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Prepare Your First Baseman
by Dave
Friday, July 17, 2009
At times, I've been accused of paying too little attention to certain positions including first base. The criticisms are fair. I do not believe I have ever written anything particularly specific about the 1B position. Recently, I have paid close attention to the position because I have watched a girl play the position quite a bit. She doesn't have the skill set needed to be good at her spot. And the coaches have not done anything to rectify her deficiencies. The subpar first baseman is my daughter. And as I watch her play the position, perhaps misplay the position, it has set my mind to work. Numerous questions pop into my head as I sit along the sidelines. Who usually plays first, what are their qualifications, and what do we need to do in order improve the play of the infield's anchor?
In baseball, the 1B is often a big hitter who can't play another position. Lefties frequently get the nod because, in baseball, lefties are relegated to either the outfield or first, unless they can pitch. A slow running, weak armed lefty who can hit is generally called a first baseman in a baseball context. But in girls fastpitch softball where it is not all that uncommon to find a lefty catcher or infielder, we also cannot afford a first baseman who is not athletic, who has bad footwork, or who has a poor arm. In fastpitch softball, a first baseman who is not quick, cannot field very well, or has a weak arm is called a target by the opposition.
So what are the various tasks a 1B must perform well in a softball context? And what can we do to improve those skills?
I suppose the first, most obvious thing a 1B does is take throws from infielders on grounders. She also must cover bunts. She takes pickoff throws from the catcher. She may be the cutoff on certain balls hit to the outfield though very often the pitcher is used to perform this role. She likely takes throws from RF on line drive hits to that field. She has to guard the line on slaps unless you use a modified defense for slappers. She has to field all manner of hit balls just like the 3B does. And she must make throws to all the bases, particularly home after recording put-outs. Am I missing anything?
Taking throws from infielders would seem to be simple enough, yet it is perhaps one of the most complicated jobs on the field. In baseball, where the 1B plays back behind the bag on most situations, the 1B has the benefit of having most plays happen in front of him. That is, on a grounder to short of third, he runs forward with the infielder within his peripheral view. That is quite a contrast to a fastpitch 1B playing at 40-50 feet from the plate who must often turn her back on the play and race for the bag blind to the girl making the throw. She has to run to her spot, find the bag with her throwing hand foot, pick up the ball, and then make the stretch and catch.
I have seen numerous firstbasemen, especially at the lower levels, struggle with this primary, fundamental task. Very often coaches have chosen her for her role for the same reasons one would pick a baseball 1B, height, slow footedness, big hitter-no glove, etc. And they give her little training or advice on how best to accomplish the task. Very often, they feel that normal infield drills in which grounders are repeatedly hit at various infielders who then make the throw to first is enough. It isn't.
If you've ever observed this sort of infield workout, you know this isn't enough as quite often, the 1B knows exactly who is getting a ball hit to them and she hangs around the bag in expectation of that. She isn't standing at her normal position when the ball is struck. She doesn't have to race back to cover the bag. She is practically there before the ball ever touches the dirt. When we run infield practices, we should take the time and attention to make sure players, especially the 1B, are positioned where they would be in a game. We should not permit our 1Bs to drift closer and closer to the bag. We can hit a bunch of grounders at fielders in a sequence but then we ought to randomly hit to all fielders to immitate game situation.
Still, making sure the 1B is properly positioned during routine infielding practice is probably not enough. We can easily do more. We can create a drill just for the 1B in which a coach stands at various places around the infield, position the 1B at her normal spot, 20 to 30 feet from the bag, have her race to cover, and then make throws to her at various angles. At first she can be allowed to reach the bag, find her feet and get ready for the catch before the ball is thrown but as she masters the most basic footwork, we want to put the ball in the air before she reaches her coverage position. We want her to gain experience in quickly finding the bag with her throwing hand foot, look up and locate the incoming throw, stretch and catch.
