How to Teach Sliding in Baseball? Secret Explained

Sliding in baseball is considered one of the hardest tasks but it’s not when you’ve been taught properly. Sometimes teaching baseball sliding can get pretty tricky for coaches and parents as well. This blog article is all about making you understand how to teach sliding in baseball. 

Right technique and understanding of sliding help in confidence boosting and becoming an impactful player. Every passionate baseball player must know the importance of perfect sliding during an intense baseball game. 

This blog post is going to help you learn how to slide in baseball which includes baseball sliding drills, sliding rules, techniques to avoid, and much more. So, let’s get into it.

Indeed, sliding is one of the most important baseball skills. Sliding helps a player save the game if done properly. Following are three cases where the right technique of sliding must execute at the right time.

There are two main baseball sliding techniques every player should know about. Here you go.

One of the common sliding techniques is the feet-first technique. In this technique, the player or a base runner first slides with his feet or legs. There are three categories of first feet sliding technique.

Hook sliding is one of the great ways to avoid a tag. The runner emphasizes making enough distance from the defender. The player takes the instant decision and creates a hook motion.

Young baseball players should learn to slide by practicing bent-leg sliding. It’s one of the easiest and safest techniques of baseball sliding. The base runner just needs to bend one leg while sliding on the base. 

Furthermore, a lot of experienced players use a combination of hook and bent-leg sliding. This way they can keep body parts away from the defender.

Pop-up sliding drills or sit-down sliding is another easy and commonly used technique among young players. Also, these techniques don’t hurt players much. 

The player pops back up to his feet the moment his legs touch the base. Players should be careful while performing this sliding technique, otherwise, there’s a chance to get tagged out.

In head first sliding technique, the base runner slides in with his head or upper body first. There are a few variations when it comes to head-first sliding drills, such as situational head-first sliding, swim-move sliding, and diving back to the first technique.

There are a few actions a lot of players perform that cause them to fail to slide. I’m going to discuss a few of them so that you avoid them next time when you’re sliding.

Sliding too early or too late won’t help you in sliding at all but make you regret the sliding decision. Sliding late can cause you to hit the base. Additionally, there’s a huge possibility of getting severe bruises on the hands, knees, and feet. On the other hand, sliding too early won’t let you stop right at the base.

Another mistake a lot of young players make is not enough to extend their arms. This happens in head first baseball sliding drill. Make sure to have a body balance and extend your arms while sliding.

You might think jumping before sliding is fun and cool but it’s not. It can cause injury and even deep bruises. Not only that, but it can also lead to unsuccessful sliding. Coaches or parents should teach their kids not to jump before sliding.

To be a good and impactful baseball player, you need to learn how to do baseball sliding. Also, if you’re a coach or a parent, you must know how to teach sliding in baseball. Here’s a right and safe method to practice sliding in baseball.

Practicing a baseball slide on a dry and wide flat surface is all you need to be a pro at sliding. A lot of coaches or parents suggest practicing over wet grass. You’re making a mistake here. Practice on wet grass can make your kid all wet and he won’t like it at all. This can make your kid hate sliding, for sure.

Following is the equipment you must have for performing successful sliding practice. Here you go.

There are a lot of variations of sliding drills. These drills are like the muscle memory of players. So they don’t need to think about it, it became their instinct. I’m going to name a few baseball sliding drills for your ease.

A lot of coaches don’t know how to teach sliding in baseball. Also, they are afraid of kids getting hurt and serious bruises. But the right method of teaching baseball sliding drills can avoid unwanted situations. 

I compiled this blog post so that less-aware parents and coaches get to the basics of sliding that includes what to avoid, how to practice, basic sliding techniques, and the importance of sliding in baseball.