- May 28, 2019
- 284
- 43
My DD is 9 yrs old, nearing 10 soon enough. She's been switched to catcher over the past several months as her team transitioned to kid pitch play. She has a very strong arm (although its been like training a wild horse sometimes with accuracy). She's a strong girl, a bit stiff and its difficult teaching her new techniques/motions.
She has a very decent glove which is why she's back there. It's been difficult to train her to block balls in the ground with her body. She keeps resorting to stabbing at them and lots of times is getting away with getting job done. (i understand is natural for young kids)
Also, at 9 yrs old in a 10u league, she has 5 throw outs at 2nd base so far and about 4 at 3rd. This isn't counting a few at 2nd that were thrown/caught/tagged then followed by a drop. All in all, i haven't seen any other catchers making these type of throw outs. My DD's biggest fault is she kind of charges her throws which has a slow release time. She's taking either 2 or 3 steps and is usually finishing her throw a foot or two in front of home. I guess i need to work on her release footwork. Not sure she'll like the Pop technique too much.
With it about to be off season again, i just looking for a few tips of how to start working and training her to get ready for next year and find ways to improve. I don't have a catcher set at home so its been hard for us to work on much. I need to invest in a set to keep home to practice with. Would like her to learn to block consistently as well as move side to side in her blocking.
Overall, i find its been a successful transition for her having to learn a lot of the rules and responsibilities of the catcher in a quick time period.
She has a very decent glove which is why she's back there. It's been difficult to train her to block balls in the ground with her body. She keeps resorting to stabbing at them and lots of times is getting away with getting job done. (i understand is natural for young kids)
Also, at 9 yrs old in a 10u league, she has 5 throw outs at 2nd base so far and about 4 at 3rd. This isn't counting a few at 2nd that were thrown/caught/tagged then followed by a drop. All in all, i haven't seen any other catchers making these type of throw outs. My DD's biggest fault is she kind of charges her throws which has a slow release time. She's taking either 2 or 3 steps and is usually finishing her throw a foot or two in front of home. I guess i need to work on her release footwork. Not sure she'll like the Pop technique too much.
With it about to be off season again, i just looking for a few tips of how to start working and training her to get ready for next year and find ways to improve. I don't have a catcher set at home so its been hard for us to work on much. I need to invest in a set to keep home to practice with. Would like her to learn to block consistently as well as move side to side in her blocking.
Overall, i find its been a successful transition for her having to learn a lot of the rules and responsibilities of the catcher in a quick time period.