The best ways to turn 2 in baseball (double play)
Jul 19, 2022
Coach Duke Baxter breaks down the top four ways to turn double plays as a second baseman to the shortstop.
The first way to turn a double play is with the palm up flip. This is a technique used when the ball is hit right toward the player or to the right. The drill for this is to have 4 cones from the 2B position lined pointing toward home base. A ball is on the cone closest to the 2nd baseman position and the 2B comes around the the cone, picks up the ball and flips it to the shortstop on second base following through. To amplify this drill, baseballs are added to every cone and the drill is done one after another getting around the cone flipping, and resetting.
The power flip is used when the ball is slightly to the left of the 2B. The cones are set up similarly to the flip drill, toward home, but are more to the left. Using the same technique, the 2B comes around the cone, picks up the ball and darts it to the shortstop. The difference is the positioning of the fingers on the baseball. An advanced player gets their fingers under the ball to create more power and flick from the fingers. An important part of this drill is to fire the ball as the body comes up as opposed to picking up the ball, standing up, and throwing.
The pivot flip is used when the ball is far out to the left. In this scenario, the player does not come around the ball, but instead plants the left leg in line with the ball, picks it up, pivots while down low, and throws the ball to the shortstop.
The spin pivot is used when the ball leads the 2B back and to the left. To complete this throw, the player picks up the ball while spinning and then throws it to the shortstop. A very important part of this technique, similar to the others, is to stay down low.
To differentiate when to use these techniques is dependent on where the ball was hit. These cone drills help give a visual as to which flip to use depending on where the ball is in comparison to the 2nd baseman.
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