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do coaches teach the runner on 2nd to skip 3rd on a double suicide bunt in order to scoreby matthew
Just because the umpire can't see it, or doesn't see it, is it the right message to send your players?
Matthew asked: Double steal. Where do you go next? Let your pitchers alter the surface of the baseball, maybe add a small foreign substance? Let your hitters use an illegal bat? Once the game starts, would umpires really notice? While this coaching point may seem to be a small thing here, it is all about the integrity of the game and those involved in it. From a coaching standpoint, I would refer you to a page on my site baseball rules. An additional page at baseball coaching philosophy, can provide some additional thoughts on what to consider before you as an individual decide to work with kids who will listen to what you tell them and make it part of their philosophy going forward. One might wonder how we get to the point where teaching players to openly disregard the rules of established games (baseball has been around for over 170 years), just because you can get away with it, seems to some to be a creditable coaching point. Since day one, the game has had 4 bases, each 90 feet from the other, with a strict rule that a runner must touch all 4 bases, in succession, to score a run. How does a coach justify in his mind that it is ok to cut one, or all the bases for that matter, if it is possible an umpire will not see it. Everyone I ever played for or have coached with delegates the time to teach players to get a good lead, a good read and jump, making a solid tight turn at the bag, hitting the base with their right foot and heading for the next base. If we do all that, and the defense is able to put it together and throw us out, hats off to them. If we end up scoring, then we did everything right, within the rules, and it came out good. We have a right to be excited and proud of what we just achieved. Teach your players to circumvent the rules to score the run, you have accomplished what? That cheating pays off and you don't really need to pay attention to any rules that are out there. Copy someone's homework, who's going to know. Cheat on a test, no one can see me. That list can become rather large. Yours in baseball, Rick |
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