In addition to the normal skill set which any ballplayer gets work on, the 1B needs to be able to catch the ball with one hand. We school girls in using two hands all the time. If we are good at coaching, all our players field everything with two hands except in very limited cases to get to balls otherwise outside our reach. If you take a girl from almost any other position and put her out at first, her initial instincts are going to be to catch every ball she can move to with two hands. Obviously, a 1B can't do this. She needs to keep her foot nailed to the base and reach. That is a specific skill required to play the position and it needs to be practiced.
As an added layer, we also want to make sure the 1B has practice catching all manner of slightly offline and truly horrendous throws. When I think of this, I think about the high school hockey goalie I have told you about before. He was not at a skill level some of the other players on his team were. But they wanted to have a state championship team that year and they needed the goalie to step up his game. So, during practices, they took wicked shots at him until he became a better player. That practice strategy worked for the goalie and the team but in baseball and softball, the aspect of the game we are discussing is kind of exactly opposite that of a goalie. Also, I don't want my infielders repeatedly practicing to make bad throws just to work out their 1B. I'd no more want my SS to practice making bad throws than I would want pitchers practicing making pitches down the center of the plate. Someone else has to do this, preferably a coach.
Coaches should make their throws right at the 1B's head and also to her left and right. Catching throws to the center, left and right are decidedly different skills. In each case, the 1B must stride toward the throw, after finding the bag, but on the back hand side, her vision is different than center or on the forehand side and the hand eye coordination is also rather different. A well prepared 1B must have loads of experience doing all three.
Going a bit further, taking throws in the dirt on the short hop or otherwise is also very different when accomplished on each side. It takes almost as much repeated experience as hitting does. We give batters 50 swings each at soft-toss, the batting tee and with live or machine pitched balls. The 1B should be no different. She needs reps.
I have often seen relatively inexperienced 1Bs at all levels make a fundamental mistake on base coverage. They get back to the bag in plenty of time, find the base, and then stretch before they know the trajectory of the ball. This sometimes manifests itself in a second stride which is difficult to perform after a first. It also manifests itself in either a missed throw or one in which their back foot comes off the bag. Another common mistake is too short of stride or one accomplished in a lackadaisical, perfunctory manner. I'm supposed to stretch. Coach tells me so. So, here you go, here's my step, uh stretch. 1Bs need to be schooled to make a quick, athletic stride to the ball when and only when they know the trajectory.
Bunt coverage is a primary role for the 1B. She needs to be able to rush forward, pick up the ball and complete the throw to first quickly. The footwork is kind of complicated because she has her back to the bag. 1Bs should have plenty of opportunity to field bunts in front of them and make the throw to the 2B covering. She needs to charge on the pitch when the batter breaks her hands, get to where the ball is, step slightly beyond it while turning sideways to the first baseline, and then pick and throw in a single fluid motion. We just do not have time to bend down, get the ball, stand up, stride and throw. Essentially, the 1B must be in a good body position to make a throw, as she is picking up the ball. She should also be taught to throw without a stride towards the target. This task can be more complicated than it looks. It should be broken down into steps and practiced as much as a catcher practices her throws to the various bases.
In general, I like to use a rule or guide for balls on the ground. If it is stopped and not spinning, which is somewhat rare. A fielder can pick it up with her bare, throwing hand. If there is any movement at all, she needs to field it with two hands. But in this case, where we aren't talking about a grounder, the glove hand should be closed - the glove should be closed. She grips the glove like she has a ball in it, puts the glove to the first base side of the ball, scoops throwing and glove hands together, and picks up the ball with the throwing hand, pulls slightly back and throws while taking no forward step. Again, this needs to be one fluid motion.
The 1b often takes pickoff throws from the catcher unless the defense is running a play where the 2B sneaks in behind her at first. She also, obviously, must take throws on some dropped third strikes. This should be pretty easy. She races back to the bag, places her left foot on or next to it, and makes a target for the catcher that is inside the foul line, out of way of the running lane.
