Beginner

Rientro alla Base

Also known as: tagging, ritoccare la base, avanzamento su volo sacrificio

Definition

Il tag up significa che un corridore torna e tocca la propria base al momento in cui un volo viene catturato, per poi partire verso la base successiva — il metodo legale per avanzare su un volo catturato.

Quando un volo viene colpito, i corridori devono attendere sulla propria base (toccandola) finché la palla non viene catturata. Nel momento in cui l'esterno tocca la palla, possono avanzare. I corridori d'élite osservano gli occhi e il linguaggio del corpo dell'esterno mantenendo un piede sulla base, poi scattano nell'istante in cui la palla tocca il guantone. Sui voli sacrificio dall'outfield, i corridori in terza dovrebbero quasi sempre fare tag up. Sui voli poco profondi, la profondità dell'esterno, la velocità del corridore e la forza del braccio dell'esterno determinano tutti se fare tag up produce una base extra.

Beginner tip

Position your foot on the inside corner of the bag. This means closest to the base you are advancing toward. This means before the pitch is delivered. As a result, when a fly ball is hit you are already in the optimal push-off position without needing to reposition.

Advanced note

Practice watching the ball into the outfielder's glove from a tagged-up position in particular by having a partner track fly balls in the outfield. At the same time, you stand with your foot on the bag and call "catch!" the instant you see glove-ball contact. This means this trains the precise timing discipline that separates tag-up masters from average baserunners.

Example

Ha fatto tag up dalla terza su un volo di media profondità al centro e ha segnato facilmente — la sua lettura del posizionamento dell'esterno gli ha detto che il lancio sarebbe arrivato troppo tardi.

How it shows up on video

On video, tag-up quality is measured by the runner's foot position on the bag at the moment of catch, the direction the body is facing. The explosiveness of the first step off the bag. Common errors include the runner having both feet flat on the ground rather than positioned on the bag in a ready-to-push stance, the body facing the outfield rather than angled toward the next base. The runner losing contact with the bag for an instant before the catch. This means which creates a retouch obligation that negates the advance.

Common mistakes

Leaving the bag too early before the ball is caught. This means even a tenth-of-a-second early departure is a legal violation that results in an out if appealed by the defense
Standing flat against the center of the bag rather than on the inside corner with the body angled toward the next base, losing the push-off position advantage that fast taggers use to gain an extra step
Making the tag-up decision based on the depth of the fly ball alone without considering the outfielder's arm strength, throwing angle. The presence or absence of a cut-off play
Not watching the ball all the way into the outfielder's glove. This prevents precise timing of the departure. This means watching the fielder's glove make contact is the signal that must be seen before the departure step

In SwingVantage Motion Lab

SwingVantage measures foot position on the bag at the catch frame and timing of the first departure step relative to the catch contact frame, identifying early departures and measuring the body angle at departure. The system computes a tag-up efficiency score based on departure timing and initial step direction, benchmarked against the runner's historical best.

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