When you think of baserunning the first thing that usually comes
to mind is stealing bases, players that have speed or bowling over
the catcher at home plate. On the contrary, baserunning is an
acquired skill. Good baserunners will know situations, react to the
ball in play and be smart. Having the speed and agility to get
around the bases quicker is a plus but poor decisions can lead to
easy outs.
When you think of baserunning the first thing that usually comes to mind is stealing bases, players that have speed or bowling over the catcher at home plate. On the contrary, baserunning is an acquired skill. Good baserunners will know situations, react to the ball in play and be smart. Having the speed and agility to get around the bases quicker is a plus but poor decisions can lead to easy outs.
Players that acquire good baserunning traits will add an advantage to their team. Those traits include developing knowledge and understanding good angles in approaching bases, having an aggressive plan on each pitch and reading the ball off the bat. In essence, you’re trying to get to each base by the shortest route possible, put pressure on the defense and being aware of up-angle or down-angle off the bat.
At the youth level, certain fundamental areas of baserunning must be taught before advancing to higher levels of the inside game of baseball. Correct running posture, running with your head up and paying attention to the base coaches are three of the first things young players should learn. Emphasis should be placed on running from home to first, first to third and second to home.
A lot of young players don’t run through first base properly, run around the bases without knowing where the ball is and treat base coaches as if they’re invisible. Teach players to come straight out of the box after they hit the ball and to run through first base, trying to hit the front part of the base with a slight body lean forward. After hitting the base, players should take a quick peek to their right to see if the first baseman missed the ball. If so, they could possibly advance to second.
In running from first to third, good baserunners will read the ball off the bat and if the ball is in front of them (left or center field), they’ll make their own decisions on going to third or pick up the third base coach after they reach second base. If the ball is behind them (right field) runners should be looking for the third base coach before reaching second and again after touching second. Most of the time, the throw will dictate if the coach wants the player to keep coming. That’s why a player needs to look twice, otherwise they may be out by a mile.
In going from second to home, picking up the coach applies here as well because the ball is out of the players sight and he must rely on the coaches decision.
The baserunner probably has an idea as to where the ball was hit and is trying to score, but again, he doesn’t know how well the throw is.
Both of the above baserunning situations require aggressiveness. The player must think he’s going to the next base until he’s told to stop. You can’t be running the bases station to station. Make the outfielder stop you. Running at full steam forces the outfielder to make a good throw, and if he doesn’t, you’ll be able to advance another base.
If youth players practice good baserunning skills game in and game out, they’ll be setting themselves up for learning advanced techniques at higher levels and because they understand the basic fundamental concepts, applying those skills will be easier.
