Can fielders do this? 2 situations

[WestMichBlue]

This technique isn't unique to girls; it is the standard baseball bent leg slide. See any baseball coaching manual: head back, hands up, initial contact points are calf, thigh, and buttocks.

Now I don't see any HS boys or adult men SP players wearing sliding pads. But I do see a lot of ugly raspberries on those exposed calf's and thighs. (OH,that testosterone driven male ego!) However, at the local sporting goods stores I see both mens and womens sliding shorts on sale.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally posted by WestMichBlue
I’ll defer to your ASA rules knowledge, but as a former coach I suggest that you stick to umpiring (VBG). The proper sliding technique taught to girls is (1) raise hands to throw shoulders and weight back, (2) tuck ankle behind opposite knee, and (3) sit down. The initial contact is on the side of the bent leg and the buttocks. If the girl doesn’t jump into the slide, but sits down with weight back then her foot on the extended leg will be off the ground. When we drill girls we asked that they imagine a class of water (wine) in each hand and warn them that they can not spill a drop! Makes them focus on keeping those hands up and shoulders back.

Surely you’ve noticed that girls wear a sliding pad that pulls up over the knee (on the leg that bends). (Even in cool weather when they are wearing long pants.) That protects the calf/knee area and the buttocks are protected by Lycra sliding shorts. The Lycra forms to the skin and won’t bunch up like uniform pants or shorts will. Fabric bunching is the major cause of bruises.

Now let’s get another interference argument going!

WMB

Well, now that you mention it, I've seen players, even at the major league (dare I say it?) baseball level have interference called for throwing their arms up while sliding into a base.

Point of the slide is that you do not slide into it leading with your feet, but as you say, "sit" down into or drop the tail end first.

I am very familiar with sliding pants, and no, I'm not confusing them with compression shorts as many do. You will note that the padding on sliding pants (along with the most-worn portion of the uniform pant leg) is positioned on the outer portion of the upper thigh.

BTW, don't you think for a second that you you were the only person here to coach. The only difference is the teams I worked with were boys and men. Used wrestling mats in a gymnasium while wearing shorts. It only took a session to get the point across of what part of the body you want to use for initial contact.