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SOFTBALL LINKS |
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Baserunner's Body Position
by Dave
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Heidi wrote in with a question that is not so much a good fastpitch softball question as it is more of one of those which baseball people are always asking us which we sometimes have trouble answering to their satisfaction.
Here is the question:
"I have heard so many answers to this question and have been unable to pinpoint an exact answer. Please help. In softball we position our runners with one foot on the bag, the other behind or off to the side of the bag, and when stealing push off with the foot that is on the bag when the pitcher has the ball at 'the top of the clock.' So many little league (baseball) families will ask why that is, why do the girls not lead off like baseball players to be closer to the next base? I would appreciate your guidance and response!"
Heidi's question has a couple possible meanings.
First off, why is there no leading in softball? That is pretty easy. It takes too long for the delivery.
Baseball pitchers have something called the stretch in which they bring their hands together for one second and then once they take them apart, they must immediately deliver to the plate or attempt a pickoff. It takes just moments between the hand separation and a delivery.
In fastpitch, though it is not required, pitchers almost always complete a full circle (plus a little) before releasing the ball. There is no "stretch" possible within this delivery. I have thought a lot about how a stretch might be accomplished in softball. I suppose it is possible though rather unwieldy.
Besides this observation, do I need to say that it is not our intention or desire to make softball identical to baseball? The two are different games though decidedly similar in many ways. I think there is some notion on the part of baseball people that we do things in fastpitch to make it different or easier "for girls." That is not at all the case. I can prove that with one simple phrase. Fastpitch softball is not a "girl's game" - it is played at a high level by both genders.
Secondly, in our game, the bases are just 60 feet apart, whereas in baseball they are 90. Pop times - from pop in catcher's mitt to pop in base coverer's glove - are about the same in each sport. But it takes under 3 seconds for a good fastpitch baserunner to reach second and would take a baseball stealer a bit more than that. If girls could lead, we would have to move the bases and I think that is inadvisable since one of the strengths of this sport is its speed.
Lastly and most likely to the heart of your probable question or perhaps the questioners' questions, since there is no leaving the base before the pitcher releases the ball, the trick in our sport is to have all your momentum going before you leave the bag. So we "coil," put our feet behind the bag, and begin the running motion - get our momentum going - at the top of the circle so that immediately after the ball is released we not only are just breaking contact with the bag but also are in full-motion-mode.
By contrast a baseball baserunner gets off the bag before the pitcher even brings their hands together. The play is very much live at every moment once time is in and/or the pitcher makes contact with the rubber. The baserunner can go at any moment (there is no look back rule) and the pitcher can attempt a pickoff at any moment. The baserunner needs to be able to go in either direction - to his right if he is stealing or to his left if he needs to get back to the bag. So they take up a ready position which is suited to moving in either direction.
Their positioning is not superior to the traditional fastpitch position for running in a one-direction straight line. It is superior for being ready to go in either direction - which by the way is why once we get off the base in fastpitch, we take up about the same body/foot position. If their position were superior, sprinters in track and field would mimick it. They don't. In truth, the fastpitch baserunner attemps to mimick the positioning of a sprinter within the environment in which we do not have starting blocks!Labels: baserunning
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