Sliding Question

[quincy]

In a game yesterday a player slide into 3rd then popped up into the fielder’s mitt. Play went really quick and the umpire made a bad call. Runner was safe on the slide; Umpire only appeared to see the mitt tagging the player as she popped up. The play was quick. If the runner did not popup I think she would have been called safe,

When teaching sliding do you have your runners to stay down until the play is called or the ball is missed?

 

[obbay]

my girls aren't that advanced but yes I have them stay down, partly because the tag is often held on them and when they get up they step off the base. They stay down and if the fielder is hovering over them they call time.

 

[starsnuffer]

They are taught to slide and pop up. Softball is a fast paced game, and especially at younger ages errors are made. The runner sliding into 2nd needs to be ready to go if the fielder misses the ball or throws to 1 to attempt a DP.

-W

 

[kgertie]

I have always taught a regular slide. What is the best method to teach a pop up slide?

 

[SoCalDad]

When teaching sliding do you have your runners to stay down until the play is called or the ball is missed?

Depends on the situation. Say for example stealing 2nd. If the play is going to be close I teach my players that a hook slide is better than a pop-up slide for the very reason you stated in your OP. If the play is not close than my players will usually pop-up slide. How do they know? As the base coach I am yelling either "DOWN, DOWN, DOWN" or "POP, POP, POP".

 

[absdad]

They are taught to slide and pop up. Softball is a fast paced game, and especially at younger ages errors are made. The runner sliding into 2nd needs to be ready to go if the fielder misses the ball or throws to 1 to attempt a DP.

-W

I agree with that, it's good baserunning. Unfortunately you can't do anything about bad calls, except maybe appeal. The runner needs to be up and ready to go in case of an overthrow, or second play, etc.

 

[Bucketrider]

I am more than a little envious of those with dd's able to generate enough speed for the pop up. My dd is 5'9", 112 lbs and comes in second to the fence in a race! Seen her more than once have to use every bit of height to stretch just to touch the bag (8-P)

 

[rowdy]

Be careful at the 14-15 year old age when teaching sliding. This is the age where you see a lot of knee injuries and it doesn't really take a lot to cause a problem. If you are teaching pop up sliding pay close attention to the angle of the leg at impact and make sure they are not sliding late or going in straight legged.

To answer the question of the thread, I wouldn't change how I teach the kids based on the inability of the umpire to make a correct call. It has been my experience that umpires are like teams, some are good, some are average and some are bad.