How to hit a softball

Here is a good video of a coach teaching the "load, stride, and swing technique."

How do I throw a ball?

Baserunning - 2nd, 3rd, and HOME!

Remember how you were taught to run THROUGH the base at first base.

Well forget it. You are now running to second, or third base. You must not run through these bags or you will be tagged out. You must stop on the base, unless you think that you can keep going and make it to the next base without being tagged out.

See this guy up here? He thinks he can make it to third base so he is running as fast as he could around second without slowing down.

In the big leagues, ball players will SLIDE into the base if it looks like they are going to get tagged out. You are too young to slide, so you must be careful to stop on the bag if you are not running to the next base.

Remember. Listen to your base-coaches. They will tell you to "take two!" or "Take three!" Watch your first base coach when you run to first. Watch the third base coach when you are running to second and/or third base. They will tell you to stop or keep going.

Now you are running to home plate. Just like running to first base, you want to run straight through, do not slow down or stop.

Here is a great video. The batter hits a ball very hard and the runners start flying around the bases. Look at the third base coach telling the runners what to do. He waves his arms like a windmill telling the first runner to keep going to home plate. But uh, oh, the play at third base is going to be close for the next runner. See the coach hold up his hand telling the runner to stop. Then he throws his hands to the ground telling the runner to slide. Because this runner is not "forced" to run to third, the third baseman will have to catch the ball from the outfielder and TAG him out. Does he?

Baserunning--Running to First

The first rule of baserunning is listen to your coach.

There will be a coach at first base, and at third base, telling you what to do. But there are some general rules. What you decide to do as a baserunner depends on how and where the ball is hit.

Lets start with the batter. You are up, taking some mighty hacks. You hit the ball hard and take off running. Put your head down and steam towards first base as fast as you can. DO NOT SLOW DOWN to stop on the base. You will be running through the base as fast as you can. Step on the bag, and veer to your right, towards the fence.

If you slow down to stop on first base, that gives the other team more time to throw you out. Remember, it's a race to the base.

Sometimes, though you may hit the ball really hard, and it might get through the infield. Keep your eye on your first base coach. If he yells at you to "take two!" or "go to second!" then keep running, take a wide turn, step on the first base bag and race to second base before they tag you out.

Tagging a runner

A baserunner is always out when you tag her with the ball (or your glove, if the ball is in it.)

If a runner is not "forced" to run, then you must tag the runner out. As we discussed before, a runner is not forced to run unless the ball is hit on the ground and there are runners on all the bases behind her. A runner standing on first is also always forced to run on a ground ball.

So pretend a runner is standing on second base. There is no baserunner behind her on first base. She will not be forced to run if the batter hits the ball. She may WANT to run, but she doesn't HAVE to run, because there is no runner on first base behind her.

Pretend the batter hits the ball on the ground. If the runner standing on second decides she wants to try to get to third base, then you must tag her before she gets to the base.

"Forcing" a runner

What do I mean by "forcing" a runner?


When you step on the base (and the ball is in your hand or glove) before the runner gets there, the runner is out. This is called "forcing the runner" or a "force out" or a "force play" That is why you guys are trying so hard to throw it to first base before the runner gets there.

However, the force play only works when a runner is "forced" to run.

How do you know when a runner is "forced" to run?

Think about base runners like marbles in a tube. Each marble you put in the tube forces the other marbles to move forward, right? Same with base runners. As long as there is a baserunner on every base behind the runner, they will be forced to run to the next base.

I will give you examples of when a runner is "forced" to run. Pretend you are a baserunner.

1) a batter is ALWAYS forced to run to first base.

2) if you are on first base, and the batter hits a ground ball, then you are forced to run to second base

3) if you are on second base, and there is a another runner on first, and the batter hits a ground ball, then you must run to third base

4) if you are on third base, and there are runners on second and first base, then you must try to run home if the batter hits a ground ball.


Confused? don't be. It's easy. So as long as there are runners on all of the bases behind you, you will be forced to run on any ball hit on the ground.

If there is an empty base behind you on either first or second, then you are NOT forced to run. In this situation, you CAN run but you don't HAVE to. You are not "Forced"

Why do we keep talking about having to run on "ground balls?" Because, if a ball is hit in the air, and it is caught, then the baserunners can't advance to the next base. We'll cover that in "Base-running"

How do I get a batter out?

There are four ways to get a batter out,

1) Strike them out (three misses)
2) On a ground ball, throw the ball to first before they get there
3) Tag the batter out with the ball
4) Force them out at a base (see "forcing" a runner)