What's up, Dan Blewett here and today we're gonna go over what Double Play depth looks like so I coach amateur baseball
We're about a month into our 15U season
So I see a lot of other teams that we play against some are better than mine
Some are not as good as mine. Some are better coached than mine. Some are not as well coached.
So in seeing so many different players and so many different coaches and coaching styles and styles of baseball played by different teams
One thing has been consistent throughout the years that middle infielders. Don't seem no don't seem to know where to play
So Double Play depth is a relatively specific
Spot in the infield that both a shortstop and second baseman need to understand because otherwise they can't make it to the bag fast enough
When a hard hit ground ball is hit pretty much any fielder on the infield. So as you all know
Double plays are not softly hit ground balls. They're pretty hard. They're a little bit more than like a medium ground ball
They're like a hard ground ball to a scorcher
So it's imperative because hard ground balls because come double plays
That the shortstop and second baseman be close enough to the base
Where they can be over there really really fast on one of those to hoppers to the third baseman a one hopper to the shortstop
again, a really hard ground ball the
Second baseman has to be there ready as soon as that ball hits his mitt to take the throw pretty much right?
he's gonna be within a couple steps of the bag making it or grabbing the throw and making the
Final throw the DoublePlay. So DoublePlay depth is really important, but it's really misunderstood. So let's go over real here real quick right here
So let me show you real quick
What regular depth looks like so here in blue? You know, my first baseman is gonna be
Right here
My second baseman is gonna be real close to the infield grass
My shortstops also going to be pretty deep
It's gonna to kind of depend on where his arm strength is and his range if he doesn't have much arm strength
He probably needs to play just a little bit closer
but again
you see like the college guys aren't pro guys plug and play pretty close to the to the grass to maximize their range and
Then you'll see the third-base
again similar thing
maximizing range when it's a non bunting situation
now when we are in DoublePlay depth, we need to be a decent amount closer to the base and
Rather than say oh is this many steps or that because it's about 15 feet something like that
you're gonna be closer still pinching up the middle a little bit more but within
You know a half second sprint to get to second base
our
First baseman is gonna be in front of bag
Our third baseman if he has no one to hold it'll be even with the bag or maybe a little bit of front
But again the first baseman here, he's got a decision to make because the base line he can't be in the runners way
So once he holds the runner and then moves off the base, he's either got to go behind or in front
So depending on the hand, this is a hitter
he's probably gonna be in front because again he needs to get a ground ball in his mitt and
On its way to second base as fast as possible. So
The red dots here again represent DoublePlay depth and like a standard sort of way
The middle infielders the shortstop in the second baseman are going to be pinching in a lot more
They normally would towards second base not gonna be too close
But they the rule of thumb is just that they can get to second base
Really really fast because on a hard ground ball, they have to be they're ready to take the throw as soon as the first baseman
Third baseman shortstop or second baseman is gonna get rid of it to them
so again
Hard ground balls are the only ones that really have a chance of being DoublePlay soft ground balls and usually medium ground balls
Don't become the whole place because runners beat them out
So they've got to be close enough
Where when that hard ground ball is hit it's gonna be in someone's mitt fast and they can still get to the base
Ready to receive the throw as quickly as the throws on its way. Okay. So again, I'm gonna wipe these clean and
You can see
There's one more time
With a clean slate here
We'll go on green this time DoublePlay depth is going to be a little bit closer
To second base for our middle infield or something like that those two aren't exactly even
Somewhere in here where these guys
Can take a beeline
Towards the base
When that our ground ball is on its way
Fielded and the throw is made. Alright, so I hope this quick tutorial helped you again
I see lots of middle infielders playing at a position where I know if there's a hard ground ball hit to the first baseman the
shortstops just not going to be able to get the second base in time and
Jumping back to our diagram here. That's because I
often see guys playing way over here or
sort of halfway in that area there and
Again, they're too far from the base where they're just not going to be able to get to the bag in time when that hard
ground ball that can become a double play is
Put into play. All right. Same goes to the second baseman again
We just need to make sure we're not in no-man's land in this area over here. Where?
We're not going to go to get to the base fast enough. Ok
So again, I hope this tutorial helped you don't play depth is really really important
It's apparently a little bit misunderstood and so make sure you use a coach or use a player
Take some time to really evaluate whether you can get to the bag in time
On a hard ground ball so you can turn that double play and help your team out of a quick inning
alright
So if you enjoyed this video definitely share with us with a friend subscribe to the channel and I'll see you in the next video
You