On the bases, you want to keep the defense guessing as to what you’re going to do. You can take a normal lead, a running lead, or you can try to steal. But what you don’t want to do is give away what your plans are. Be deceptive, and you’ll leave them dazed in the dust.
The Standard Lead
The standard lead-off is just that — standard, nothing too special about it. However, good timing will be the difference maker in whether you can advance to the next base and beat a close play. For your standard lead-off, there are three types of stances you can take:
- Front toe on the front of the bag: Put your front foot on the front of the bag, near the outside of it (closest side to the outfield). Your back leg should be behind you in foul territory. In this stance, both legs are bent at the knee and your back is to the catcher. Most of your weight will be on your front leg until you rock back.
- Back foot on the bag: In this stance, you’ll be facing the catcher and you’ll be starting with your back foot on or against the front of the bag, with your front foot in the base path. Be careful with this lead-off, though; if you leave just a hair too early, it will be obvious to the umpire and you’ll likely be called out.
- Front foot beside the bag: Place your front foot beside the outside of the bag (on the same side of the bag as the outfield). Your back foot will be in foul territory. Your legs will be bent, and your back will be to the catcher. For this lead, the base covers the space between your foot and the ground when you lift your foot to take your lead. Because of this, you are more likely to get away with leaving a second or two early on the pitch.
On every lead-off, strategize on how far you can go. You should be taking at least three to four strides forward before breaking down.
The Running Lead
Now that you know the standard lead, you can learn the running lead. This type of lead is used when you want to be super aggressive and take extra bases.
In the standard lead, you lead off in a straight line towards the next bag. In a running lead, you take a wider angle, with your end goal being the base past the one you’re immediately facing.
You can still take three to four steps for your lead, but make sure to angle wide, making an arc from the corner of the bag to where you break down. You should be putting yourself into position to take two bases on a hit. The most common base for this lead is second base, when you want to run all the way to home (particularly with two outs).
Hot Tip: How to Determine Your Front Foot
Your front leg is the one you will push off to begin your forward momentum, so it’s got to be the correct one. If you’re set up backwards, you won’t get the speed you want. An easy way to test this is to stand up with your feet together and close your eyes. Then, lean forward until a foot comes forward to brace your fall. The leg that automatically comes forward is your lead leg (your strongest leg). Don’t cheat, though! Trust your body to determine your true lead leg.
Rapid Steps
If you take the first few steps of your lead haphazardly and slowly, you won’t fool anyone when you start off at full speed for a steal. So play with the mind of the defense and take at least three hard steps forward on every lead.
Give the illusion that you are stealing every time you take a lead. That way, you’ll have your opponent’s bench screaming that you’re going when, really, you’re not. After a few times, they’ll give up trying to guess what you’re doing and you’ll have a better chance to swipe the base safely.
A few tips for these quick, hard steps:
- Tuck your chin and pump your arms quickly.
- Do not look at the batter; keep your focus on the base in front of you at all times.
- Break down quickly and stop abruptly after your third step.
- When you push off the bag, do it the same every time, and do it hard. That way, you’ll play into the allusion of the steal even more.
Timing
Your timing has to be perfect on every pitch to be believable. If your timing is off, you’ll never be successful at steals and you won’t be able to beat close plays. You will also give away your steal attempts if you have different timing when you are trying to steal. Your timing is based on the pitcher’s motion, so whether you rock back or just go forward, you need to be off the bag the instant (if not a few microseconds before) the pitcher releases the ball.
Going!
If you have a great lead-off, you’ll be able to steal even without incredible speed. If you are one of the fastest runners, though, a deceptive lead-off will make you that much more threatening on the bases. No matter what type of runner you are, good timing will give you a major advantage over the catcher. Those first few steps are crucial, so take them hard and be believable. As long as you keep the defense guessing, you’ll own the base paths.
