New School Leads and Old School Leads: Finding the Right Fit for All Base Runners
Within the game of baseball over the past decade there has been a revolution regarding base running. For many years a 12 foot plus primary lead has been the way to prepare the base runner to steal a base. Over the past decade through coaches such as Mike Roberts and Matt Talarico, there have been more options given to base runners when stealing a base.
Who to Steal On?
Before diving into the newer form of leads on the bases, it is important to understand what to look for when stealing bases. As a base stealer the first player you can steal on is the pitcher. For the pitcher look and see if he is taking a long time to deliver the pitch to the plate. This could be his delivery or cadence to the plate when delivering the pitch, or his tendencies when delivering the pitch.
The two options as a coach that you can do to see if your base runners can steal on the pitcher are the pitcher's combined time with the catcher to the plate or the looks the pitcher gives to the base runner before delivering the pitch. When getting the time to the plate, the coach needs to time with a stop watch when the pitcher lifts his leg up in the stretch to when the catcher receives the pitch and throws the ball down to second base. The combined number of the added times between the pitcher and catcher needs to be slower than the base runner's average speed when stealing a base. For example, it is good for a base runner to steal a base if he is a 3.3 second average steal time to the next base and the combined time between the pitcher and catcher is 3.5 seconds. If the catcher has a good arm, then steal off of the pitcher. The pitcher needs to deliver the pitch in 1.2 seconds or less to prevent a stolen base. If the pitcher is longer than that, then you can steal on the pitcher. Additionally if the pitcher gives similar looks to the base runner when holding him on, then the base runner can steal on that tendency. Typically pitchers will hold a base runner on from anywhere between 1 to 4 seconds. If a pitcher continually releases a pitch starting at the count of three, then the base runner can start to steal on the count of three.
Finding Baselines for Base Runners
It is important for an effective offense to understand the steal times for each of the team's base runners. Have the base runner steal the next base a few times in the traditional twelve foot lead and then have him start in the new school lead. Find the average of both steal times will give the athlete an average on each lead in order to understand what lead works best for him. When gathering the baseline data, make sure that the base runner is running through the base so that the time will create a fail safe scenario for the base runner and to ensure that if he gets a good jump on his steal that he will be safe. Doing this activity will help the base runner understand around what time he can steal on a pitcher and catcher, and which steal start to use to accomplish stealing the next base. In other words, this gives your base runners options on how to solve a problem in the game.
New School Leads
A new school lead has the base runner shuffling off of the base from three to seven feet. Most pitchers are taught to throw a pickoff throw when the base runner is at 12 feet or more off of the base. This automatically makes the base runner appear to be non-threatening to the pitcher and catcher. Before the pitcher lifts his leg the base runner takes a shuffle to start the steal. When his feet touch the ground his front hip should be slightly open along with his foot. This will allow the base runner to get a good start on his steal and keep his momentum going to the next base. The shoulders of the base runner need to stay square to the plate. This will allow the base runner to dive back to the base if the pitcher decides to pickoff. The beauty with the controlled jump start leads is that it allows the base runner to get a good start on stealing the next base, while also protecting the base runner from a pickoff because he can easily dive back to first base. Coach Mike Roberts found that the new school lead while starting closer to the base, is actually quicker than the traditional 12 foot lead because the base runner is gathering his momentum sooner than in the traditional lead. With that being said, it is important to find the quicker steal start for a base runner in order to steal the next base consistently.
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