Coaching catching

[mtcoach]

We were at a Travel Ball Tournament this weekend. We have a bases load situation and a play was made at home. Their catcher caught the ball standing in the middle of the plate and our runner slid into home knocking the catcher down. It was like the catcher and to make a quick reaction. The catcher did not move forward. All I could hear from the oppossing team was our player should be ejected and what my player did was inappropriate.

The reason for my event is to get coaches to pay more attention to their catchers and to work on there positioning.

First what our runner did was very appropriate and more safe then the alternative with a full on crash. The ASA rules states that the runner must slide to avoid collision. You NEVER, NEVER, NEVER teach your runners to slow down because some poorly coached player is standing on the middle of the plate or base for that matter!!!

Second, I'm a catching coach and I see way to many catchers standing in the middle of the plate to make a play. First off when you have a force situation, the catcher should position themselves where to best catch the ball and be able to extend themselves with their throwing foot on the plate. NOT STANDING IN THE MIDDLE of the plate. Do you teach first baseman to stand on top of the bag when making a play?!? I even see the same thing when there is no play at home. The catcher stands up and decides they are going to stand on the middle of the plate. I watched a runner who required surgery on her ankle because she was forced to slide with a catcher standing on the plate and there was no play. The runner slid into the catcher's shin guards rolling the player's ankle so severely it was a couple of surgeries and 6 weeks in a cast for a player.

Coaches!!!! Please take a few moments and look at your catchers and correct them if they are doing this!!!! They should move to the front of the plate and be prepared to block when it is time for a play to occur or to reach out like a first baseman if there is a force play at home. This will protect them and the runner. This forces the runner towards the back of the plate, prevents collisions because there is nothing to collide into. The catcher is still very effective at blocking during a tag play without risking injury to themselves and the runner.

Thanks,
MTCoach

 

[GOINGDEEP]

So why does softball have the avoid contact rule anyway? 99% of the time the slider is the one injured, anywhere from scratches, bumps, bruises, broken bones. The catcher has the safety equipment on to handle a collision. The runner has nothing.

 

[chazbz1]

So why does softball have the avoid contact rule anyway? 99% of the time the slider is the one injured, anywhere from scratches, bumps, bruises, broken bones. The catcher has the safety equipment on to handle a collision. The runner has nothing.

You will find that many catchers throw off their most important piece of protective gear at as soon as the bay makes contact with the ball... I watched a young woman dive at the plate with no mask towards a runner sliding... with metal cleats! Check out the pictures and videos on the thread "throwing off the mask" for more examples (some gruesome) of catcher injured in plays at the plate... Always teach your catchers to avoid collision. In doing so they can also go after another runner who may be watching the play at the plate instead of where they are.

 

[absdad]

Chaz scary picture. Hope the outcome was alright.

BTW... Originals, at Adair #1 ?

 

[2 DD Coach]

I'm going to have to voice what I think the unpopular opinion is here. Removing your mask allows you a better view of the field and the plays, no matter what type of mask you use. I teach my daughter to throw her mask, and don't think this puts her in harms way anymore then any other player on the field. Just like the OP's point, there is a proper way to play the catcher's position that will minimize the chance of injury. If the picture was of a girl playing second, diving head first into a sliding runner, what would we comment on?

IMHOP the bigger problem comes from coaches either not coaching the catchers position, or not knowing how to coach it.

 

[SBDadSanDiego]

In three years of catching, My daughter has never taken off her helmet, I can't recall one incident where I thought to myself "Gee, if she had only taken off her helmet, she makes that play".

I think girls initially did it because their baseball fan/player Dads told them that's what catchers do, But it's a hell of a lot easier to locate a 12 inch bright yellow softball, as opposed to a tiny baseball, that usually being thrown at almost twice the velocity.

 

[absdad]

SBDadSanDiego... You're correct. There really isn't a need to take it off. MAYBE for pop foul, as there isn't any eminent danger, as long as they toss the helmet to the side after they locate the ball, so they don't trip over it. Alot of people say you need to see the runner, or the throw. Seriously? You can see a mid 50mph ball with movement, but not a 140 lb runner coming down the line at a whopping 8mph??

 

[chazbz1]

Here's Why..

The video Clip and picture below provides very good arguments to: A) Leave the mask on, B) Don't block the base path. The young lady in the clip took a knee to the mouth, knocking two teeth out completely. She did have to have oral surgery to put the teeth back. The two pictures are of my DD taking an elbow to the jaw with her mask on.... The mask was knocked completely off and it landed several feet away. She was unhurt and quickly got up looking for another out. I shudder to think how differently the outcome would have been had she removed her mask. Modern catcher masks provide excellent visibility and greatly improved safety over their predecessors. Removing the mask for anything other than a pop up only creates a hazard to trip over and increases the risk of injury during a tag play at the plate. Even if there was some slight reduction of visibility, the risk of serious injury far outweighs any gains made by removing the mask. Please don't let your catcher block the base path or remove her mask for anything other than a pop fly.




Home Plate Collision Video

 

[2 DD Coach]

A couple of things first, you should never place yourself in the base runners path while waiting for the ball. Allowing a catcher to do this is just bad coaching, end off story.
Three years of playing catcher and your DD has never lost a low ball at her feet that she couldn't locate? That's pretty amazing since you can usually see it happen a couple of times a weekend.

So let's answer the question, what would you say to a girl playing second base who jumped head first in front of a slide to make a tag?
As for the videos and pictures, every one of these girls is leading with their head into a tag. That's a bad idea wearing a helmet or not. Again, is this how you would coach 2nd or 3rd base to go for a tag?
The helmet protects the catcher against errant pitches, foul tips, heck even that big metal stick that someone is swinging inches away from their head. But once the ball is hit the catcher is playing a base, just like three other girls on that field, who are not wearing helmets, chest protectors or shin guards.

 

[SBDadSanDiego]

But once the ball is hit the catcher is playing a base, just like three other girls on that field, who are not wearing helmets, chest protectors or shin guards.

But oddly enough, more and more of those infielders are wearing facemasks.