radness
Possibilities & Opportunities!
- Dec 13, 2019
- 7,270
- 113
Catcher pop time
- Thread starter lynx
- Start date
Welcome to Discuss Fastpitch
Your FREE Account is waiting to the Best Softball Community on the Web.
Footwork/ transition speed is probably more important than arm strength. Ball speed catches the eye but pop time tells the whole story. Game time pop times are the true pop times. What is the fairest way to record pop times? If the coach is throwing high outside fastballs (basically pitchout) of course the pop times will be much faster than a low inside drop ball.
- Apr 5, 2020
- 5
- 3
In our org, I like to break down the throw into the mechanics and segments where we can make improvement. For mechanics, we start with footwork to teach them to use their momentum coming forward. The inverted “T” works well to start; feet on the bar (drop step slightly with the push foot depending on catcher’s technique— both feet may not be parallel to the bar but it provides a starting point), then using the line pointed to second base in order to see that they’re driving in a straight line towards their target (ie not stepping out or over-stepping).
When we measure pop time, we break it down into three parts, each of which can be then drilled to decrease time. The first part is measured from the glove to when the catcher has control of the ball— you can also drill the specific mechanics of getting the ball from the glove to the hand. New and young catchers tend to drop their hands and make a big windmill motion to generate that arm swing— all time that they’re giving to the runner. We teach a mid-line transfer at the chest and to bring the glove/throwing hand up and back— for a rough analogy, we call it drawing the bow and arrow (yes, there are problems with that analogy as the front arm doesn’t come forward like drawing a bow— but it focuses on the back part to get the throwing hand up and back as quickly as possible). Getting the ball out of the glove quickly and under control is important— Aubrey Monroe of Team USA had a good video of working this technique even while just sitting on the couch. In film review, I noticed my DD was allowing the ball to drop into her throwing hand rather than controlling them together— which added time as the throwing hand was not already moving together into the cocked position. So we call that T1: transfer time 1... from glove pop to in the hand.
Second we look at the time to get rid of the ball and call that T2, or the second transfer. Our catchers are instructed to work on quick releases during warmups, and we also do a rapid fire drill of just getting rid of the ball as fast as possible— five reps... fire the ball, get back into the receiving position, and do it again. We put a target on the fence for them to throw at to reinforce the aimpoint / release as well. Combine T1 and T2, and you’ve got the release— each time can be measured (we use Coach’s Eye) and improvement noted. We instruct our catchers to make small improvements rather than trying to go for huge leaps overnight— those lead to injuries.
Last measurement is the flight time of the ball to 2B which measures arm strength. Again, we want to see gradual but positive improvement here to avoid injury. We work getting rid of the ball quickly first as arm-strength will improve with time, and a quick release can make up for some arm strength.
When we’re measuring their best pops, we set them up with high/outside pitches— the ideal situation. We practice the low/inside, blocks, and picks to show them in-game reactions. Since the pitch location has a big effect, we also show them what reaction times do to their pops— we time them just moving their glove from a low/inside to the high/outside starting point, and they see that our fastest catchers add .25 to .3 seconds to the pop just with that additional movement.
Filming the deliveries provides great feedback, especially with an app that can replay in slow motion and also measure the time. We have very experienced catchers as well as beginners, and the app allows us to play the videos side by side so that they can see what the older girls do well— visuals really help understand the lesson.
Hope this helps!
When we measure pop time, we break it down into three parts, each of which can be then drilled to decrease time. The first part is measured from the glove to when the catcher has control of the ball— you can also drill the specific mechanics of getting the ball from the glove to the hand. New and young catchers tend to drop their hands and make a big windmill motion to generate that arm swing— all time that they’re giving to the runner. We teach a mid-line transfer at the chest and to bring the glove/throwing hand up and back— for a rough analogy, we call it drawing the bow and arrow (yes, there are problems with that analogy as the front arm doesn’t come forward like drawing a bow— but it focuses on the back part to get the throwing hand up and back as quickly as possible). Getting the ball out of the glove quickly and under control is important— Aubrey Monroe of Team USA had a good video of working this technique even while just sitting on the couch. In film review, I noticed my DD was allowing the ball to drop into her throwing hand rather than controlling them together— which added time as the throwing hand was not already moving together into the cocked position. So we call that T1: transfer time 1... from glove pop to in the hand.
Second we look at the time to get rid of the ball and call that T2, or the second transfer. Our catchers are instructed to work on quick releases during warmups, and we also do a rapid fire drill of just getting rid of the ball as fast as possible— five reps... fire the ball, get back into the receiving position, and do it again. We put a target on the fence for them to throw at to reinforce the aimpoint / release as well. Combine T1 and T2, and you’ve got the release— each time can be measured (we use Coach’s Eye) and improvement noted. We instruct our catchers to make small improvements rather than trying to go for huge leaps overnight— those lead to injuries.
Last measurement is the flight time of the ball to 2B which measures arm strength. Again, we want to see gradual but positive improvement here to avoid injury. We work getting rid of the ball quickly first as arm-strength will improve with time, and a quick release can make up for some arm strength.
When we’re measuring their best pops, we set them up with high/outside pitches— the ideal situation. We practice the low/inside, blocks, and picks to show them in-game reactions. Since the pitch location has a big effect, we also show them what reaction times do to their pops— we time them just moving their glove from a low/inside to the high/outside starting point, and they see that our fastest catchers add .25 to .3 seconds to the pop just with that additional movement.
Filming the deliveries provides great feedback, especially with an app that can replay in slow motion and also measure the time. We have very experienced catchers as well as beginners, and the app allows us to play the videos side by side so that they can see what the older girls do well— visuals really help understand the lesson.
Hope this helps!
