List of worst pitches for Bucket moms/dads to catch

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May 13, 2012
599
18
DD sated learning curve this week. 16u cruises 57-58 fb. As we have journeyed through this I've noticed age and eyes are betraying me. I have adjusted to the speed increases over time and sometimE's struggle to get to a high and in pitch when glove was low and away but ok her fault for missing. We went drop and I thought this is gonna kill me and still have a few shin knots that have never went away. Riseball fooled me a little but truth is it isn't that great but good enough to give batters a different look. Now the curve. Most times it doesn't break much but hey just started so no problem. But at times things come in line and get good movement. Problem is as she is learning the mechanics they change each time. Seems to run like this, 2 nothing, next small break, then nothing, then 5" break fairly flat then an off axis crop then nothing etc all the while very little control of location. I belive the hardest oNE to catch is when she breaks off a good one then I get a straight one full speed.

What was your hardest pitch to catch as they learned them?
 
DD sated learning curve this week. 16u cruises 57-58 fb. As we have journeyed through this I've noticed age and eyes are betraying me. I have adjusted to the speed increases over time and sometimE's struggle to get to a high and in pitch when glove was low and away but ok her fault for missing. We went drop and I thought this is gonna kill me and still have a few shin knots that have never went away. Riseball fooled me a little but truth is it isn't that great but good enough to give batters a different look. Now the curve. Most times it doesn't break much but hey just started so no problem. But at times things come in line and get good movement. Problem is as she is learning the mechanics they change each time. Seems to run like this, 2 nothing, next small break, then nothing, then 5" break fairly flat then an off axis crop then nothing etc all the while very little control of location. I belive the hardest oNE to catch is when she breaks off a good one then I get a straight one full speed.

What was your hardest pitch to catch as they learned them?

I have seen my life flash before my eyes trying to catch my DD drop ball when she was learning how to throw it.
 

marriard

Not lost - just no idea where I am
Oct 2, 2011
4,318
113
Florida
Drop ball... sometimes it just isn't where I thought it was going to be - and it hits you. A great curve tends to just not get caught.

It has got worse because my DD's catchers now come out and catch her lessons 90% of the time and we do a lot of live BP so her practicing pitching is often within the team setting - where we have catchers as well. So I am not catching her as much as I used to.

So she throws harder and with more spin - and I am not used to catching her as I once was. Not a good combination.
 
Mar 20, 2012
131
16
Sacramento, CA
It's the drop ball for me...but honestly your problem is is your pride and ego not allowing you to bail out when you know it's going to be bad. If I can see its going to hit the ground anywhere near or in front of the plate, I'M OUTA THERE. No pride left in me...self preservation.
 
Feb 7, 2013
3,188
48
Dropball (or sometimes the change-up that bounces several feet in front of home plate and is unpreditable) and when they move up to the hard, leather 12inch softball. Even when DD pitches on concrete, I suit up with leg guards, umpire mask, and steel toed boots. Not worth fracturing a tibia (happened to a coach I know) or facial bone.
 
Aug 31, 2015
120
16
Texas
DD sated learning curve this week. 16u cruises 57-58 fb. As we have journeyed through this I've noticed age and eyes are betraying me. I have adjusted to the speed increases over time and sometimE's struggle to get to a high and in pitch when glove was low and away but ok her fault for missing. We went drop and I thought this is gonna kill me and still have a few shin knots that have never went away. Riseball fooled me a little but truth is it isn't that great but good enough to give batters a different look. Now the curve. Most times it doesn't break much but hey just started so no problem. But at times things come in line and get good movement. Problem is as she is learning the mechanics they change each time. Seems to run like this, 2 nothing, next small break, then nothing, then 5" break fairly flat then an off axis crop then nothing etc all the while very little control of location. I belive the hardest oNE to catch is when she breaks off a good one then I get a straight one full speed.

What was your hardest pitch to catch as they learned them?

Drop Ball, DD is not a pitcher but I have caught for several of our pitchers during practice and warm up. The worst is the drop ball that hits right on the front edge of the plate. It could bounce up and get you anywhere from the shin to the chin.
 
Jan 25, 2011
47
6
Oregon
Used to be the drop ball, but the back door curve breaking in at your body is a whole new kind of scary.

Sent from my SM-G360T using Tapatalk
 
Dec 5, 2012
4,143
63
Mid West
The fact that I'll sit on the bucket sideways to protect my "self" from those bad hops makes the back door curve or a screw really hard to catch. My body will contort and twist in order to get that pitch in the left box. And GOD help me if it bounces off the front edge of the plate, takes a weird bounce right towards my face.... This is when you'll see me falling backwards off the bucket on to a couple stray balls under my back! Gotta love it
 

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