Working with pitchers in practice

[Sparky Guy]

My all time favorite... Pitcher/catcher practice. The catchers come to catch for the pitchers. All they do is chase bad pitches for an hour. Ugh... And coaches wonder why their catchers struggle.

What I do is have an exclusive practice for pitchers ONLY. We would work with the pitchers while their mom or dad caught. It gave us a chance to work with our pitchers teaching them and learning how all of their pitches work.

I would take all of my catchers and work specific drills and skills with them for the catching position. I would have the catchers catch the pitchers when we were working on the mental side of the game teaching them how to work together so everyone was on the same page.

 

[00fpdaddy]

Isnt it important for the pitchers and catchers to have synergy between them? There has to be a bond for them to be at effective. Its great to catch for your dds 3 times a week, but on Sat/Sun your outside the lines.

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

Isnt it important for the pitchers and catchers to have synergy between them? There has to be a bond for them to be at effective.

Important, yes. That said, it is very difficult (if not impossible) to coach both pitching and catching at the same time. I like to have my catchers catch pitching practice, but only for the last 1/3. 1st 2/3 is bucket parents catching while catchers work their own drills.

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

Just because we see coaches do things from lack of familiarity or knowledge, that should not preclude others from doing it properly...

We have several drills that we use combining pitching and catching.

Agreed, so you may want to examine that last part. If the pitcher is pitching then the catcher is catching, not working a drill. But I'm sure you knew that.

I'm all for battery practice, but at that point I'm coaching the battery, not the individual positions.

 

[Sweet Lou]

.... In any case, they should be learning to catch bad pitches if the MLB playoffs are any indication....

here here! The blocking skills on some of the more egregious wild pitches had me shaking my head on more than one occasion the past 2 weeks. And the framing skills of some of these guys leaves something to be desired, Tony Cruz I'm looking at you.

 

[Thuba]

12U TB: We used to have Off day 1,5hr pitcher / catcher practice: Lucky and got the local HS pitching coach come and help out. 'no lights' Now that its getting dark the 2 dedicated p/c do Pitching/Catching during Infield/Outfield/Position practice on Regular days.

They also get homework video's on a specific area for the next two weeks laps if parents forget to show them. I'm teaching the 3rd pitcher and myself I/R (me right handed) and were both coming along okay. Winter Warehouse my DD will begin the process.(not to sidetrack

Edit: I also have my two pitchers and 1 catcher filling in with two different 18u House ball games on the Saturday's/Tuesday's during the FYFA / non-tournament weeks where we just play on Sunday's. They love playing against the big girls. No house team is going to say no if they are not stacked with pitchers with the 3 inning rule. (might be another option to get them game experience if they are your top performers)

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I just told the dad last night, "By Spring, we need a catcher for your DD." I think that catcher is the most overlooked position on the field and if the girls were dedicated, they would want to put in the extra work. I am thinking of having a catching clinic and looking for a girl to help me.

The parents seem to prefer me being the catcher, at the lessons.

 

[nicelag]

A lot of the pitching coaches here in So Cal require the pitcher to provide a catcher for lessons. It's too tough to teach pitching hands on and catch at the same time.