Having spent the last week at PGF nationals, baserunning is a dreadfully overlooked skill.
If you want to make an impression on college coaches, improve your baserunning with these 3 steps.
There’s no doubt that softball players are getting better all the time, but the one skill that seems to have regressed is baserunning. Watching a week’s worth of the top 18 and 16 & Under teams this past week at the PGF nationals, I saw players running hard, but only looking to go 60 feet.
So, here’s a short list of how to quickly improve your baserunning, to improve your impression on college coaches:
- Always Look to Go More Than 60 Feet – Far too many runners only ran to the next base and then assumed that was a far as they could go. Always be ready with your mind, your attention and your feet to gain an extra 60 feet on every single play!
- Be Neutral When You Stop – Instead of “breaking down” and immediately going back to the base, stop in a neutral position that allows you to go either direction based on what happens to the ball. I see far too many players “break down” after crossing first base with NO intention of going any farther. “Breaking down” isn’t the objective. You only “break down” in order to stop in a neutral position to then immediately advance if possible.
- See the Ball – The ball, not your coach, determines whether you need to stop at the base or advance to the next one, so always, always, always watch the ball!
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