Coach Steve Rau

Some baseball people believe that a player needs to have blazing speed to be a great baserunner. This is a total misconception among players and coaches. Baserunning is all about instincts. I love coaching those players who always know when to take the extra base or what's the opportune time to take a risk. Don't get me wrong, pure speed can be extremely valuable to your team and very disruptive to the opposition, but usually the not so fast, instinctive baserunners are the guys who can make the difference in a game.

How does a player become an instinctive baserunner? The answer is the same as to how one becomes an instinctive baseball player; study the game. Great baserunners know the situations and variables that go into, not only each game, but also each play.

Here's a list of items instinctive baserunners consider on the base paths:

• Speed of the outfielders
• Arm strength of all fielders
• Range of the infielders
• Weather conditions (wind, rain, sun, etc.)
• Your own speed
• Flight of the ball
• Speed of the ball
• Length of the grass
• Grass infield vs. dirt infield
• Right-handed vs. left-handed (ball fades or hooks differently)
• Direction fielder is going to field the ball
• Score of the game
• Inning of the game
• Outs in the inning
• Batter on deck