Slow runner in frount of you

[quincy]

Some reason DD has a batter that might take a while to get to any base, she can hit the blank of ball so almost always in frount of DD.

What I find funny is coaches have no chance, DD just watches her. Been a few games since she pushed her of 1st base anyways.

Be fair she was out, now 2 out. Runner on 1st was sliding home before DD got to 2nd. Do not like her either.

 

[KPower]

DD's first year of 10's was always a comedy show.
DD bats lead off - fastest runner on the team.
Last batter rarely gets on and when she does is BY far slower than molasses. Towards the end of the season she gets good at being walked. Not a good thing for DD. The other players parents would joke that DD should have picked her up and piggy backed her around the bases. It was always painful to watch.

 

[quincy]

Like the molasses throw, good pluck.

 

[CoachJD]

My technique was to always run close behind the slow player, yelling "GO, GO, GO!"

You'd be surprised how fast they run in that situation.

In all seriousness, part of my lineup construction takes into account doing my best to ensure my few fast runners/good base runners are not stuck behind my mostly slow runners. There's always a chance it doesn't work out, but it's something that should be considered.

 

[quincy]

What is interesting about slow player, besides she can hit the blank out of ball,is she goes station to station. DD hit 2 to the fence last game and she got to 2nd. (DD does not normally hit to fence, P was throwing 60. Her composite bat got in way of ball. )

She doesn't run into outs which is good, she doesn't run into outs because she doesn't run which is bad.

Great kid by the way, play for us anytime.

We have a few runners like this for some reason, they are more worried about being called out then advancing.

 

[canyonjoe]

It's very tough to have extremely slow kids. You can live with average speed, but to have to get 3 hits to score someone is just brutal.

 

[CoachJD]

What is interesting about slow player, besides she can hit the blank out of ball,is she goes station to station. DD hit 2 to the fence last game and she got to 2nd. (DD does not normally hit to fence, P was throwing 60. Her composite bat got in way of ball. )

She doesn't run into outs which is good, she doesn't run into outs because she doesn't run which is bad.

Great kid by the way, play for us anytime.

We have a few runners like this for some reason, they are more worried about being called out then advancing.

Does she go station to station because that's the best she can do? I have one girl who's best skill on the bases appears to be turning solid base hits from her teammates into force outs. She can be faster. She was last year. But she got out of shape this year and it shows.

I have other girls who are not fast, but who can move a little and take an extra base from time to time. But they won't do it unless I really push them, including reminding them that if I tell them to go and they're out, it's my fault and I won't get mad at them as long as they're hustling. What has helped a LOT is to turn pitcher/catcher practice into base running practice, too. I have the pitcher sort of control the pace. She pitches, the base runners line up (sometimes we use fielders and have catchers throw, sometimes not) and work on everything from leadoffs to stealing to delayed or double steals. I've found that this is a great time to get them to take some chances on the bases. They learn their own ability, especially since I constantly stress how I don't care if they make outs in practice because they're still learning their own ability and limitations.

Sometimes I'll catch just because I have a stronger arm than any of our catchers, so I try to get them to challenge me by either stealing or getting a big enough lead that I try to pick them off.

None of this makes them faster runners, but it gets them taking bigger leads, thinking about going to the next base, being more aggressive, etc.