Baserunning

There are timing guys, look guys, bill up guys, etc. Each is different. The key is ID'ing the tendencies and taking advantage of them.

The same goes with LHP's - head guys, timing guys, etc.

I totally agree Redbird and I can't believe I didn't mention leftys.

We have a pretty good system with leftys. When we aren't stealing, we'll go big lead and on first move we'll take a jab step back to the bag before we take a secondary to make sure we aren't getting picked. We'll do that over and over again lull him to sleep a little. Then on a steal, we'll shorten up our lead by a step hoping to put him at ease and then go first movement to second. Unless you have a 'pauser' this works pretty well. Even on a pick, we go straight to the bag at second and beat the throw from 1st 99% of the time.

As everyone knows, leftys love to think they can pick anyone off, so this also gets in their head a good bit.

How to get a good jump off of a right-handed pitcher?

Watch the front foot, if it picks up then you are triggered to go
Chin - Pitcher's tendency is to pick up their head as they go to the plate vs. checking the runner with the head down. If you see this tendency you can steal against the chin
Front Shoulder - Pitchers will tuck their front shoulder as they go to the plate.

How to get a good jump off of a left-handed pitcher?

Back shoulder - goes away from you then go
First move steal - Any movement by the pitcher and we are off and going hard into 2B.

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
How to get a good jump off of a right-handed pitcher?

Watch the front foot, if it picks up then you are triggered to go

If he picks it up and steps to 1st, you are triggered to get picked.

quote:

Originally posted by dash_riprock:

quote:

Originally posted by RJM:
How to get a good jump off of a right-handed pitcher?

Watch the front foot, if it picks up then you are triggered to go

If he picks it up and steps to 1st, you are triggered to get picked.

My post comes from a pro player. Somehow I think you're smart enough to understand what to do based on which way his foot moves. It's very obvious which way the foot is moving.

That's fine. But there are many that think a RHP can't throw to 1st without stepping off (hence picking up the non-pivot foot guarantees no throw-over), and there are many pro players who have no idea what constitutes a balk. Just listen to Tim McCarver or Joe Morgan for 5 minutes.

OK perhaps I wasn't as clear as I should have been. Sorry about that. I was hoping to share some tricks of the trade you guys have picked up along the way.

More along the lines of little things that help you get a jump off the pitcher or other tells that you've seen. Not so much read and react. We aren't blessed with blistering speed but we aren't slow either. If my guys wait til the pitcher lifts his foot and goes home, we won't have a chance. Like I said in my OP, the running game is a big part of our offense. So much so that we actually assign a bench player to do nothing but study the pitcher to dissect tendencies and share them with the team, usually our courtesy runner.

I also think running strategy is somewhat over looked now a days. Would love to get some discussion going about this to give us all a break from rotational vs linear and marshall mechanics vs common sense mechanics. (oops, did I say that out loud?)

Depending on the pants a RHP is wearing, you can either focus on his heels or his knees. I always looked at heels...any movement from R heel and I was going back.

Red Bird..I agree...RHP....watch the back heel if it comes up the pitcher is coming to first....If you watch the front foot and go when it is picked up (as suggested by another poster)...you have a good chance of being picked off.

quote:

Originally posted by dash_riprock:
That's fine. But there are many that think a RHP can't throw to 1st without stepping off (hence picking up the non-pivot foot guarantees no throw-over), and there are many pro players who have no idea what constitutes a balk. Just listen to Tim McCarver or Joe Morgan for 5 minutes.

Why bring tv announcers into a conversation with instructors who teach the game? I'm done.

quote:

Originally posted by TheRick:
OK perhaps I wasn't as clear as I should have been. Sorry about that. I was hoping to share some tricks of the trade you guys have picked up along the way.

More along the lines of little things that help you get a jump off the pitcher or other tells that you've seen. Not so much read and react. We aren't blessed with blistering speed but we aren't slow either. If my guys wait til the pitcher lifts his foot and goes home, we won't have a chance. Like I said in my OP, the running game is a big part of our offense. So much so that we actually assign a bench player to do nothing but study the pitcher to dissect tendencies and share them with the team, usually our courtesy runner.

I also think running strategy is somewhat over looked now a days. Would love to get some discussion going about this to give us all a break from rotational vs linear and marshall mechanics vs common sense mechanics. (oops, did I say that out loud?)

Chin - Pitcher's tendency is to pick up their head as they go to the plate vs. checking the runner with the head.

Now before someone breaks this down, please notice the key word "tendency." The best base stealers don't go by the fundamental rules. They study pitchers and take advantage of their tendencies.

