Aggressive Base Running: The Steal Jump

Smart aggressive base running can win games for you. Poorly coached and/or executed base running fundamentals will certainly lose games for you.

In the video below Andy Lopez, former University of Arizona Head Coach, 1,170 career wins;
2x NCAA Champion coach; 3x National Coach of the Year, shares some of his thoughts on aggressive base running.

First and foremost Coach Lopez stresses to his players that they must be “Technique Strong”, meaning that they run with their chin up and their head stays with the ball.

In this clip he discusses what “Technique Strong” looks looks like on the straight steal. He also discusses briefly some changes to the technique when the hit and run is on.

In teaching technique for the steal jump, Coach Lopez instructs is players to keep their head up and on the first step he wants them to look to the plate to read pitch out. He feels that against poorly coached players you can get an early read on the pitch out and still have time to scramble back.

He stipulates that the well coached catcher will not give you any indication of the pitch out this early. This quick look in is only effective against the poorly coached player.

Furthermore, he instructs his players to take a quick look at the plate sometime between steps 4-8. His thoughts here are to simply avoid being hit by a batted ball.

This clip is just a small sample of Coach Lopez’s instruction DVD. For more information about that DVD click the link Aggressive Base Running Tactics and Drills

The YouTube video below has sound, so please make sure that your speakers are on and that you have access to the site. Note that some schools may block access to YouTube. Click the arrow to play the video