Catchers role for 8U All-Star Tourneys

Gags · May 21, 2017

We'll be doing both machine pitch and coach pitch tourneys this summer.

What role does a catcher play? There's no stealing - I'm assuming their biggest role is to be ready for any force-outs at home.

Are they still receiving pitches for machine pitch?

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quincy · May 21, 2017

I put one of the weaker players at C, P covered home.

C still reicieves ball, throws to P and then hand it to coach to pitch.

Dabears17 · May 21, 2017

I annoyed some parents when I coached the 8u All-Stars because I didn't care about winning games in 8u, I was trying to develop catchers for 10u. We did win one tournament.... one that allowed stealing 2nd and 3rd on passed balls. If you develop catchers that know how to receive, your pitchers will thank you in future years.

Rocketech1 · May 22, 2017

Dabears17 said:
I annoyed some parents when I coached the 8u All-Stars because I didn't care about winning games in 8u, I was trying to develop catchers for 10u. We did win one tournament.... one that allowed stealing 2nd and 3rd on passed balls. If you develop catchers that know how to receive, your pitchers will thank you in future years.

When I coached all-stars, I always thought I could do both: teach softball fundamentals and field a competitive team....they are not mutually exclusive.

Dabears17 · May 22, 2017

Rocketech1 said:
When I coached all-stars, I always thought I could do both: teach softball fundamentals and field a competitive team....they are not mutually exclusive.

Where art thou, sarcasm font?

I agree 100pct. I taught fundamentals, but rarely took short-cuts that might win me a game here and there at 8u, but not prepare them for 10u and beyond. Our last tournament, we lost 7-6 in Tie Breaker inning in the semi-finals and were the only team to score against that team all weekend.

Back to the OP, get a copy of the Catching Camp DVD and follow Rocketech's advice. I still say that DVD is the best money I've spent on a coaching resource.

https://www.catchingcamp.com/

quincy · May 22, 2017

Allstars is a little different, you do not need to be a jerk about it but you want to win.

Not going to fix too much in a couple weeks with 12 players so you go with what you got.

Lightning · May 22, 2017

Our 8U all-stars is very different (kid pitch, steals of every base but home allowed) so there are definitely kids who are learning catching skills at that age.

I've noticed that some of the better 6U (coach pitch) teams in our area have kids behind the plate who are learning to receive the ball and return it to the coach.

quincy · May 22, 2017

Coach better not have a glove on field, one of may pet peeves.

Eric F · May 22, 2017

Lightning said:
Our 8U all-stars is very different (kid pitch, steals of every base but home allowed) so there are definitely kids who are learning catching skills at that age.

I've noticed that some of the better 6U (coach pitch) teams in our area have kids behind the plate who are learning to receive the ball and return it to the coach.

Rec all-stars in So Cal is ahead of the curve compared with a lot of areas of the country as far as player development (kid pitch vs. coach/machine pitch). We regularly see some pretty talented 8yos. Pitchers throwing 35+ mph is common, and there are always a few who are hitting 40. Catchers who can receive fairly effectively are also common, as is an occasional throw-out of a base-runner trying to steal.

nixxy311 · Aug 4, 2017

When DD played 8U, we had a number of outs by the catcher on foul pop-ups. They also taught the force out/tag at home. Girls were allowed to slide so they worked on teaching the low tag.
We did kid-pitch first inning and coach-pitch after that..(no stealing)

Catchers role for 8U All-Star Tourneys

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Gags

quincy

Dabears17

Rocketech1

Dabears17

quincy

Lightning

quincy

Eric F

nixxy311

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