Baseball or fastpitch catcher's mitt for Dad

[ANNASDAD]

Speaking of old, I’m late for my Sunday nap!

 

[radness]

Yep, it’s much more entertaining

Yes I have to admit this website is entertaining.

BTW really enjoy these glove conversations always forward the link to people that are looking for new gloves.
Especially like the catchers mitt feedback. Cuz, ya know...

 

[ANNASDAD]

Yes I have to admit this website is entertaining.

BTW really enjoy these glove conversations always forward the link to people that are looking for new gloves.
Especially like the catchers mitt feedback. Cuz, ya know...

Wish I could be more help with gloves…

 

[LEsoftballdad]

Yes I have to admit this website is entertaining.

BTW really enjoy these glove conversations always forward the link to people that are looking for new gloves.
Especially like the catchers mitt feedback. Cuz, ya know...

And wasn't the ball white back then?

 

[radness]

And wasn't the ball white back then?

Yes

 

[ANNASDAD]

Yes

Back when I played, there was only white balls.

 

[ANNASDAD]

Explain..I know nothing about catching.

I’ve seen some Dad’s, some ex-college players, and some really good HS players who are flat out ballers, and from what I know I’m pretty sure you fall into this category, and I’m talking about guys here. I’ve seen some dang good male players struggle catching a really good fastpitch pitcher!

With reaction times anywhere from 0.450 to 0.550 and the ball coming from the bottom, it can freak out a lot of guys, now add a ton of crazy spin….I’ve seen it make some guys hand the mitt back after four or five pitches! “Nope, here I’m done!”

And nothing will make a grown man bail off of a bucket like a nasty drop ball!

But back to your ”Explain” question, I’ve caught Anna since she was 10, I know her very well, I know what to expect, as long as she does what she’s supposed to do. She was a really good pitcher, not a knock down, lights out, 13 strikeout per game pitcher although she‘s definitely had her moments! But at 5’0” and 130/135lbs you get what you get!

It wasn’t until I took her to a new PC for her junior and senior HS years that I learned what catching was all about, this PC changed a few things and her riseball and curveball came alive!

Now add this indoor pitching facility, suspect lighting, my old eyes, and a rise or curve with insane late, sharp break at 60/63 mph all in a half a second. So with (my) DD, any particular pitch that me or the PC called I knew exactly what to expect out of Anna, as long as she did her part. So to actually square up and perfectly catch a spinner in the pocket I’d time her pitches and beat her to the right spot with my mitt by a fraction of a second.

Don’t know if this makes any sense, I’ve literally caught over 100 girls over the last 10 years, I’m still have fast hands and I’m good with a glove. But the last two years before she went to college any girls besides her who could really pitch, it would take me 4,5,6 pitches to time her up to catch squarely and not rattle a little.

Rolling Hard is right, a loud popping mitt is the first true sign you’re catching a ball exactly in the mitt where you’re supposed to.

Watching a great catcher handle a hard throwing spinner and make it look easy with no issues is a thing of beauty to me!

I‘m probably not making any sense, never got that nap today! One last thing, couldn’t imagine catching Anna with a fielder’s glove her last three years of HS, RAD really has to be a true badass, no joking here!

 

[Towny9]

I’ll second what @ANNASDAD said about catching. I have caught baseball pitchers that throw in the mid 90s and I was still weirded out the first time I caught a fastpitch pitcher who threw hard. It took a while for my brain to adjust. Similarly, I threw overhand bp to my daughter the other day just for fun. You would have thought she had seen an alien. She said it was so weird to hit a ball thrown overhand.

 

[LEsoftballdad]

The part about underhand never bothered me. I was never a catcher in baseball other than a few games in LL and rec ball. The reason I was never a catcher was because I hated the position. I always wanted to be Graig Nettles, not Thurman Munson. What gets me now is the indoor lighting and the fact my eyes, even corrected, aren't what they once were.

The other night, we were pitching indoors, and my daughter wore a white shirt. Little did I realize just how the yellow ball would disappear into the background of her white shirt. I would literally lose the ball for a micro second and have to pick it back up again before it hit me in the mask. That's not terrible on a fastball, but when it happens on a curve or rise, it's actually dangerous.

My daughter throws hard. She was measured at 64 multiple times this weekend at the college camp she attended. But she isn't perfect. Sometimes her pitches don't go where she wants, so the mitt setup isn't always where the ball finishes. She just began working on a drop in lessons, but I haven't had the privilege of catching one yet. I believe it would be better for me to catch in a crouch rather than on a bucket when she throws the drop. I might not be able to walk the next day, but I feel it might afford me better protection.

Shameless brag: One bucket dad at the camp was chatting me up before we began Saturday morning. He asked why I wasn't catching for her at the camp. I game him a polite response about lighting, age, eyes, etc. After the session, he approached me and said "Now I see why you didn't catch for her here."

 

[_MIA_]

With reaction times anywhere from 0.450 to 0.550 and the ball coming from the bottom, it can freak out a lot of guys, now add a ton of crazy spin….I’ve seen it make some guys hand the mitt back after four or five pitches! “Nope, here I’m done!”

I am sure it is very difficult..for once I wasn’t being a wiseass .