Turning The Double Play From Shortstop

Turning a Double Play (From SS)

          Turning a double play from the shortstop position is probably the easier of the two middle positions, mainly because as a shortstop you’re already moving in the general direction of first base. Making the turn at short really comes down to getting the hips and feet in position. To make a successful turn the shortstop need to remember a few things; approach the bag so that your hips are squared to the player fielding the ball, catch the ball with two hands, as you receive the ball move your feet and hips in position to throw to first, and finally follow the throw with the back leg. A very important thing to remember in addition to everything else, is that being prepared for a bad throw will make the turn that much easier. A bad throw may create different techniques, but if the being ready for it will allow you to handle it. Expect a bad throw and you will be able to handle anything.

          First let’s talk about the approach; when the shortstop approaches the base preparing to turn the double play his hips and feet should be squared to the person getting ready to throw him the ball. He will have his feet about shoulder width apart, in an athletic position and be positioned with the right foot on the bag or about half a step behind the bag. Whether you’re on the bag or just behind it is a little bit preference, and a little bit where the ball is coming from. On balls that bring the 2^nd baseman closer to the bag the shortstop will most likely stay behind the bag. Balls that take the 2^nd baseman away from the bag or balls from the 1^st baseman the shortstop will be better off starting with the right foot on the bag allowing the shortstop to stretch to the ball and get away from the bag as the runner will be closer to him when he receives the ball.

Photo Credit: www.kansas.com

          As the ball is being thrown to him, he then reacts to the throw. A good throw, being on the outfield side of the bag, will allow the shortstop to step towards the throw with his left foot gaining ground away from the bag and slightly towards first. This also helps the shortstop get out of the base path where the runner will be sliding. After the ball is received and while it is being transferred to the hand to throw the feet should be moving into a throwing position, allowing the hips to get pointed in the proper direction.

          There are some throws that will take you in a different direction, but the majority of the throws should be to the shortstops left of the bag. For the throws that take you in a different direction the footwork changes. If the throw takes you to the infield side of the bag the left foot should be placed on the bag and the shortstop will catch the ball and step to his right to complete the throw, avoiding the “danger zone”. Footwork is extremely important to turning the double play at shortstop.

Photo Credit: espn.go.com

          When making the throw on the backside of the double play, the shortstop should keep a short arm action and focus on keeping the ball down. It is very common for a shortstop to try and rush the turn and end up throwing the ball too high. By thinking about keeping the ball down and staying on top he will be more likely to keep the ball in a range where the first baseman can catch it. One piece of advice when turning a double play from either side of the bag is to think about being smooth. Many young players are trying to be fast when they turn a double play, but if the player focuses on being smooth they will in turn be faster and be more likely to complete the play errorless. If the player does their pre-pitch analysis correctly they should know how much time they have to make the turn. Knowing the speed of the ball and the speed of the runner is key to being smooth, because the fielder can then adjust their quickness based on that knowledge. 

Turning the Double Play (As a 2nd Baseman)

Turning A Double Play (As a 2^nd Baseman)

Turning a double play from the second base position is all based around footwork. While many people focus on the hands when turning a double play, without good footwork it is very difficult. Don’t get me wrong you have to have good hands to turn an efficient double play, but you can have the best hands in the world and if your feet are bad it will be a challenge to turn a double play. As a second baseman the first part to turning the double play is getting to the bag and being set up correctly. Next you want to let the throw dictate where you’re going to step to make the turn, once you’ve stepped for the turn it’s important that you use your legs to create momentum towards first base.

Being in the correct set up will make the following steps much easier. In order to achieve the correct set up the second baseman need to start in double play depth, which is at most 10 steps from the bag, but more often closer to 6-8 steps away giving him ample time to get to the bag and set up. The position that I’m talking about is having his left foot on the bag and his hips squared to whoever is about to throw him the ball (SS or 3^rd). The reason for being squared to the ball is to give him the ability to adjust to a bad throw, being athletic with his left foot on the bag sets the second baseman up to catch anything and he never has to look at the bag. Even the ball that he shortstop catches behind the second base bag the second baseman should have his left foot on the bag and be squared to where the ball is coming from. If the second baseman gets in that position he will be able to catch almost anything.

Letting the throw dictate your next move is very important. If you get “robotic” and try to step in the same place every time you will find yourself not being able to handle the ball cleanly or missing throws that you could have caught. This is similar to the first baseman that stretches towards the ball before it is thrown, finding himself out of position to catch the ball and limiting his range. The throw will tell the second baseman where to go, if he’s catching the ball from third most of the time he is going to step to the throw to shorten the distance and to avoid any contact with the runner. It is important that the step with the right foot gains ground and moves in the direction of the ball to help make the transfer smoother. It is much easier to transfer a ball that is in the center of the chest than the ball that is on either side of the body, so the step towards the ball should be an attempt to force the throw to the center of the chest.

When the second baseman is catching the ball from the shortstop there is more of a read involved. Depending on the runners and where the ball is thrown the second baseman can decide whether he wants to step through or step back, either way is ok, but the important part is getting out of the path of the runner. Up until pro ball the runner has to slide into the base, with that rule in place the second basemen needs to avoid being in line with the base as the runner comes in. He has the right to the area on either side of the bag to step for the turn, so he should use it.

After the set up and the first move for the turn the second baseman has to make the turn. This is the part where the exchange happens and all the action takes place. The previous two steps will make this part much easier if they were done correctly. During the turn the second baseman should first catch the ball with two hands (more of a deflection than an actual catch), and begin the short arm action to make the throw to first. During this exchange on the upper half, the lower half should have planted the right foot and be pushing with that right foot to gain some momentum to first base. Doing so will help your throw be on target and have some velocity behind it.

Those are the basics of turning a double play as a second baseman. There are always going to be throws and different situations that require abnormal moves to complete the play, but if following those basic principles will help make those abnormal plays possible, and the routine plays seems even easier. One thing I would like to address is the play of Robinson Cano, Cano is an outstanding baseball players and one of the smoothest fielding second basemen to ever play the game. But I want all the young players out there to understand he is able to play the way he does because of his arm. His arm works better than almost any other second baseman, he is able to throw from many angles and still be accurate with velocity. Many second basemen can use different arm angles, but he takes them to an extreme because he can. When it comes to turning a double play he tends to run right through the bag and throw across his body, because his arm allows him to do so. That is not the way young players should be turning a double play, they need to use their legs to make a strong accurate throw to first. 

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