Watching what the base [tag]coach[/tag] wants the runner to do is important in making sure that you don’t get unnecessary outs. It’s a good idea to practice the communication between runners and base coaches using [tag]youth baseball coaching drills[/tag], and you might be able to save yourself a few outs.
What you need (set up): A full infield and outfield, a couple of runners, and a first and third base coach.
How this drill works: Have the coach hit the ball to certain areas of the field and the players need to make the plays. Once runners reach the base, the coaches need to instruct them on what to do. For example if the coach hits a shallow fly ball to right field, he or she will instruct the runner to take a slight lead and just as the ball is caught, tag up at first and wait to see if they should run.
The coach will go through many different scenarios in this [tag]baseball[/tag] [tag]drill[/tag] to make sure that the runners and the base coaches are on the same page.
Result: Good communication is going to reduce the number of outs that occur because of bad [tag]baserunning[/tag]. When players listen to the coaches, they are a team, and it is like having a set of eyes watching the play for the player and then using them to get around the bases.