Proper timing of your lead can be the difference between a successful run and an out. In today’s video blog post, we are going to discuss softball coaching and timing the lead. I’ll also introduce 2 different lead drills to fine-tune your lead timing.
Straight Steal Lead
If you are in a straight steal situation, your base runner will lead when the pitcher is at the top of the pitching motion (the 3:00 position). She will start her progress off the base, so that by the time the ball is out of the pitchers hand, your runner will be just leaving the bag with her back foot. That’s what we use for a straight steal situation. In this drill, the runner is getting a timing pattern down with the pitcher.
The Bunt Lead
The second execution we have is when our batter is going to bunt the ball. In that situation, we are going to wait on our lead until the ball is in flight and approaching the hitting zone. That way our base runner can get her lead when the ball is coming into the zone, she can be off the base, see the ball down onto the ground, never stop her momentum, for a clean run into second base. If the ball is popped up, she is not very far off the base and she can get safely back.
Should You Run a Mass Drill with your Players?
When you do a mass drill, it allows you to see all of your athletes at once, and they are all working. You can also use it as a conditioning drill. We usually put it at the front of our routine for the day to make sure we are good and warm. We use it as a thinker drill, so that I can call out steal, bunt, nobody on — I can call out any situation and they know which lead they are taking.
Do you have any other lead timing tips or softball coaching techniques you would like to share? Feel free to comment below! And don’t forget to Follow Me on Twitter, where I will be sharing more great softball tips, tricks and coaching techniques!
And be sure to check out my Softball Drills and Practice Plans!