afraid to slide

Question
My son is 13 years old, very tall and thin, a pretty good, reliable, Babe Ruth baseball player (13 years old). He takes instruction well. He's never been afraid of, say, getting hit by the ball, or contact in other sports. But he can't make himself slide! I've tried teaching him, and he tries to do it, but he always ends up stopping himself, supporting himself with his arms, or falling and hurting himself. It is as if he just can't bring himself to throw his butt on the ground. Is there some coaching technique for kids "afraid" to slide?  

Answer
Hey Larry,

This is an interesting question.  I wonder what took you so long to recognize this problem at such a late age. Lets start from the beginning.

When outdoors - Use the outfield grass, preferably wet grass (sprinkle with water beforehand).
In the beginning, use no shoes.  If outside, remove spikes. Later on, as the ballplayer becomes proficient, he can wear his shoes.

When indoors - Use the gym floor with sweatpants and sliding pads over them.
Remove sneakers.

Try this drill...............
 1.. All players sit on the floor or grass and alternate placing one leg straight and the other in the bent-leg tucked position (no shoes)
   1.. By putting hands behind themselves while in the sitting position, they push their body forward on floor or grass.
   2.. Here they are getting used to the position and finding out which side is comfortable. Sliders can be left or right so far as which side is more comfortable in the sliding position.
 2.. All players from a standing position practice the fall into the bent-leg slide (Caution: We use no steps, as yet). Player should concentrate on his landing and direction and getting the bent-leg tucked in
underneath.
 3.. All players practice from a standing position with three walking steps. Players that are comfortable on either side should practice both;
however, others should perfect their best side first.
 4.. All players practice drill from a standing position with a running four-to-five step start.
During drills, coaches can correct faults by checking landing position, hands out, body extended with head up, bent leg and tucked underneath and toes up. Buttocks and calf of bent leg should show the wear of absorbing the force of the slide; otherwise, the person is landing wrong.  If your son still has a problem here, it may be because he did it once and got a strawberry or scrape.  (You did mention that he has hurt himself in the past.) I would then suggest maybe a head first slide.. Only if all else fails, though.. I  hope this helps some.
Let me know....
Dennis