Throw down chest high or bounced on 1st base side of second

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May 15, 2016
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A disagreement came up when discussing throw downs before a MS game the other day. Is it better for a throw down to arrive chest high to a short stop, or is having the ball make one short bounce on the first base side of the bag preferable?
 
May 24, 2013
12,461
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So Cal
A chest-high throw will be caught more often than a 1-hop will get fielded cleanly at that age. For that reason, I prefer the ball to be chest-high, if those are my only 2 options.

My preference is for the ball to be thrown to a spot about 6" off the ground just to the 1B side of the base. ;)
 
Dec 11, 2010
4,713
113
Waist high. Get in, get out with the tag. When you see people who have played sb and bb at a high level demonstrate receiving the throw and tagging, this is what you see.

We allow catchers to make cupcake throws bouncing in front of the bag and ss’s recieving the throw in front of the bag way too long. Make them fix it, NOW.
 
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May 17, 2012
2,804
113
Don't bounce the ball on the throw down to 2B. That irritates me to no end. It's one of the very few things I will ever scream about from the dugout.
 
Nov 4, 2015
320
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I may be wrong, but it depends on the level of play of your catcher. In 10u and first year 12u, we simply wanted the catcher to get the ball to 2nd as quickly as possible. Every time they tried to get it there in the air, it was a rainbow. We had them get rid of it quick and low. Now, as they are getting stronger, we are asking for the throws to get there in the air.
 
Dec 11, 2010
4,713
113
Related note, for the love of all that is good, teach the kids to slide late at the back of the bag at 2 and quit sliding straight into the bag. When you slide straight into the bag on a steal that is pretty much the only place they can tag you if the catcher is a dribbling the throw in on the bounce.
 
Jun 8, 2016
16,118
113
Either way, teach the MI covering to let the ball get to the bag instead of reaching and then having to bring the glove back to apply the tag.
 
Jun 18, 2013
322
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I teach all of my catchers, but especially my DD, that the throw goes 8-12" off the ground at the front corner of the bag. I don't care where the SS is. That's where the throw goes.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 

Strike2

Allergic to BS
Nov 14, 2014
2,044
113
Ideally, that throw is a laser shot from the knees that hits the glove about 12" off the ground just to the first-base side of 2B. As we all know, sometimes, this is not possible. I'd rather have the hard throw that bounces than a rainbow that never gets there in time. However, if it's going to bounce, I want it bouncing 4-6 FEET in front of 2B.
 
Dec 11, 2010
4,713
113
Try this experiment:

Pretend you are a ss recieving a throw. Try several versions but make first one catching a perfectly thrown ball 6” off the ground at the 1b corner of the bag. When you are there, focusing down, maybe still running, can you easily see the helmeted runner headed for the exact same place? Where is your best field of view? Is the runner in your best field of view or is the runner at the edge of your fov?

Now set up to receive the ball waist high. The ball is coming down so your tag movement is still pretty natural. And quick. How big is your field of view? Is it bigger than the other view? Can you see the runner better from a more head up position?

Now from both positions which one seems better from the prospective of making a tag and getting out of the way of a runner who may make intentional or unintentional contact? From which position can you move out of the way better after the tag?

If you are Javy Baez and are acutely aware of every muscle and where every body part is and where it is moving to, this is less of an issue. If you are super athletic, this is less of an issue. But... I see outs not made in this situation because ss is rightfully thinking about not getting smoked by the runner....

I’m no expert but I think this is worth considering even if your mind is made up already.
 
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