In my book baserunning is not getting a lead and stealing

The steps we teach are pretty simple and basic. Get a primary lead you are comfortable with. Know your primary lead. Some guys can get 13' some can get 11' or 12' etc but find your comfort zone for a primary. We teach the primary lead this way. As soon as the pitcher toes get your primary and never take your eyes off the pitcher as your getting it. Right , left , right - turn. As this point you want to creep , creep not crossing your feet or bringing too close together. You want to stay in an athletic posistion as your taking the primary. The runner is most vulnerable to getting picked as he is taking his primary lead because he is moving away from where he will need to go if the pitcher throws over. Take the primary lead close to the cut a few inches in front of the base. If you stand on the pitchers mound and see a kid with a lead towards the cut and then take a look at a kid even with the bag or behind the bag you will see why. Even though you are the same distance from the base the player closer to the cut looks much closer to the bag. Try it.

If the pitcher does throw over turn and dive back towards the back of the base with your head facing right field. First of all your face will be protected from a throw that is not caught and also you will be looking towards the area a throw will allow you to advance if it gets away.

With a RHP we teach "back is back , front is go". What I mean by this is if the RHP back heel lifts he is throwing over to first. If it does not he is not throwing over so go and get your secondary or run on the steal or hit and run. There is no way a pitcher can throw over to first without lifting the bach heel. Unless he has swivels in his knee joints.

It is much easier to steal on a LHP. Why? Take all the guess work out of it for your players and have a simple rule. When we put on the steal with a LHP run on first move and do not hesitate regardless of what the pitcher does once he lifts. The vast majority of the time he is not throwing over. The vast majority of the time he does if you do not hesitate you will be safe at second base. The pitcher has to make an accurate throw. The mif have to get there. The 1b has to make an accurate throw to a mif that is moving towards the bag. He has to make it in a throwing lane that you can create for him. If the SS is inside of 2B on the catch then you run inside. If he is breaking to the outside you run outside.

Another thing to remember about lhp is the vast majority of the time they look at you as they lift they are going to the plate. Its almost automatic. When they lift and look away as they lift they are coming over. The simple rule of thumb here with a lefty is never get your secondary until you see him going to the plate. There will plenty of time to get your secondary once you see him going home. If you follow this rule of thumb you wont get picked.

When players try to judge "going home" "throwing over" as they are also trying to get a secondary lead bad things happen. They either start breaking back and are almost on the bag when the ball gets to the plate , or they start getting the secondary as the lhp is throwing over and they are toast if he does.


2B is very simple in my book. With less than two outs your going to work shallow so your in a straight line towards 3B. You get as much as the mif allow and the pitcher allows. Once the front foot starts towards home thats a que , but to get a better jump you can work back towards the bag as he is lifting and then get a rolling start working towards 3B as he begins to drop down.

With 2 outs we are going to work deep to create a better angle on the approach to 3B so we can score on one hit.

There is so much you could discuss about baserunning which incorporates - Primary , Secondary leads , Crossover or jab step on the steal , approaches and reads etc etc etc. Without a doubt in my opinion the least taught , the most improperly taught part of the game of baseball at the youth and hs levels of play.

Dang thats a long post , sorry.

Long yes, but a very good post!

In years past we have had a "pitcher tendency chart" kept in the dugout. Now we just get the kids focused on the same things we were looking for. Some of the things we charted...

-Pitcher's timing to the plate. We use a timing mechanism U-C-L-A. If you say in your head most pitchers deliver the pitch within one of those counts. So we tell the kids he is a "C" guy. And they know his timing.
-We also notice his look pattern w/ runners at 1B or 2B.
-With a lefty at 1B we find out with the first baserunner whether the pitcher is a read or guess guy when it comes to his pickoffs. We give a head and shoulders fake a couple of times on his first movement to find out.
-With a righty we have a "read steal" that we work often. We read slide step vs high leg kick. On first movement we steal while reading his leg kick. If he slide steps, it becomes a fake steal. If he high leg kicks, we keep going on the steal. We run this at first but can be most effective at second.
-We also take a look at when the pitcher picks. Does he pick before set, as he sets, or after he sets. Many pichters only feel comfortable picking from one of these positions.

Those are a few of the keys that we try and get the kids foused on in the dugout. We spend a lot of time in practice focusing on baserunning and allowing the kids to take more responsibility in the running game.

If you are a team known to be aggressive on the base paths, the opp. team prob. works to hold you close. Here is a little thing that has helped us at times. If your runner goes back to 1st on a pick off attempt standing up, go to the inside corner of the bag. Makes throws to the right of the first baseman hard to handle especially if the first baseman is left handed.