Fine Art Of Sliding?

[Dropn N]

We all practice hitting,fielding,running,pitching etc. weekly. Does anybody practice sliding weekly or are you cautious in fear of having a player injured and out for the weekend?

What are some good drills to do? Besides the slip in slide on a hot day, breaking out the mat, two hands high holding the egg!

[GSB]

You better practice sliding or according to the ACE testing we have to take, you may get sued. LOL

When we were in rec ball, we used a bat. A coach would hold each end and the girl would run up to it and grab the middle. We would then pull the bat forward so she could get the idea. This worked with some of the new girls.

We practiced sliding many times and I never saw anyone get hurt doing it. I guess just make sure the girls have on their sliders, knee pads and all other gear.

[suicidesqueeze]

I have found the best success teaching kids how to slide is by being directly on the playing field and using one or two large pieces of cardboard (Refridgerator Box) and sprinkling baby powder on top. (Two pieces for the taller and faster players.) You can put a hole through the cardboard to put the base through and offset the cardboard to the right so you can also practice pop-up slides and slide byes with the more advanced players.
We have the kids bring an old pair of socks that they can run in and just throw away when we are finished. This will keep kids from catching their cleats in the cardboard.
We start by showing them the proper leg under position with hands up while sitting in the grass. We then have a player with the proper sliding technique demonstrate it a couple of times.
When a direct or pop-up slide is done correctly, the player will end up with baby powder on both butt cheeks. When done incorrectly, the player will end up with powder on one butt cheek and down the arm of the side they favored. *Keeping a hand back causes drag (An Anchor). When a player is learning the pop-up slide, with a proper double cheek slide and both hands palm up while sliding as the lead foot makes contact with the base, the hands now go to a palm down position right behind the hips and are simultaneously lifting the body off of the ground coordinating with the force of the lead foot making contact with the base in order to pop-up and prepare to advance.
Players of all ages love this drill.
***We also use this same cardboard drill to teach our outfielders to catch a fly ball while sliding. (Older players of coarse.)
Sorry for blabbing, this a part of the game I truly enjoy teaching and have had great success with.

Good Luck

[MTR]

I have found the best success teaching kids how to slide is by being directly on the playing field and using one or two large pieces of cardboard (Refridgerator Box) and sprinkling baby powder on top. (Two pieces for the taller and faster players.) You can put a hole through the cardboard to put the base through and offset the cardboard to the right so you can also practice pop-up slides and slide byes with the more advanced players.
We have the kids bring an old pair of socks that they can run in and just throw away when we are finished. This will keep kids from catching their cleats in the cardboard.

Good starting point, but they need to learn with shoes on before getting on the field. The cardboard has more give than the actual playing field.

When a direct or pop-up slide is done correctly, the player will end up with baby powder on both butt cheeks. When done incorrectly, the player will end up with powder on one butt cheek and down the arm of the side they favored. *Keeping a hand back causes drag (An Anchor). When a player is learning the pop-up slide, with a proper double cheek slide and both hands palm up while sliding as the lead foot makes contact with the base, the hands now go to a palm down position right behind the hips and are simultaneously lifting the body off of the ground coordinating with the force of the lead foot making contact with the base in order to pop-up and prepare to advance.

Things must have changed over the years. Always taught and used: player slides on upper thigh and one cheek. Feet elevated until time to contact the base or stop. Hands never touch the ground unless needed on what is now termed (a slide-by). The momentum of the slide and tucked leg will lift the runner to their feet on a pop-up. Not suggesting a player slide hard into a base as that is how many players get hurt using the base as a brake. Closest I ever got to both cheeks on the ground was on a hook and even then, it was minimun contact.

Players of all ages love this drill.
***We also use this same cardboard drill to teach our outfielders to catch a fly ball while sliding. (Older players of coarse.)

Use to start players doing this in a swimming pool, diving for a ball to try to get the mechanics down with minimum impact to the body, then get them on the field. Like the sliding, use to find kids out doing this stuff on their own long before we got around to it with the team.

Use to be as much fun to watch them improve as it was for them to succeed at it.

[klandwehrmier]

We practice (12U) sliding at just about every practice - both feet first and belly sliding. We generally do this at the end of practice - the girls think it's a lot of fun. We have a sliding pad that we use for indoor practices and for teaching girls who are little 'scared' to slide. One word of caution when working on sliding. Have the girls who are still learning the correct sliding technique(s) wear sneakers and not cleats. We had a girl break her leg last Fall when she got her cleats tangled up on the sliding pad at an outdoor practice...

[NO FEAR]

Every practice for 30 or 40 minutes

[Stubs]

This one is good for beginners and is alot of fun, especially when the coaches jump in.

We get a "Slip-n-Slide" or a large plastic tarp and keep it hosed down real well. You won't find too much hesitation from the kids and you can teach in a fun way. Make sure you give hi-5's to those who do it right as this will get the others wanting to do it right too.

Heck, this might even be a good one for the older ones (once in a while)

[MTR]

We get a "Slip-n-Slide" or a large plastic tarp and keep it hosed down real well. You won't find too much hesitation from the kids and you can teach in a fun way. Make sure you give hi-5's to those who do it right as this will get the others wanting to do it right too.

Heck, this might even be a good one for the older ones (once in a while)

Do they still sell those things? My family had one about 40 years ago. I figured the ambulance chasers would have killed them by now.

You are right though. It is fun and the kids usually jump at the opportunity.

[Stubs]

Yes they do sell them. And I believe they are still a "WHAMO" brand. They even have three different NASCAR theme products! YEEHA!

http://www.wham-o.com/default.cfm?page= ... Category=1 - 25k - Cached

[Coach11]

We all practice hitting,fielding,running,pitching etc. weekly. Does anybody practice sliding weekly or are you cautious in fear of having a player injured and out for the weekend?

What are some good drills to do? Besides the slip in slide on a hot day, breaking out the mat, two hands high holding the egg!

What age group and level are you dealing with?

10U rec. league and 14U TB are very different animals.