In today’s video blog post, we are talking about baserunning and the importance of sliding. I’ll also share some fantastic slide conditioning baserunning exercises that you can incorporpate into your next practice!
Softball Baserunning: Learning To Slide
Sliding is a skill that needs to be taught because it does not come natural to all young women to be able to do this. When you are teaching to slide in baserunning, you first need to make sure the athletes know WHY they are sliding. And you need to know why they are sliding!
Most importantly, of course, is to prevent injury. Your athletes need to understand how to slide safely and when they can use a slide in certain situations to avoid a collision — such as with the shortstop or 2nd/3rd base — whoever is making the tag. Your athlete can use sliding to avoid collision with that person.
The second reason that we slide is because it is the quickest way to the base. Your momentum is going into the base and your not having to stop, slow down or chop your steps to get to the base. You may also want to avoid a tag, so you are going to slide away from that person. And finally, you may want to create a diversion of some kind.
Anytime that you are in doubt, you should always be down sliding, especially going from 1st to 2nd base, which is usually a slide. Sliding keeps the athletes out of a half up/half down limbo situation, which is far too difficult to get out of in a quick situation.
In the video above, I have put together a few excellent sliding drills that your girls are going to love. And you’re going to see a huge improvement in both the sliding skills, as well as the agility skills of your athletes!
So remember, if in doubt… SLIDE…
Looking for more awesome baserunning drill ideas and sliding tips? Then be sure to check out Championship Coach Sue Enquist’s other Softball Coaching Videos! Sue will share some great tips and softball pitching mechanics, hitting and much more! And don’t forget to Like Us on Facebook, where we share more great ideas and suggestions for your practice plan! You can also Follow Us on Twitter and Hangout with us at Google+!