Leaving the Base path

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by charliej47

I don't remember which clinic I went to that described how to judge this.

The normal adult male is about 6 feet tall. He takes a 24 to 30 inch step when walking. When running, he will take a 3 to 4 ft step.

You do the math.

Seriously?

So ... your runner stopped and took two steps perpendicular to his bath path? I doubt it.

2 steps diagonally may or may not be 3 feet from the basepath that was established when the tag began. 1 step diagonally DEFINITELY was not.

One thing experience has taught me ... a runner running full speed toward a base almost never deviates more than 3 feet from the basepath (and remember - this is critical - the basepath that matters is the line between the runner and the base at the moment the tag began. Not before). A runner going out of the baseline almost always shows a very visible "running AROUND the feeling" look. When it happens, it's obvious.