Baserunning - Rocker start vs others?

[chinamigarden]

The question isn't which start is best for olympic athletes. But which one is best for each girl. Some girls are great at timing their movements with the pitcher's and the rocker style works great. Other girls get a better jump when crouched and in a sprinter type position. What I can't understand is why coaches insist on changing a girl who gets a good jump to a different technique.

 

[SBFAMILY]

Did you read the second study before you posted ? It was young girls not team USA. It is 5 feet, that is a big difference!

 

[chinamigarden]

A girl on our team. Holds the school records for 100 and 200 meter and shares a piece of the school record for the 4 x 100. When she tries the rocker start on a steal she is thrown out. When she used a sprinter start she beats the throw by a mile. My dd, not slow but not nearly as fast. When she uses rocker she is safe, when she tried the sprinter start she would be thrown out. What works for one does not work for all. Thats all I am saying

 

[SBFAMILY]

I hold the record for the 200 at my old high school. So I know a few things about speed and track , Plus my dd is the fastest girl in our high school . I will be the first to tell you things change. My first question would be who taught them the rocker step? If you read the study most kids are not taught correctly and just like you posted didn't like the rocker start. This is about poor coaching more than it is about the kids. They can ignore it but the study is pretty clear, some kids still like wooden bats, but I think we have proven the new bats are better. If you want to play at the next level than you might want to be open to what coaches are telling you, even if at 14 year old tells you her way is better. Many of these College coaches have many years of experience.

 

[shockcoach]

A girl on our team. Holds the school records for 100 and 200 meter and shares a piece of the school record for the 4 x 100. When she tries the rocker start on a steal she is thrown out. When she used a sprinter start she beats the throw by a mile. My dd, not slow but not nearly as fast. When she uses rocker she is safe, when she tried the sprinter start she would be thrown out. What works for one does not work for all. Thats all I am saying

This goes back to Ken's post, it's about how well the girls are able to get the jump off of the pitcher. It's about how well the girls can get time their jump. It's easy to leave from a sprinter start and the point of release. However, it's more difficult for them to gauge when to start their jump with the rocker start. I have always told my girls to leave when the ball is out in front of the pitcher (3 o'clock). According to one of the articles linked to, I, too, am having them leave too late. He has it down to when the ball passes the hip. That, to me, only works if you have a pitcher using what I call the rocker motion, where she take the ball behind her and then out in front. Three of my pitchers start with the ball in front of them in their glove and don't separate until it's in the 3'oclock position.

One thing that is always an absolute, is when the pitcher releases at the hip. At that point you can leave your base.

 

[chinamigarden]

Cookie cutter approaches don't work for every kid. The rocker technique is in my mind a better way of getting a jump, you have momentum and can have 1 toe on the bag when the pitch is let go. But if someone does not have the timing, or the rythmn to do it properly a coach must be willing to adjust... Just like there are disagreements with linear and rotational batting, Step vs leap and drag pitching...the wise coach is willing to factor in what is working for each individual player.

 

[SBFAMILY]

shockcoach, so was I till we read this article. She was 2.84 from home to first. So it was all about speed. We read this and the so called whistle drill and worked with Marc who posts on this site as a moderator. Now her jump off first is unreal. Of course now ever coach and parent is yelling she is leaving early, because her jump is unreal. It is all about timing and hard work. If you watched the college playoffs they talked about this subject and the hard work you need to put in to run the bases. What works at 14U won't work when you start playing against the good teams and catchers at the elite levels.

 

[tmolina]

After reading Ken's post I had our 12u girls switch from rocker to sprinter style for two practices, and they were getting great jumps. In the first tourney, two or three got called for leaving early with the sprinter style. Which was OK because before that no girls were leaving early and most not even on time. However since that tourney most girls on our team have went back to rocker style and are comfortable with it. No more called leaving early and the steal safe/out ratio is the same. I personally would like the girls to leave the base right on time, and to get them to do that I have to tell them to go early and 99% of the time they are coming off the bag just right(this is with rocker style).

 

[coachtucc]

How about a picture of the rocker start and a picture of the sprinters start for those who don't know the difference between the two??

 

[FPMark]

Rocker style is the one in the original post.

I just don't know how anyone can say that a standing start is faster than a running start (rocker style). The only way this can even be possible is if the runner, leaving rocker style, is leaving late. Time your runners with a stop watch, and start it when the foot leaves the base. Speed is all about each step being faster than the previous. If you can take the first step before the pitch is released, or your foot comes off the base, you will be able to reach a greater speed before reaching second base.

It's all about timing the pitcher's release to your foot leaving the bag. If you're late, it's the 1st base coach's job to let you know so you can adjust. It may take more practice to learn to do it properly, but it's well worth the effort if you expect to steal.