- Jul 31, 2019
- 495
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The problem with pop times is that they are inherently inaccurate and subjective. They are not by any means a qualitative measurement of skill. Just like top pitching speed or bat exit speed they provide a measurement that is in no way applicable to live game performance, Yet just like top pitching speed or bat exit speed, people obsess over the numbers as though they are somehow meaningful. Truth is they are only meaningful within the context of the camp/event where the data was collected. They can tell you that last week at the BigNameU catcher camp Sally was a bit quicker than Suzie on that day at that camp. Nothing more. They cannot be used to compare catchers across multiple camp/events. Which is why when you crow about your 1.8 pop time to a college coach you may very well get an eye roll and an instant debit in credibility. Of course you should work on footwork, transfer, etc. But do yourself a favor and keep the value of your pop time in perspective. Leave the numbers off your softball resume and out of any conversation with a college coach. Let your skills and actual results speak for you and do not hang your hat on someting so trivial.
They are not intended to be a qualitative measure. It’s a quantitative measure, used to help coaches get a feel for the catcher prior to seeing her. To think of them as trivial is ignorant of what they are designed for. Nobody gets offered because of a pop time on paper. Measuring can be VERY accurate. Even a simple tool like imbedding a stop watch in a video can be very accurate