Transmeta Softball - notes, rules, etc.

Rules:

• Double first base: if there is a play being made at first, the runner must touch the orange half of first base, unless attempting to run to second.
• Any man walked gets second base. The following woman has th option to take a walk if there are 2 outs.
• When a woman is up to bat, all outfielders must be behind the cones until the ball is hit.
• When running from 3rd to home, if you cross the commit line (halfway to home), you cannot go back to third.
• When running home, do not touch home plate. Just run until you cross the line at home plate. There are no tag plays at home. If the catcher has the ball and is touching home plate, you will be called out (as if a tag has been made).
• If the other team is attempting a double play, the runner running towards second must slide or veer away from second base, or the other team may be awarded a double play - even if they don't make the throw to first.

Infield:

• Ideal stance is with your feet better than shoulder width apart, on your toes, ready to move.
• If possible, get into position and catch grounders between your legs. You'll hear "keep your mitt down" over and over. Its tempting to guess where the ball is going to bounce and pull your mitt up before it gets there. The bounces are unpredictable and there's going to be lots of balls that go under people's mitts - I guarantee it. Try to stay down - its much easier to come up with the ball if it takes a bad bounce.
• Be prepared for anything - grounders are likely to take bad bounces, so you need to be ready for them.
• When fielding ground balls, keep your mitt nearly vertical - if you tilt it back its more likely that you'll deflect the ball and potentially hurt yourself, in addition to not making the catch.
• Never give up. Just because you bobble a ball, or it gets by you, don't give up. Often you still have time to get to it and make the out. Also, you may still be the player closest to the play.
• The second baseman should cut-off balls hit to the right side of the outfield. The shortstop will cut off balls hit to the left side of the outfield.
• Most plays in the infield will probably go to first. Understand what a force out is. If there's a runner on first, you can force the runner out at second. If there are runners on first and second, you can force the runner out at third and/or second. Think about where you're going to throw the ball if its hit to you.
• The pitcher will cover first and third base, as necessary, when the first or third basemen are playing the ball away from the base.
• Stay alert!

Outfield:

• Back up any play that you can get to. For basic plays that implies trying to get behind the player to pick up the ball if it gets by them.
• Help each other judge distances for fly balls. "Back, back, ..." and "Up, Up, ..." are terms I've used in the past. Players off to the side have a better view of the ball's trajectory and usually can predict its path better than the player trying to catch it, since they are looking at the ball straight-on.
• If a fly ball can be caught by 2 players, one should "call the ball", shouting "mine", "I got it", something like that. The second player then should veer off and back up the play, in the off chance that the first player misses the ball. Don't wait until the last minute and call "yours".
• The goal is to catch the ball in the pocket of the glove. For a well broken in close, you don't have to concentrate on closing the mitt on the ball, the glove will close automatically when the ball hits the pocket.
• "Two hands". Keep your non-mitt hand near your mitt when catching a ball, if possible. This allows you to grab the ball quickly to make a play, or save a catch when the ball isn't caught cleanly, and is thinking about leaving your mitt.
• If the ball gets past you, chase it down.
• Unless you have a strong arm and accurate throw, hit the cutoff man on throws back to the infield. For left and left center, this is usually the shortstop. For right and right center, its usually the second baseman.

Hitting:

• A good stance and positioning are both important. You don't want to be too far from the plate, or too far back or forward. You should be able to reach the far side of the plate with the bat. Your body should be centered between zero and a few inches behind the back of the plate. There are likely to be holes in the batter's box - compensate for them as best you can.
• In a good stance, you feet should be about shoulder width apart.
• Don't rest the bat on your shoulder. Have it above you shulder, ready to swing.
• Keep your eye on the ball.
• Keep your eye on the ball.
• Concentrate on a smooth level swing, through the ball. Visualization does wonders. Visualize the bat hitting the ball - this helps you "keep your eye on the ball".
• Swing through the ball. Its all about bat speed. The faster you swing, the farther the ball will travel. As you become more comfortable hitting, work on your bat speed.
• If you hit the ball, run. Run fast, Forrest.
• Illegal pitches. In slow pitch softball, the pitch has to have a specific arc to be legal (in our league, this is 6-12 feet). If its above or below these limits, then the umpire will call it illegal before the ball crosses the plate. If so, don't swing - the pitch is a ball. Wait for a better pitch. If you do swing, the ball is in play, just like any other pitch.

Base running:

• On line drives and fly balls make sure the ball is not caught before running too far towards the next base. On long fly balls, you can probably go about half-way and wait to see if its caught. For line drives, you don't want to be more than a couple steps off the bag until you know that it got through the infield. The base coach should help you judge whether it will be caught, or not.
• Run hard and fast (as fast as you can :).
• Run through first base. You don't have to stop at first, but unless you're running for second, you have to veer to the right (out of bounds) after crossing first, or you can be tagged out.
• Even if it looks like the ball will be caught, run it out. You'll be surprised at how oftena ball is dropped and the hitter is thrown out because they are standing at home, watching the play.
• No stealing or leading off is allowed. You must wait until the ball crosses home plate before running.
• Listen to your base coaches. There will be a base coach at first and third. There job is to judge the play and help you decide what to do. Follow their advice.
• Know about force outs, etc. I'm not going to explain that here, but if you listen to your base coach you should be OK.
• Bring cleats if you have them - I doubt metal cleats are allowed. Rubber cleated shoes will give you better traction which helps both fielding and base running. If you don't have them, wear running shoes, or other shoes with good traction.

Miscellaneous

• Wear comfortable clothing - clothing you can move about easily in. Tight fitting jeans are probably not a good idea.
• Ball caps are often a good idea to keep the sun out of your eyes.
• Water can also be mighty tasty on hot evenings.
• Have fun!