The sight of a fleet footed runner suddenly taking off for second base, the pitcher's delivery, the catcher exploding out of his catching position, unleashing the ball with so much energy his protective face mask flies from his head, the split second hesitation, will the runner beat the throw? Watching a runner attempting to steal a base against a catcher with a rifle for an arm is an exciting event to watch, whether an old hickory fan or a brand new youngster, but they feel none of the excitement the base runner experiences.
From the extreme tautness of muscles compressed like a coiled spring, the laser like focus of the eyes, the feeling of every action either occurring in slow motion or hyper fast speed as they sprint to the base, and the exhilaration of hearing "Safe".
Unfortunately, this very scenario produces hundreds of injuries to youth playing baseball, with the major culprit being lack of knowledge of how to slide safely.
Admittedly, the action of sliding into a base happens so quickly it's nearly impossible to learn the procedure from just watching, a player must be taught the proper procedure and that's where many coaches fail.
There are various sliding techniques, the leg first straight in slide, the hook slide, the pop-up slide, the head first slide and several variations of each.
We'll begin with the "Head First Slide," because improperly performed, creates the most injuries of the sliding techniques, and since the MLB players increasing use this slide, the more players attempt it.
Jammed and Broken Fingers are the number one injury incurred with this slide simply because players are not taught to NOT extend their fingers while reaching for the base, which is a result of not properly teaching the intent of the slide.
Therefore, the very first thing we must teach the player is to slide with their hands in a fist, not fingers extended.
This can not be stressed enough.
Should a player have a tendency to ignore or forget this Cardinal Rule, require him to carry a batting glove in each hand, or some object, such as the plastic cap of a water bottle, which will force him to keep his hands closed.
Secondly, the player must be taught to Slide Through the base not To the base, which is a huge difference.
By sliding through the base the hands of the player, fist I should say, are required to be held higher than the base in order to clear the base as the body slides through the base.
Secondly, by targeting a spot on the other side of the base as the stopping point, the player is allowed ½ to a full step more of running speed before initiating the slide.
The slide procedure is as follows: 1.
As you quickly approach, begin your slide 4 to 5 feet in front of the base, by lowering the top portion your body, pushing off from one foot, doesn't matter left or right, but a right handed person usually uses their right foot, using the forward momentum to lunge forward towards the base.
2.
Since you have literally become air borne, in your horizontal dive, obviously you must come down without hurting yourself.
When hitting the ground, remember your arms and fists are fully extended, you'll land on your chest first, then waist, then legs as the body falls, this procedure will dissipate the force of the impact as you make contact with the dirt, not only avoiding injury but allowing the body to slide on the dirt.
3.
Any head first slide is deemed successful as long as the fists clear the other side of the base, which means they were properly held out of harm's way.
As stated, there are other forms of sliding, but I wanted to explain this one in detail, since it's responsible for the most, number wise and pain wise, injuries runners incur.