Taking pickoff throws are more difficult. On these, the right handed 1B need to turn her back on the pitcher and be sideways to the catcher. She should take the throw on the bag side but in fair ground, assumming an accurate throw. She has her back to the runner but should be able to barely perceive her out of her left eye. As she catches the ball, she should allow it to pull her towards the bag, while stepping slightly back with the left foot and reaching to make the tag low to the ground. The reason she cannot turn towards the field/pitcher is because it takes too much time to apply a tag. The obvious objection to this is, what if the runner instead of returning to base, breaks for second. Well, first of all, I would hope my other infielders are watching and instructing her in that case. And secondly, she should have enough time to make a throw to second unless the runner is very, very quick. And if she has a big enough lead to make second, probably the throw should not have been made.
If the first baseman is a lefty, she probably has an advantage over her right handed counterpart since she should be open to the infield when receiving pickoff throws. The idea is to have the glove handed side towards the bag, whether lefty or righty, in order to allow the flight of the ball to do most of the work on a pickoff attempt. If the 1B has to reach with the glove, she is going to be slow and probably not get the runner very often.
Aside from taking throws and fielding bunts, obviously a 1B is also one of the four infielders. She, like the 3B, must have experience and practice reps at fielding balls smashed to her left and right. The difference between the 1B and 3B is, obviously, the line is on the opposite side of the fielder and there is a middle infielder with whom she must cooperate also on the opposite side.
In terms of balls hit to the right, we tell 3Bs that they should try to handle any ball they can get to. The same is true for 1Bs. If she can get to balls to her right, she should attempt to field every one of them. She should not find herself worried that nobody is going to be at the bag if she moves to her right. The 2B is in probably the best position to know if she needs to cover first. She should be able to judge whether the 1B can get to the grounder or not. The two girls should talk to each other but the 2B should expect the 1B to cover any grounder she should reach. The only way to work this out is to have lots of experience with each other. The relationship between 1B and 2B should be almost as close as that between pitcher and catcher.
Balls hit to the left of the 1B are generally more difficult than those hit to the right. That's as true for lefties as it is for righties primarily because most balls hit right down the line are hit pretty hard and have some air underneath them. But just as the 3B must knock down everything hit down her base line, the 1B must also. If smashes are allowed to get past the corner infielders, these frequently turn into doubles.
It seems almost com9ical to mme that when infielders do short distance grounder drills in practice, coaches almost always conduct these drills on the third base line. It's almost as if subconsciously they have forgotten about the 1B's role on defense. Sure all the 1Bs join up with the 3Bs in these sdrills but coaches' bias is to run these drills over near 3B. The reason we run this drill near any line at all is because the 3B needs to have an innate sense of where the line is in relation to where she positions herself normally. The same is true of 1Bs. So when you do this drill, please consider alternating between first and third rather than always doing it at third.
Lest I forget, the play after a dive and a stop is as important as the dive itself. One of the most beautiful plays in the game involves the diving third baseman who gets up and makes a good throw to first nailing the runner. One of the ugliest involves the first baseman lumbering to her feet and then throwing the ball into right, past the covering 2B. Along the same lines is a play on which the 1B makes a good play on a ball to her right and then tries to underhand flip the ball to the covering 2B and gets too much air underneath it. The balls floats in the air, defying gravity as the slapper runs right through the bag before the ball touches leather. 1Bs need to practice this underhand toss about as much as a 2B or SS needs to practice their close-range throws to second, perhaps more. They should have a brief conversation with some of the pitchers and then practice the pitcher's fastball snap.
