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Sliding Into Bases

By Baseball Excellence, 04/19/19, 12:00PM PDT

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We do not recommend the head first slide into home plate or sliding into second base to break up a double play. There is too much of a chance for injury.

Sliding is a skill that is not always correctly taught and at the youth level is often given little more than lip service. The good teams however, do teach this skill. It is not a natural action and requires good technique and practice.

It is important to overcome the fear factor in sliding. Fear of being hurt is the one thing that makes a base runner tentative and can cause injury rather than prevent it. Proper sliding must be executed at full speed and when a player slows down he is susceptible to injury. Don’t leap, jump or tumble into a slide and don’t slow down to prepare for one.