Catching: The Basics - What are they, and How to teach them?

Good Afternoon All,

While college softball has started, and the long journey into darkness finally behind us as pitchers and catchers report down in FL and AZ, rec league practice is still at least a month away for most of us.

This season we'll still be using coach pitch, but with the girls now being the catcher. I have an idea of what I want to teach them, but wanted to see what the rest of you are teaching, and how you go about it.

1. What do you consider the basic skills?

2. How do you teach them? (drills, correct what you can during the course of a regular practice, send them to clinics, special "coach and catcher" time before/after practice, etc.)

Thanks in advance for your input.

--Gags

The very first thing I teach a new catcher (no matter how old they are) is how to protect their throwing hand. Most players have been taught from moment one in the game to catch the ball with 2 hands. For a catcher, this is a recipe for injury. They MUST learn to catch one-handed.

Step one...Play catch with a partner (or a coach). Before their partner throws the ball to them, have them tuck their throwing hand by their rear hip pocket. The hand needs to stay there until the ball is caught. Repeat, repeat, repeat until one-hand catching is automatic.
Note - Throwing hand should be kept in a loose fist, with the thumb tucked inside.

Step two..."Squeeze and freeze". On every catch, have your new catcher stick/hold the location of their catch for 2 seconds (even have them count it out loud, if you want). This will be tough for some smaller/weaker kids, but is something to be practiced regularly to build strength.
Note - This can be done simultaneously with Step one.

Step three...Receiving stance. Feet should be flat on the ground about shoulder width apart, with toes pointed slightly outward. We want them to be stable and athletic - same as they are in the batters box. Up on the toes, with their feet tucked under their butt is unstable and limiting. Throwing hand (in a fist) should be tucked near the ankle (not behind their back).

What I did in 8u when we first started using catchers was first practice take each girl aside for about 3-5 minutes of me doing a quick catcher's drill. Have them get down in crouch, toss them 3-5 juggs lite flight balls to judge their reflexes. If they showed some potential, give them a few more pitches. Both years I found 1 or 2 girls I necessarily wouldn't have pegged as a catcher that turned out to be decent rec catchers. I've found over the years there are girls who are slightly lost in the infield, but if you involve them in every play as a catcher, they do you proud.

The best $40 I ever spent was on the NECC DVD. Its available for purchase on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/neccdvd

Yep. NECC video is still the best $40 I have spent on softball. It established a foundation of knowledge for me that has benefited my DD's skills behind the plate more than anything else. It's been more valuable - way more valuable - than the multiple hundreds of dollars I have spent of bats.

I bring dog out

Eric F and Dabears17 are spot on. However, when I get any new catchers I lay down my 3 inviolable rules. Rule #1 ALWAYS protect your throwing hand. Rule #2 If your on the field as a catcher. your helmet is on your head and NEVER comes off until they're back in the dugout or a time out is called and ALL play has stopped. Rule #3 NEVER, EVER, EVER dive back to home plate for a tag out...especially at the older ages. Some may disagree with these but I take my catchers safety very seriously and would prefer to err on the side of safety. This is even more true from my viewpoint at the older ages when steel cleats are involved.

After I lay these rules down, I go into pretty much the same drills as Eric F. Once those are accomplished, I break the plate down into 3 zones. A (inside), B (middle) and C (outside) then proceed to show them how to receive the ball properly from those positions. The object is to keep strikes looking like strikes. It's not to try and fool the umpire or anything else. A quality receiving catcher can get a pitcher (I understand it's coach pitch but it's never too early to teach them proper mechanics) 7-10 more strike calls over an average catcher. Considering that receiving is probably 95% of their responsibility, this and dropping/blocking is what I hit the hardest after everything else.

You can either go to Vimeo to purchase the NECC DVD or you can go to NECC's (renamed simply Catching Camp now) new website www.catchingcamp.com and go their store for a download. either way would be acceptable but this is quickly becoming the Platinum Standard for catchers of all ages.

Yep. YOCOACH is absolutely correct. Safety is not optional, or to be done half-way. Be militant about throwing hand protection.

Persoanlly, I wouldn't approach blocking as a skill at the coach-pitch level...at least not more than a beginning introduction. My focus would be on establishing a good foundation for proper receiving, starting with simply "squeeze and freeze" and transitioning into the details of proper body, arm, and glove positioning as their skills develop. No matter what level they are playing, NOTHING is more vital to playing the position well than receiving skills.

I like every catching work hard on it more then anything else, fail.

Gags said:

Good Afternoon All,

While college softball has started, and the long journey into darkness finally behind us as pitchers and catchers report down in FL and AZ, rec league practice is still at least a month away for most of us.

This season we'll still be using coach pitch, but with the girls now being the catcher. I have an idea of what I want to teach them, but wanted to see what the rest of you are teaching, and how you go about it.

1. What do you consider the basic skills?

I guess you could even break this down even further into:

• What basic skill should they have before you even let them get behind the plate?
• What are the basic skills you plan / expect to teach them?

2. How do you teach them? (drills, correct what you can during the course of a regular practice, send them to clinics, special "coach and catcher" time before/after practice, etc.)

Thanks in advance for your input.

--Gags

Click to expand...

Currently coaching 8U as well (second year). #1 protect the throwing hand. #2, you HAVE to get them to trust the gear. If they don't, they'll turn or stand and take one in the thigh. #3, put them in their crouch (no glove) and toss tennis balls at them. If their hands are too small to catch them, just have them knock them down. They'll have the tendency to turn the glove over and try to catch everything underhand. Don't let them.

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