A lot of times players don’t realize how big of a lead they can get off of first base. I’d be willing to bet that if you asked a team how many times each one of them has been picked off, 90 percent would say never. That’s good and bad, let’s look at a drill that will help you maximize your lead, ultimately resulting in more stolen bases.
Think about how many times you have gotten thrown out at second by a step. Lot’s of things could have been different, our first step could have been better, running surfaces more to our liking, it all happens. Let’s reduce the number of times you get thrown out by getting a bigger lead.
The Drill
If you don’t already get it in practice, or you want more practice…talk to the guy on your team with the best pick-off move. You are going to need him and someone to play first base. Have the pitcher mix in going home with picking over. It sounds simple, and you really won’t get a lot out of it unless you do it correctly.
Things to Think About
1. You know he is going to be trying to pick you off. Treat this like a game, if you get picked, fine! It’s only going to make you better. This is the only way to figure out just how big of a lead you can take.
2. Don’t rush the drill, set up properly and take your lead as you would in a game every time. Always have the mind set that you are going to be stealing second base.
3. Take mental note how many steps you can get off. Eventually it will click. He will give you his best pick-off move and you will be able to get back safely. Next time, get a bigger lead.
Taking It Into A Game
I bet if you take this seriously you will find you have more in you from a lead standpoint. Get out on the field you are playing at early and make note of where your max lead will be.
Moral of the story…you never really know how good you can be until you push yourself a little further. It’s hard to fail, a lot of players are satisfied with the stat that they have never gotten picked off. Use practice to test yourself. Go steal some bases and get into scoring position.
3 Responses
Never really thought about that. You don’t see too many people get picked off. I’ve tried to do something similar in practice (I’m a coach), kind of hard to get good results from the players.
It’s true, kids are scared to fail. If you don’t fail, how do you know what your max lead really is? This drill is hard to do during practice time with the whole team. A lot of times you will see three runners going at the same time. They really don’t get a good feel for how big of a lead they can really get. I understand having one guy go at a time makes a lot of people stand around. We don’t want that. If you can incorporate it into some kind of circuit it may work better. If not, have a small group stick around after practice and work on it.
This is tough, but try and eliminate the fear of getting thrown out. Too often even those that are capable of running are afraid to take the chance of getting yelled at if they get thrown out. Base stealing is a risk, but it can be an educated risk worth taking.
Educate your base stealers. Teach them how to look for breaking ball / off speed counts to run on or share with them whether or not a pitcher is slow to the plate. Just as anything, it takes PRACTICE and I think most of us can admit that it doesn’t get practiced enough.