Recent content by sniper16

agree. part of our problem here might be semantics. i think you must have extension, but it's out front, after contact. casting would be extension too early (before or during contact: bad), and the fence drill (while not creating the perfect swing by itself) can help some people to lead with...

for me, a little of both. hands lead and stay inside the ball, with extension after contact. i go to all fields, but with not much power, especially oppo. i find that the fence drill emphasis gets me higher avg, and concentrating on powerful extension more power, so i try to find a balance.

I actually use a little A+D ointment. It's mostly petroleum jelly (vaseline) but also has lanolin. It really does make the leather seem healthier than vaseline or Nokona conditioner, as it lasts longer and is cheap. It has a kind of medicine smell, but if you don't overdo it, it will go away...

the demands of 1b on a glove are different than other positions. i'd recommend a 1b mitt from vinci or nokona, or high end rawlings.

Over the years I've evolved to no longer go as big as possible. My Nokona amgfb is supposedly 12.5 (although it's bigger than my amg1250, and comparable in length to my old 13" rawlings silverback), and has a good feel to it as far as control and security. I personally wouldn't want to go over...

my thought exactly, rodeo. yes, we practice early in the season but it's loose. mostly bp but we do take grounders and go over situations (cutoffs, etc.) so we don't get too sloppy. it's hard enough to stop a rally without giving away extra outs.

badaboom. /thread

that is the mentality a first baseman should have.

my secret: start slow, run slow, and stop slow. that plus a lack of any muscle tone means no pulled groin or hammys for me - :o seriously tho, strength (especially core) matters, but the older you get, the more important flexibility becomes.

mitts > gloves for scooping low throws, but there's also another thing i appreciate which is the structural integrity. a large, broken in glove may fold if the ball is not caught right in the pocket, but a mitt sort of funnels the ball into the pocket. it's not just for weak fielders, either -...

Keep front side more closed and back side strong. If your back side collapses and you drop your shoulder, you'll get under it and fly out weakly or hit it foul. Really important to keep your hands inside the ball and lead with the knob, otherwise you'll end up casting and hit it off the taper...

Huge ditto here. Contemplated getting a new mitt for this season but decided to just tighten up the laces and stretch it another year. Had a ball fold my 3-yr-old $60 mitt back and get by me the other night in a playoff game on what would have been the third out. They went on to score 5 more...

Playing 1b I NEVER expect a good throw. My goal is to never let anything by. Curious thing is if you make enough plays, your teammates grow in their confidence and the throws get better. If your teammates feel you resent bad throws you are putting pressure on them and setting them up to fail...

if the slacker is on my team I'll say something to him about it. If not, I may shake my head in bewilderment but life's too short to get all bent out of shape over things I can't control. Just play your game the way you play and don't worry so much about other people's issues that they become...

Agree that laziness or giving up on a play is annoying. But I will add that hustling only to a point and letting up a bit to avoid injury is not always being lazy. Since my surgeries I try to stay within my ability to get it done without getting hurt, which usually means about 80-90% effort...