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As a coach I have used the DP/Flex to help with a short bench. I went to an out of town tournament with 10 players and by using the DP/Flex all ten were in the game all the time and if someone needed a breather on defense the DP could spell them for an inning. This is very helpful when you get a kid that gets banged up on offensive and just needs a break to tape up or collect themselves before going back out on the field on defense. Or similar if a defender gets banged up in a collision you can give them some time on the bench without burning subs. It's especially helpful on long hot days when you never know which kid is going to get loopy from the heat.
What's funny is that nobody knows the rule very well (except umpires). I drove an oppossing coach to distraction swapping DP around the field 5 times in one game the opposing coach got livid with the umpire "Why do they get to do whatever they want?? it's supposed to be strict substitution!!" :lmao:
When the DP plays defense for anyone other than the flex it's not a substitution but a position swap, no different than telling F3 and F4 to swap positions. Even if the DP plays defense for the flex, the flex still has one reentry to come back in.
I know this seems like a lot of rules to remember but IMO there are only three substitution rules you need to know as a coach.
#1. Everyone gets one re-entry
#2. Courtesy Runner rule
#3. DP/Flex Rule
Even at the HS level I rarely see coaches take advantage of anything other than the courtesy runner. I've never seen it done at the HS level, but I would think that if you had 4 or 5 really fast kids in the program who weren't ready for varsity (hitting and fielding wise) you could use them as rabbits once every game to run for slower kids who got on base and then reenter the fielder on defense.
What's funny is that nobody knows the rule very well (except umpires). I drove an oppossing coach to distraction swapping DP around the field 5 times in one game the opposing coach got livid with the umpire "Why do they get to do whatever they want?? it's supposed to be strict substitution!!" :lmao:
When the DP plays defense for anyone other than the flex it's not a substitution but a position swap, no different than telling F3 and F4 to swap positions. Even if the DP plays defense for the flex, the flex still has one reentry to come back in.
I know this seems like a lot of rules to remember but IMO there are only three substitution rules you need to know as a coach.
#1. Everyone gets one re-entry
#2. Courtesy Runner rule
#3. DP/Flex Rule
Even at the HS level I rarely see coaches take advantage of anything other than the courtesy runner. I've never seen it done at the HS level, but I would think that if you had 4 or 5 really fast kids in the program who weren't ready for varsity (hitting and fielding wise) you could use them as rabbits once every game to run for slower kids who got on base and then reenter the fielder on defense.