A lead off single was often a triple after a couple of pitches.
There’s more video and instruction available now. Even if kids get to high school not knowing how to slide step they learn it quickly. I got to college not knowing how. When my pitching coach suggested I must have been stolen blind in high school I asked, “By what runners?” That cocky response was good for an afternoon of running poles.
I never learned in high school. There weren’t many base runners. I was recruited as an outfielder who ended up doing some left handed situational relieving. All of a sudden I was coming into games with base runners.