What I Know and Remember About Baseball - First Base Reach

It is a tight game and the batter is a known bunter. Third and Second baseman are playing in on the grass in anticipation. The Pitcher delivers an inside fastball. Just as the Pitchers arm is ready to release the batter squares around and shows bunt.

Third base crashes down to gather up the ball which takes a funny hop to the infield away from his glove. Not a good bunt as the ball moves between third baseman and the mound. The batter is fast and is halfway to first when the third baseman finally gains control of the ball. As he grasps the ball the throw the runner is now one third of the way there. He launches a frozen rope to first. The throw is off and low. Stretch into the splits the first baseman reaches and scoops the ball into his mitt as the runners foot touches the bag. OUT, the umpire calls as the ball was in the mitt before the runner reached the bag.

These are the exciting moments of baseball that get every ones heart racing. It happens in the brief moment between successfully hitting the ball and the seconds it takes to cover the distance from home to first. Yet, how does the first baseman know when to stretch and how far? Most of all , how does he get there? A newbie to the position will take a step towards the man with the ball before their release. True, making a step with the glove side foot is correct. However, the step is too soon as there is no information about the path of the ball to be caught.

Ideally a baseman will wait until the ball is released before take the step to the ball. From a comfortable position, feet should width apart, knees bent, heels off the ground, the baseman has plenty of time to make the appropriate stride to receive the ball. Being in a strong, athletic position gives the baseman the proper position to react as quickly as their body will allow.

To stretch before the ball is thrown puts the baseman in an non balanced position using weaker muscles. Think about it for a moment. Which is faster and under more control; standing and taking a step directly at the ball or being stretched out and lifting your forward foot off the ground to redirect your position.

Worse yet, if the ball is high, the baseman has almost no position or strength to make a jump to at least knock the ball down and keep it in the infield. It is a recipe for batter success to turn a tough single into a stand up double.

This method of tagging a bag can be applied to any base virtually 100 percent of the time where the baseman is to receive a throw for a force out. In all aspects of baseball, the greater the balance, the higher degree of success the player will have. Remember, comfortable position, tag foot on the bag, step with the glove foot towards the throw after the ball is in the air, adjust as needed to receive the throw.

Mr. Dowdy is the father of 3 and after re-entering competitive baseball with his oldest frustration of finding suitable glove is what lead him to become an Official Distributor for Kelley Athletic

Visit now for a free catalog or sign up your e-mail for special offers.

You can also visit The Hirsch Group site for more news/tips/articles on the subjects of baseball, construction, building codes and more that most will find a quick way to fall asleep.

Thanks for reading my article!

Little League Back-up Situations For Outfielders
As Little League baseball coaches, sometimes we try to teach too much in too short a period. Ive coached three youth sports and have found that youth baseball is the most over-coached and under-taught sport Ive seen on the youth level. A good example is teaching back-up situations. It is especially beneficial to teach back-up situations to your...

Baseball Positions And Baseball Coaching
With nine different positions, have you ever thought about all the baseball coaching and baseball drills that goes into each position? There are several, and you will find that positions like the "pitcher" is subject to more training then just pitching the ball. This is why, when children are growing up, they are encouraged to play several differe...

Fundamental Youth Baseball Coaching Tips!
Getting young players to keep their attention span at a high level is always a challenge for the youth baseball coach.My Suggestion is to incorporate a games type scenario into your practices.Heres is a great game you can use to keep your players practicing at their peak.1st run some ground ball drills maybe cross field throws and after a while st...

Baseball Drills for Youth Teams
Baseball is a game of skill and power that is unlike any other game today. Baseball has subtly to it that is often lost in other team sports such as basketball and football. So when people come together to play this game they need to be ready for any eventuality no matter how unlikely it maybe. That is why baseball drills are so important. Practici...

Bunt Young, Bunt Often In Little League
Bunting is a very big part of baseball. And, when a bunt is laid down the right way, it is very difficult to defend. I have always been big on bunting, and feel it can be taught at a young age. There are basically two types of bunts: the square bunt and the pivot bunt. My preference is the pivot bunt because the players just pivot on their toes and...

Clothing For Baseball Training
As for any sport, apart from baseball training and baseball drills, sports clothing has reflected the morals, standards, fashions and dress codes of the society or group playing the sport. More often than not throughout history, the acceptable standard of cover was more important than the functionality, freedom of movement or safety requirements of...

Backing Up In The Field In Little League Baseball
While managing or coaching in youth baseball for the last 18 years, I have found that teaching 11 and 12 year olds how to back each other up in the field can help keep them in the game on almost every play. Of course I learned the importance of backing up the hard way over the years, when sure groundouts would translate into a single and three base...