Identify this division's departure rule
A Mustang regular-season team is preparing for its first game. The coach has not yet checked which Rule 9(O) option the league adopted.
Coaching Points
Option (1) is unrestricted; option (2) restricts third; option (3) restricts departure from every occupied base. Tournament play uses option (1).
Common Mistakes
Never turn a rule from another division into this runner's instruction.
Alternative Considerations
The coach can reduce a training lead for readiness without presenting that choice as a national requirement.
Rules/safety: leads pickoff
Read under the stated option
This Mustang exercise explicitly uses Rule 9(O)(1), the unrestricted option. Regular-season leagues may instead adopt option (2) or (3); check first.
Coaching Points
Demonstrate slowly and ask the runner what was observed before adding speed.
Common Mistakes
Guessing on every motion is not the same as reading a pitcher.
Alternative Considerations
Under restricted Mustang options, satisfy the legal departure time first; do not reuse an unrestricted first-move cue.
Rules/safety: leads pickoff
Keep the next movement legal
Your Mustang league uses option (3). You remain on the occupied base until the pitch reaches or passes the batter, then read the ball.
Coaching Points
Practice both the advance and return from a balanced position.
Common Mistakes
Movement that looks quick can still be illegal or uncontrolled.
Alternative Considerations
Coach the actual rule and the runner's readiness together; neither replaces the other.
Rules/safety: leads
Respect a caught fly
An infield fly is declared and then caught. You are a runner deciding whether to advance.
Coaching Points
Read the catch separately from the batter-out call and listen to the base coach.
Common Mistakes
An infield-fly call is not permission to ignore the catch.
Alternative Considerations
Walk through a ball that drops untouched too; do not treat caught and dropped versions as identical.
Rules/safety: fly
Run through the coach's picture
On an extra-base chance, find the base coach early enough to act on the agreed signal. Touch the base under control and keep awareness of the ball.
Coaching Points
Start at a jog, then add speed when the runner reads the signal reliably.
Common Mistakes
A fast turn without a read can send the runner into a bad decision.
Alternative Considerations
Field conditions and player confidence may require a slower progression.
Coaching exercise: not a national rule requirement.
Return under control
This Mustang exercise explicitly uses Rule 9(O)(1), the unrestricted option. Regular-season leagues may instead adopt option (2) or (3); check first.
Coaching Points
Begin without a live tag; add a controlled throw only after the return is understood.
Common Mistakes
Permission to lead does not guarantee every lead or return is safe.
Alternative Considerations
Use a conservative return technique taught by the coach; do not turn a training preference into a borrowed national sliding rule.
Rules/safety: leads pickoff safety