Learn How To Slide Properly, To Be The Best Baseball Player

One of the things you'll need to learn to do if you want to learn how to be great in baseball training is to slide. There are two basic methods when it comes to sliding, the "leg under" or "bent leg slide," and the "hook slide," or "fade away."

First, let's talk about the baseball hook slide. Sit down with your legs out and turn to the right so that all of your weight is on your right hip. Bend your left leg so that the calf is at right angles to your thigh; the toe of your foot is your "hooking foot." Raise your arms over your head and lower your body until your back is touching the ground. Move your right foot to the right ever so slightly and raise it a few inches off the ground. That's a hook slide to the right.

To do a hook slide to the left, just change the instructions so that they're appropriate to the other side.
When you do the hook slide, remember that you need to spread your weight out as much as you can, and get your back on the ground. Keep your outside foot, the one not touching the base, off the ground. If you don't, your spikes will probably catch in the dirt and you can turn your ankle badly because your body will be sliding forward and you won't be able to stop it. You might even break your ankle if you make this mistake, so be careful. And don't "jump" the base. Instead, slide and keep your hands up as well.

If you don't keep your hands up, you might cut or scrape yourself, or end up with a sprained wrist. If you can't remember to keep your hands up, just pick up some dirt with each hand when you get on base and then make sure you don't let go.

Now, let's talk about the "leg under" slide. Sit down with your legs out in front of you and double your right leg under your left so that your right shin is facing what would be the base. Roll over on your right hip ever so slowly, raise your hands over your head, get your back down and reach for the base with your left toe. Switch these instructions to the opposite side if you want to switch your position.

To stop at the base, slide until your bent leg touches the base and then let your top foot go over the base, bringing it down on the other side. Then you should simply be able to spring to your feet and continue on.

To get an idea of that, sit in the bent leg position and have someone grab one of your hands and pull you up. You can see that you come naturally up to your feet without a problem.

If you're going to slide, slide

One hard and fast rule about sliding is that if you start, don't stop.

And if a play is being made and you are on second or third base, you should always slide. Overrunning the base means you risk being tagged out, slowing up so that you won't overrun the base will be a risk to you too, because you could be tagged out then, too. Overrunning home plate of course is not a problem, but don't go into the base standing up unless you know the catcher is not going to try to take you. If you have any doubts, slide.

If you can only slide on one side (right or left), you should use a hand to tag the base. If you're going to go into second base and beat a throw from left field, the second baseman leaves the left side of the base open. If you can only slide on your right side, do that and go to third base's side of second, grab the base with your right hand as you go by, and ensure that you're safe.

You can practice sliding in two places: in a jumping pit used for track and field events, or at the beach. In either case, don't jump at the base, a habit you can form easily in either of these two places.