16u catcher. Needing help with stance . Questions about catching stance .

[hannah40133]

Hi I started practicing catching at the beginning of the year . I took a moderate knee injury in February. After a few months I started practicing again . A person on here told me to keep my feet down on the ground completely to stay balanced . So I've attached pictures from beginning to recent . My current stance is uncomfortable for me so I'm wanting to know if softball catchers are allowed to catch with one knee down . I've noticed a few baseball catchers do it . Would catching with my left knee down cause problems? Any tips or advice would be grateful taken!

The red clothing one is the most recent.

 

[YOCOACH]

Yes you are allowed to catch with one knee down but you better have one hell of an accurate pitcher that never misses her spot or throws a wild pitch. The main problem by doing so will be your inability to drop and block a wild pitch thus allowing free bases and runs scoring. Lesser problems will become evident in: the presentation of the ball since you'll be leaning to one side as opposed to subtly shifting your entire body to center the ball, forcing you to make throwdowns and snaps from your knees causing a loss of overhand throwing speed, the loss of speed in the recovery/retrieving of a passed ball/wild pitch that gets by you allowing runs to score etc., etc.

Yes some baseballers do it but if it were something that actually was worth doing, don't you think it would be widely taught by the top instructors?

 

[hannah40133]

Okay . I agree about not seeing many instructions about it . Im just looking into it since the normal catchers stance causes slightly too much pressure for my right knee .

 

[625ender]

Hannah define feet completely on the ground. You're never flat footed. ou should have your weight on the balls of your feet with your heel slightly touching. You should feel no weight bearing on your heels. Also you can relieve a lot of knee pressure by changing the directions that your feet point. When i catch mine point between 2nd and 1st and SS and 3rd

 

[hannah40133]

Hannah define feet completely on the ground. You're never flat footed. ou should have your weight on the balls of your feet with your heel slightly touching. You should feel no weight bearing on your heels. Also you can relieve a lot of knee pressure by changing the directions that your feet point. When i catch mine point between 2nd and 1st and SS and 3rd

Thats exactly what I mean . Both feet all the way down . Almost Like in the picture from me in red . Flat footed basically. The stance from the red is better then the other ones I tried but still causes a bit too much weight owards my right knee . Thats why I wanted to know about the one knee down . I'd prefer not to injure it again from catching .

 

[625ender]

Thats exactly what I mean . Both feet all the way down . Almost Like in the picture from me in red . Flat footed basically. The stance from the red is better then the other ones I tried but still causes a bit too much weight owards my right knee . Thats why I wanted to know about the one knee down . I'd prefer not to injure it again from catching .

Thats wrong. You do not want flat feet. That info comes from someone who has never caught. Be athletic weight on the balls of your feet with your heel slightly up or touching

You do not want to be up on your toe and you do not want to be flat footed. Flat feet will torque your knee. Play around with the angle of you feet. Mine are quite open. Maybe yours are closed. Find whats comfortable for you. Thats whats critical

 

[hannah40133]

Thats wrong. You do not want flat feet. That info comes from someone who has never caught. Be athletic weight on the balls of your feet with your heel slightly up or touching

You do not want to be up on your toe and you do not want to be flat footed. Flat feet will torque your knee. Play around with the angle of you feet. Mine are quite open. Maybe yours are closed. Find whats comfortable for you. Thats whats critical

Okay . I have a question . Does it matter how low your torso gets compared to the knee height? Like I've seen catchers low where their butt is almost touching the ground .

 

[Quasimodo]

Hi I started practicing catching at the beginning of the year . I took a moderate knee injury in February. After a few months I started practicing again . A person on here told me to keep my feet down on the ground completely to stay balanced . So I've attached pictures from beginning to recent . My current stance is uncomfortable for me so I'm wanting to know if softball catchers are allowed to catch with one knee down . I've noticed a few baseball catchers do it . Would catching with my left knee down cause problems? Any tips or advice would be grateful taken!

The red clothing one is the most recent.

I agree with YOCOACH about positioning and centering the ball as you receive the pitch. I do not agree with some things presented here. First if your knees are wide, and your knees are centered over, directly above your feet, it is difficult to extend to the side to block pitches. You are generally capable of centering the pitch.

But if, you are on a flat foot, or even your knees are over the balls of your feet, you have to rise up, to go down! You have to take the weight off your feet to free your cleats to be able to drop. Instead, put your weight either completely on the inside edges of your feet, toes pointed out, knees dropped in, or put the weight on the inside edges of the balls of your feet. Look at the photos below.

If your weight is on the edges, this allows you to simply kick back, not rise up, and not fall forward, to get down. It is amazingly fast compared to any other technic. The other benefit is, as your knees are spread wide to produce a wide blocking surface, you can snap your feet together. Your legs will form a "V" shape, your feet the bottom of the "V". This adds an additional blocking function should you accidently lift your glove or get down slightly late. Knee savers, which you should invest in even add more blocking function.

As you receive pitches that are not in the dirt, it is fine to drop a knee, and even helps at times because your elbow will be outside of your left knee. Mobility is the biggest advantage in every sense with this form.

Check out the last two group photos. In the first group photo only the girl on the right appears to be ready to move once she rises up to get into throwing position (thighs parallel to the ground, not butt down). In the last photo the girl on the right is so wide, moving in front of the wide pitch or ball in the dirt looks almost impossible.

 

[Josh Greer]

Hannah, I recommend you check out Kirsten Cox (@DTDSoftball) on twitter (and I hate twitter).

 

[625ender]

I agree with YOCOACH about positioning and centering the ball as you receive the pitch. I do not agree with some things presented here. First if your knees are wide, and your knees are centered over, directly above your feet, it is difficult to extend to the side to block pitches. You are generally capable of centering the pitch.

But if, you are on a flat foot, or even your knees are over the balls of your feet, you have to rise up, to go down! You have to take the weight off your feet to free your cleats to be able to drop. Instead, put your weight either completely on the inside edges of your feet, toes pointed out, knees dropped in, or put the weight on the inside edges of the balls of your feet. Look at the photos below.

If your weight is on the edges, this allows you to simply kick back, not rise up, and not fall forward, to get down. It is amazingly fast compared to any other technic. The other benefit is, as your knees are spread wide to produce a wide blocking surface, you can snap your feet together. Your legs will form a "V" shape, your feet the bottom of the "V". This adds an additional blocking function should you accidently lift your glove or get down slightly late. Knee savers, which you should invest in even add more blocking function.

As you receive pitches that are not in the dirt, it is fine to drop a knee, and even helps at times because your elbow will be outside of your left knee. Mobility is the biggest advantage in every sense with this form.

Check out the last two group photos. In the first group photo only the girl on the right appears to be ready to move once she rises up to get into throwing position (thighs parallel to the ground, not butt down). In the last photo the girl on the right is so wide, moving in front of the wide pitch or ball in the dirt looks almost impossible.

This is all great if you weigh 125 lbs. My knees would hate me for life using those stances

Do you Hannah. Find what fit and is comfortable. If your not its going to be a long long day