There is a play unique to fastpitch softball which frustrates the offense to no end. When I introduce it to young girls, I tell them that this is possibly their best opportunity to make the opposition cry. The play is a smash to RF which results in an out at 1B. Recently, one team I watched cried and for good reason. They were down by a run in the bottom of the 7th with runner on third and two outs in an elimination game. A pitch caught too much of the plate and the batter drilled it on a line to right. If it had been more in the gap, even just a few feet more, it would have reached the fence on two hops. But after the first hop, the RF grabbed it, wheeled and threw to first, just barely nailing the batter-baserunner and negating the tying run. Ballgame over. Turn on the faucets!
The play a 1B makes on a shot to RF is not particularly difficult but throws from outfielders can sometimes be difficult to handle, especially when they are to the foul line side of the bag. We don't want the 1B to get blind-sided by the baserunner so reaching across needs to be avoided unless the 1B knows the batter-baserunner is extremely slow and the play happens fast.
This brings me back to generally handling throws at first. I forgot to mention this and I can't see a good place to slot it in so I'll deal with it in this spot. When a 1B is handling throws from infielders or outfielders, we have to be careful about instructing them not to reach across the baseline. In fastpitch softball, we are lucky to most often use the "safety base" which at least keeps the runner a bit away from collision with the 1B. But if the 1B reachea across the line, all bets are off. And these injuries can be among the most severe in the game.
If a 1B reaches across the line and a runner strikes her, the result can be a borken wrist or damage done to the elbow or shoulder. It also can end in a concussion. While I certainly can see games of sufficient importance to cause a 1B to be willing to risk this result, I think most of us will never play a game of that kind of importance. We should not risk the potential end of a softball career just to record an out or two. 1Bs need to be able to judge whether they can make a clean catch or not without reaching across the line. If they cannot, they need to be able to come off the bag to catch the ball. Thereafter, a second judgment should be made which is whether they can still get an out by tagging the runner (assumming the ball is on the plate side of the bag).
Proper tagging technique must be taught. The tag should not be like it might be at third where the fielder grips the ball, places her glove between the bag and runner and waits for the two to come into contact. The 1B should grip the ball with two hands and hopefully either get in front of the slow runner if there is time for her to slow down or just wait for her and make a quick stabbing and pullback motion as she goes by. The idea would be for her to perform a movement like she was trying to knock a runner offbalance from the side. This should avoid broken wrists, etc.
In baseball, with its 90 foot basepaths, sometimes the 1B is called upon to make certain throws. There are some slick-fielding, strong-armed 1Bs on the baseball diamond but somewhat often, the 1Bs have weaker arms than other players. This is hidden by the longer distance between bases. But in softball we don't have that luxury. In softball, the 1B must be able to follow a putout with a throw.
In baseball, you often see the 1B stretch like a gymnast, catch the ball, and then slowly come out of the stretch like an old man (like myself) getting out of a chair. In baseball, it is infrequent for even a runner stealing third at the time the ball is struck to attempt to score. if he does, usually he is thrown out by a good margin. In fastpitch softball, if a 1B does that stretch and slow recovery, a runner from second is likely to round the bag and then, if she is fast, reach home before the 1B knows what is going on. If softball, the 1B needs to be acutely aware of baserunners and she must be capable of making good quick throws. This must be practiced.
We have talked about bunt defense and my preference is for the covering 2B to wheel and throw behind the runner, either at second or third. Likewise in situations in which a runner is allowed to advance a base for whatever reason and the out is recorded via a throw to the covering 1B, I would like her to follow up with a throw behind the runner, particularly at second. The reason I say this is because runners advancing safely from first to second have a tendency to either relax after reaching the base or to round it, looking for an opportunity to go to third. In either case, she may not be on the bag. A throw behind her can sometimes record a free out - a free out which can compleyely take the oppposition out of the game.
Well, that's what I have to say about first basemen. I think I'v e covered at least the most important aspects of the position. As always, my motto is practice, practice, practice. I know you are all busy practicing. And as you put together your drills, please don;t forget about the 1B. She needs a unique skill set. She has as many special needs as any other player. You've got to give her specific reps.Labels: defense, practice, pre-season preparation
 
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