Let's look at the video of your dd. I presume she is doing exatly what she was taught to do. She is attempting to catch the outside of the ball, roll the wrist back into the plate, and stick the pitch. She is trying to get her head and chest behind the ball. There are a couple of problems with this methodology. One, attempting to do this puts your dd's elbow and wrist above the ball, creating a weak arm position....something you claim you do not want. Two, your dd is attempting to catch the ball so far out in front of her (essentially barring her arm) it is causing her to move her left knee and chest in order to get to the ball. I know this is a NECC trait as well (receiving the ball with a straight arm) but it causes unnecessary body movement (the catcher is not quiet) for this particular pitch. And three, her head and chest are still moving after the ball is in her mitt. It's not her fault....she is trying to do what she was taught to do. It's hard to virtually impossible to get the head and chest behind the ball in time on a pitch outside of the catcher's body. IMO if she was about a foot closer to the batter, received the ball so her elbow was slightly below and wrist was at the level of the pitch, mitt closer to the body (elbow not barred), reached across her body to catch the outside of the ball and stick the pitch, it gives the impression that much less work was done to receive that pitch on or near the corner, and therefore it had to be a pretty good pitch. JMO.....
My catcher-beast...
- Thread starter Eric F
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Let's look at the video of your dd. I presume she is doing exatly what she was taught to do. She is attempting to catch the outside of the ball, roll the wrist back into the plate, and stick the pitch. She is trying to get her head and chest behind the ball. There are a couple of problems with this methodology. One, attempting to do this puts your dd's elbow and wrist above the ball, creating a weak arm position....something you claim you do not want. Two, your dd is attempting to catch the ball so far out in front of her (essentially barring her arm) it is causing her to move her left knee and chest in order to get to the ball. I know this is a NECC trait as well (receiving the ball with a straight arm) but it causes unnecessary body movement (the catcher is not quiet) for this particular pitch. And three, her head and chest are still moving after the ball is in her mitt. It's not her fault....she is trying to do what she was taught to do. It's hard to virtually impossible to get the head and chest behind the ball in time on a pitch outside of the catcher's body. IMO if she was about a foot closer to the batter, received the ball so her elbow was slightly below and wrist was at the level of the pitch, mitt closer to the body (elbow not barred), reached across her body to catch the outside of the ball and stick the pitch, it gives the impression that much less work was done to receive that pitch on or near the corner, and therefore it had to be a pretty good pitch. JMO.....
Lenski - I appreciate the input, and the discussion, but I'm happy with our approach and how it works for Maddie. I do agree that she needs to be closer to the batter (this was discussed at the beginning of the thread), but I still want her sticking pitches with a strong and straight arm.
Mine has adapted that as well. She has developed her own technique that Umps have told her they like. When she sets up she will extend her mitt (the Target ) out to straight arm as if she was receiving a pitch. Once she has established this is the spot I am trying to hit for the Ump, she will pull mitt back to her chest , then re straighten the arm to receive the pitch with arm fully extended as pitch is received. It is great when the spot is hit especially if you are working in the river or on the corners get a lot of marginal pitches. She does not use this with runners on 2nd as locations are easy to steal.
Different but works for her pitchers.
Hey, it was JMO.....as stated in my post.
I agree. My daughter catches this way - leans slightly to center body with the outside pitch (to RH batter), sticks pitch with arm extended forward and holds it. I don't think I have seen an ump take away that outside strike yet and on many occasions got the call on what looked to be a bit off the plate from the dug out. Seems to work especially well on low pitches.
- Aug 26, 2015
- 590
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Hmm. You have any video of that? Trying to picture that and I'm failing misreably.
Greenmonsters
Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
Please understand that in the MLB clip above, the catcher likely is intentionally receiving a breaking ball deep in order to give it as much distance as possible to break toward the plate. If that pitch were breaking the other way, you'd likely see them trying to catch the ball more out in front. An umpire will tell you that it doesn't make a difference, but observation and personal experience suggest otherwise. Advanced level stuff that requires mastery of the basics first. It's something I tried to do in my BB days, but I don't know if it can be applied with similar success in fastpitch where the distance is shorter and movement is less (ETA - and the heavier ball imparting more force and thus more effort to stick a pitch).
A catcher's job is much easier when you have a pitcher who can consistently hit their spots. It is one of the reasons you see college coaches convert an athletic, strong-armed, non-catcher into a catcher (or, more accurately IMO, a girl who catches) in the interest of getting another big bat into the lineup (and one of the reasons you see some catchers in the WCWS with poor mechanics). IMO, that is short-sighted as a catcher who receives well, blocks well, and limits the running game but only hits .200 has a greater impact than a catcher with average or below average defensive skills who hits .350.
An another note, IMO a catcher needs to be moving on the pitch or else they are setting up too early and telegraphing pitch locations directly to the batter and a batter who only has to worry about half the plate is at least twice as dangerous. The catcher's objective should be to beat the ball to the spot; subsequent significant movement is only necessary if the pitcher misses their spot badly.
A catcher's job is much easier when you have a pitcher who can consistently hit their spots. It is one of the reasons you see college coaches convert an athletic, strong-armed, non-catcher into a catcher (or, more accurately IMO, a girl who catches) in the interest of getting another big bat into the lineup (and one of the reasons you see some catchers in the WCWS with poor mechanics). IMO, that is short-sighted as a catcher who receives well, blocks well, and limits the running game but only hits .200 has a greater impact than a catcher with average or below average defensive skills who hits .350.
An another note, IMO a catcher needs to be moving on the pitch or else they are setting up too early and telegraphing pitch locations directly to the batter and a batter who only has to worry about half the plate is at least twice as dangerous. The catcher's objective should be to beat the ball to the spot; subsequent significant movement is only necessary if the pitcher misses their spot badly.
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Buster Posey:
http://i0.wp.com/espnfivethirtyeight.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/posey.gif?quality=100&strip=all
Sometimes it's necessary to bar the arm:
http://i2.wp.com/espnfivethirtyeigh...07/susac_ball_final.gif?quality=100&strip=all
Notice in every clip the catcher remains quiet.
http://i0.wp.com/espnfivethirtyeight.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/posey.gif?quality=100&strip=all
Sometimes it's necessary to bar the arm:
http://i2.wp.com/espnfivethirtyeigh...07/susac_ball_final.gif?quality=100&strip=all
Notice in every clip the catcher remains quiet.
