1st time catcher advice

[CycloneSoftball22]

I was hoping I would never have to ask for catching advice , but my 13 year old DD has gotten a taste of catching during her middle school season and she loves it. She wants it to be her #1 position. So , my questions are: What is best instruction available (online , DVD ,etc)? What do we need to do to stengthen / protect her knees?

 

[quincy]

Try this:

The New England Catching Camp

Buy the DVD.

They will also actually answer any questions you have about catching.

 

[chazbz1]

You will not find a better coach than Jay at NECC. Be sure to check out the DVD as Quincy said and even his lessons via Skype.

 

[Greenmonsters]

What ^^^^^ said.

 

[guero_gordo]

True that ^^^^^.

 

[tghorley]

Look on youtube for exercises to help strengthen the knees and also to make her quicker. You will also want to strengthen her arm. Search the forum for this. Thanks for advice from the members of this board, my 13yo DGD has one of the better arms in the area and last year she had a hard time throwing to 2nd base.

 

[Sweet Lou]

In addition to the NECC DVD which is awesome I'd suggest a lot of long toss.

The Jeager sports long toss program is great for building up arm strength. Jaeger Sports Baseball Throwing Program -- '360 translates into 97mph Arm Strength & Velocity - YouTube

 

[sru]

Catching is the physically toughest position to play on the team. Stretching exercises are very important in ensuring your catcher stays healthy in the legs. Strengthening the thighs by doing lots of squats will also do wonders for keeping healthy knees. After 5 years of intense catching, my dd has never had knee problems. She has tried Kneesavers for about a month, didn't like them.

Catching can be gruelling, especcially if it is hot. I hope her team rotates the catchers (there should be at least two, and one back up) so they don't suffer overuse injuries (muscle tightness leading to pulls).

 

[oswegoponysoftball]

New England Catching camp is good but there are a few more sites as well:

Catching-101 The Online Resource for Catching Drills, Instruction, and Videos!

Catcher Drills : Baseball Catching : Baseball Instructional Videos : BrentMayne.com

Joe Wilkins Catching

 

[Cannonball]

The New England Catching DVD is the top product on the market! Catching Coach paid such attention to detail and he understood how to produce a DVD that makes it easy to understand the finer points of the position. You won't be disappointed!!!