Aggressive Base-Running: The Opportunity of Taking the Extra Base

Aggressive Base-Running: The Opportunity of Taking the Extra Base

"Go for it now. The future is promised to no one." - Wayne Dyer

Base-running is likened to special teams in football. It can't always win you a game, but it will beat you. In the professional game of baseball, aggressive base-running is passe. Most of this is due to analytics in the professional game. The odds are typically against a baserunner to steal a base unless the player has good speed. If a base is going to be stolen, it should be an almost guarantee for it to be successful, for it to happen in the professional game. But in the amateur game of baseball, where mistakes happen at a higher rate, aggressive base-running happens more. The mistakes that do happen with aggressive base-running happen due to lack of confidence. 

Lack of confidence in getting a base stolen reminds me to a lesson my dad taught me in 9-10 year old All-Stars in Little League. We were playing the best team in our bracket in a close game. A game that we were not supposed to have had a chance in, but that is the beauty of baseball. Upsets can and will happen. I remember that I hit a single up the middle and got on base. I remember a ball hit the dirt in the following at bat, and I decided to try to take the extra base. The catcher got a good hop from the backstop and threw it to the short stop. The ball beat me to the second base. So I was in a run down, and instead of trying to get out of the rundown, I stayed in the middle of the rundown and was tagged out. I remember my dad telling me after the game, "The for sure way to get out by taking the extra base, is by staying in the middle and not going with one-hundred percent effort." This is a lesson that I have applied to my life. I always promise to give an activity one-hundred percent effort.

So how do we give our players confidence in taking the extra base? The answer is repetition. But the environment must be an environment where the player can learn from their mistakes. This environment is crucial, because it is the best way a human being can learn. There are many times in life where we have heard our elders and peers give us advice, but we often do not listen. But it turns out that they were correct. As the Pittsburgh Pirates Pitching Coach Ray Searage says, "The game is the best teacher." 

The drills that the players can practice aggressive base-running on are with three situations. One being dirt ball reads, long fly balls, and slow rolling groundballs to the infielders. 

In drill one with dirt ball reads, the goal of the base runner is to already try to get the extra base before the ball hits the dirt. This is a skill that needs a lot of time and repetition. I like to hear the player say "dirt" when trying to time up when the ball hits the dirt. This shows me that they are focused on seeing the ball hit the dirt, to get the extra base.

The next drill would be tagging up and advancing on fly balls hit in the air. This drill is not for the meek and mild. I would suggest that on every fly ball in the outfield that the player believes that they can advance on, they try to get the extra base. Once they achieve that, then I would have them go on every fly ball to actually assess what situations they can and cannot take the extra base. Of course all of this must be practiced during practice. 

The last drill will be advancing on slow rollers and in between ground balls. This drill happens with base runners on second base. A fungo man hits slow rollers or in-between ground balls to the short stop. The base runner must try to get to third base on every single one. This reinforces the aggressive mindset along with the environment to make mistakes to learn through individual shortcomings. After this, the coach can let the base runner make up his mind on whether to go or not, to make it a more game-like situation. 

All of these drills are quite easy to do in practice, but they need to be given plenty of time, patience, and understanding. A quick blow up from a coach will abruptly take away any chance for their team to be aggressive on the base paths. There will be lots of mistakes early on when implementing this, but as the team progresses everyone gets better. This is from the fastest guys to the slowest. The non-fleet of foot will get better at overall instincts on the bases and speed with these drills, and the quick guys will be even more lethal on the bases. Always remember that you will always be unsuccessful if you are not giving one-hundred percent. Nothing more, and nothing less.