Video:How to Play Third Base in Baseball

Transcript:How to Play Third Base in Baseball

Hello, my name is Tom Rohlffs, baseball instructor with About.com. Today we're going to cover the proper way to play third base.

Proper Positioning for Playing Third Base

When a batter first gets up to the bat, I need to play within two feet of third base so I'm in here for the possible bunt. After two strikes, I can go ahead and get behind the base to give me more room to work. Ok now a lot of the time you'll get one-bouncers here that are just rifles -- they're just drives, so you've got to have your feet moving and yes you have to be ready to go in or out. But usually you can just go in here. If the ball is to my right, I can cross over and backhand or I can do my best to get in front of a ball and do that little crow hop or the ball is going to be topped.

Tips for Practicing Playing Third Base

I have three balls out here and you can do this in the gymnasium when it rains, when you have your infield practice. You can use tennis balls, wiffle balls, any kinda other balls you want. A lot of the time, the third baseman will be the one person who has to learn how to do a right-foot throw. As I go into do a right-foot throw because the ball was bunted or it was topped and it's barely coming out of here and maybe it hit the plate, which is fair territory, so as I charge the ball, I'm coming in quickly, I'm going to bare hand this, and I'm going to make the throw off of my right foot to my first baseman.

Throwing to First When Playing Third Base

Let me show you that again. You come in and charge because the runner is already halfway to first base. I come in here, I grab the ball bare-handed off of my right foot, I'm throwing in one motion. So let me show you one more time with a wiffle ball -- coming in a little faster here, grabbing the same motion and throwing with the right foot.

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