Trea Turner's smooth slides: How Phillies star mastered the art of sliding in baseball

Kyle Irving

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Trea Turner's smooth slides: How Phillies star mastered the art of sliding in baseball image

The Phillies have been tearing through the National League playoffs, and star shortstop Trea Turner has played a big role in the team's success.

The two-time All-Star is hitting .500 in 34 plate appearances through eight playoff games. He has regained his pop and speed after a slow start to the regular season, swatting three home runs to go with four RBI and four stolen bases this postseason.

Turner has been one of MLB's best base runners since he got the call-up to the bigs. He's led MLB in stolen bases twice and has six 30-steal seasons in just over six years of service time. Add to it that he's tallied at least 100 runs in four seasons and you have a speedster who is no stranger to digging his way around the basepath.

With that has come plenty of experience sliding, and Turner has perfected the art to the point that he has become a viral sensation for looking effortlessly cool when he gets down and dirty.

Trea Turner slides

Turner was once again trending for one of his slides during the Phillies' blowout 10-0 win over the Diamondbacks in Game 2 of the NLCS.

Turner rounded second and slid into third, but there was no contest at the bag so he was able to cruise in.

Smooth operator.

This is far from the first time Turner has gone viral for his gliding slides. In fact, it happens so often that the star SS even has a three-minute slide compilation on YouTube, going back to his days with the Nationals and Dodgers.

Trea Turner slide GIF

Turner's most famous slide came during his time with the Dodgers, ironically, against the Phillies.

You've likely seen it at some point, as it has become a viral GIF most associated with the joke of sliding into someone's DMs.

Turner glides into home plate and pops up all in one motion, looking as cool as it gets.

Get this one into your GIF rotation if it isn't already.

How to slide like Trea Turner

When you watch Turner's buttery slides, it's the same form every time. He leads with his right leg, tucking his left leg underneath. He glides on his left shin and calmly reaches for the base with his left hand. His butt almost never even touches the ground as he pops right up using just his left shin and foot.

How is possible that he looks like he's gliding on ice when sliding on dirt? You'll have to try for yourself to find out.

Kyle Irving

Kyle Irving Photo

You read that wrong – not Kyrie Irving. From Boston, graduated from the University of New Hampshire. Sixth season as a content producer for NBA.com's Global editions. Covering the NBA Draft has become his annual "dream come true" moment on the job. Irving has a soft spot for pass-first point guards, with Rajon Rondo and Steve Nash being two of his favorite players of all time.