Headfirst slide - how to do it correctly

[AUbie]

I'm concerned that DD will slam her face guard into the ground and seriously injure her neck. I'd rather she not do a face first slide but if she's going to do it how do we avoid injury?

TIA!

P.S. Thank heaven for a civilized softball board. ezteams is a shambles, and our local board seems to always disintegrate into name calling.

[Tucson]

You are right to be concerned.
Your DD is going to have to practice turning her head and sliding with her "ear down." We used to teach turning your face away from the throw, prior to facemasks, but I think that is up to her. She may want to be able to see the ball.

How old is she? And can she slide feet first? Because, at some point she may need to. Is she wearing pants or shorts and is she wearing sliding shorts and/or sliding pads?

[AUbie]

Thanks. I'll give her that guide - - ear to the ground.

She's 12U, she's finally got a good "behind slide". They wear sliding shorts and pads.

She's determined to make the middle school team this fall when school starts and is doing everything she can to improve play, thus I think she's trying to add it to her arsenal. I don't want to discourage her but I don't really want to encourage the head first slide. I want it to be a last resort. She proudly announced this head-first slide after practice Friday night

[Tucson]

The best thing that my son (at that age) did to assure himself a spot on the team was to take up running. He ran a couple of miles a day. It made a vast improvement in his athletic ability. Coaches take notice when you are told to take 2 laps around the field and your DD leads the pack.

[FPdaddy]

First of all, it needs to be used as a last resort. The chance of injury is higher with this slide.

To me, sliding in general is more of a "feel" thing than a "mechanics" thing. It's a mindset...if you do too much thinking about it you run the risk of hesitating.

My DS was a natural at sliding. He just loved it and went at it aggressively.

My DD needed to be shown the way.

What worked best for us was to get a large tarp and spray it with Pam cooking spray. Set the tarp up in the outfield and have the girls slide without shoes or helmets. Give them as many reps as possible. You really want sliding to be second nature.

Keith

[AUbie]

DD has had to learn to slide, it hasn't been a natural thing for her. She's tall, a little gangly and not a gifted "studdette" but has worked hard to make the most of what she's got, which has turned out to be pretty good.

For the first time in her life conditioning has become important to her, so I envision a summer of working out for both of us (oh dear).

[texas_snowman]

FPdaddy wrote
"To me, sliding in general is more of a "feel" thing than a "mechanics" thing. It's a mindset...if you do too much thinking about it you run the risk of hesitating."

That is so true! I watched DD's team practice sliding into third on the dirt the other day. It was sooo funny. Some of the best sliders on the team during games had a hard time getting those booties on the ground when it doesn't count for anything. A couple of girls looked like little Cessna's coming in for a landing. As they were running they just kept getting lower and lower to the ground, but just couldn't seal the deal, and had to stand up and do another go around.

[MTR]

I'm concerned that DD will slam her face guard into the ground and seriously injure her neck. I'd rather she not do a face first slide but if she's going to do it how do we avoid injury

I've always found the argument about the fask mask to be a bit absurd. If a runner goes head first face down without the mask, there is still the bill to the helmet which could be equally as dangerous as the mask.

That said, to answer your question, hands first (hopefully wearing gloves), head up so the runner can see where they are going and no part of the helmet is going to touch the ground.

[Skarp]

I actually saw this happen for the first time today. Runner got hung off of 3rd and dove back face-down. Her mask bit into the dirt, and her helmet just rolled forward off of her head. I initially thought that 1) she didn't have a chin stap on and 2) the helmet was too big for her...but after she put it back on I saw that she did have a strap and the helmet appeared to fit well. She was fine.

FWIW.

[almosthuman]

DON'T DO IT!

IMO while a good head first slide under a full head of steam looks very cool, it is not very bright. Healthy hands are extremley important in the game so making them readily available for the defender to spike or drop a knee down on them is not "phi beta kappa".

I've also seen too many head first sliders arrive head first into a defender's knee. Sliding head first on a close play at the plate is absolultely insane!

The whole point of sliding is to avoid being put out by a tag or to break up a potential force play and there are many safer and more effective variations going feet first.

Be smart, stay healthy, play longer...