Behind, in front of, or thru

This is 10u or 12u catching situation. Pitcher throwing 43-44 mph and player stealing 3rd. Should catcher go behind, in front of or thru the right handed batter. I am trying to get my DD to just go straight thru the batter and if she doesn't get out of the way, DD will get the interference call. I believe that most players are not getting in the way on purpose, but they are in the way all the same and if DD aggressively moves thru them they will instinctively (reflex) get out of the way. Thoughts? Rules?

The hitter is not required to move so through is a poor option. You will only get the interference call if they move INTO her way. Generally behind is the best option.

Outside picth step in front.
Inside pitch slide behind.

Teaching a catcher to go through the batter at 10U cheap and bush league.

Sweet Lou said:

Outside picth step in front.
Inside pitch slide behind.

Teaching a catcher to go through the batter at 10U cheap and bush league.

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Is this suggesting that it would be ok at 14u level?

I like the advice inside behind, outside in front.

The batter does not have to move out of the batter's box. The players are(batter) taught to stand their ground so that they ARE in the way of the catcher. If the batter is in the way, while she is out of the box then you can get the interference call. In the meantime the catcher must go in front or behind. Sidenote: My DD has pegged a couple of batters in the ear hole while attempting a throw down to 3rd. whoops!

Rolling Hard said:

Is this suggesting that it would be ok at 14u level?

I like the advice inside behind, outside in front.

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If the batter gets hit because they moved into the catcher's path or the catcher inadvertantly hits the batter who doesn't move it's part of the game and in the first case interference on the batter and in the second case an error n the catcher if it leads to extra bases.

In any event teach a kid to throw at the batter in my opinion is bush league and trying to injure someone. If it happens it happens. If you are intentionally trying to drill a kid I personally don't think there is a place for that in the game. YMMV

I guess "though" got a little misinterpreted. I would never coach a player to throw the ball though another players ear hole. I think most of the time she needs to go in front of batter. On an inside pitch there is a good chance batter would be bailing and thus getting in the way of throw behind her. At 10u level I dont believe players would be coach to get in the way or hold their ground. So what I am suggesting is that my catcher go through the box and throw the ball. In other words- no need be polite and say "excuse me" to the batter when throwing to 3rd. I think most 10u batters are instinctively going to back out and away when they see the catcher coming into their person space. SoI guess I meant through the batters personal space, not their ear hole.

Thanks for clarifying.

I would not suggest going through as the batter has every right to hold their ground and you are more likely to just make the throw more difficult for your catcher is she does collide with the batter.

My daughter played against a right handed catcher once in middle school ball who, every pitch with a runner on third, would use her glove hand and push against the right handed batter (kind of a straight arm thing) while stepping over the plate to get an angle to throw near or inside the third base line. She was trying to push the batter toward the third base dugout so that she could shorten her distance to get to where she wanted to be to throw I guess. Mostly it was pushing a batters hands and bat tighter against their chest, but she pushed some off balance and forced a half step back. These batters were in the box. It annoyed me watching, and didn't seem right that she could push or move batters who had a right to be in the box. In the end it was academic because the whole operation was too slow in this case to pick anyone off. There were a couple steps involved moving from where she received to where she wanted to throw.

It seems like most of the successful throws to third, pick off or stealing, that I've seen are from behind the batter unless there is an extreme pitch-out type situation (intentional or not) that allows a catcher to get higher and farther forward early. It has to happen quickly, and it takes time to get around in front of the batter.

Throwing behind the batter is the standard on pretty much anything but an outside pitch.

Having said that, in my own limited experience, I've had more success throwing OVER a batter. Granted, this is for baseball, so 90' instead of 60', but with the larger leads available at 2nd, I don't feel like I have the time to drop-step behind the batter. And having never seen a video of myself doing this, I can also only admit that throwing over the batter's head (with maybe a slight jab/step towards the right to gain space) is what it feels like I'm doing. It's more a snap throw with a higher release point directly overhead. I can't get a lot on the throw (due to mechanics and a sub-par shoulder), but I feel like the release time is much quicker.

For 10U, and if it's not a 2-strike situation where you don't want to jeopardize losing a call on a borderline pitch, consider teaching her to start moving before she catches the ball, so that she already has momentum towards 3B, or is at least starting to come up out of her stance.