Risks Associated With Sliding
One study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine followed seven softball and three baseball teams in Division I of the NCAA, and found the overall incidence of injuries sustained while sliding was 9.51 per 1000 slides. Softball players had about twice the incidence of sliding injuries as baseball players in the study. 11% (four out of 37) of the injuries caused the player to miss more than 7 days of participation.
Because baseball shoes are spiked on the bottom, sliding with the spikes up increases the probability of injury to the defensive player covering the base. Knowledge of this fact can often increase the defensive player's fear of the possible contact from an impending slide and thus increase his distraction while attempting to make a play. Ty Cobb was well known for actually sharpening his spikes in the dugout, in full view of the other team, in order to intimidate their players. Cobb developed nine different ways to slide into base.
Read more about this topic: Slide (baseball)
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