Playing Catch at Start of Practice

[quincy]

This is a 10U Team with mostly 9 year olds.

The 1st thing we do at practice is have the players line-up and play catch. Silly questions ….

How often does the ball touch the ground when a Team is playing catch? How often does the catcher need to go after a ball that got by them? In general how long of time do you have the players play catch, if at all?

 

[starsnuffer]

I never have them "play catch". I always put them through a throwing progression. The progression varies depending on what I think needs work and just to keep it fresh. Some variations involve throwing from a knee (various), shuffle step and throw, cross step and throw, pick the ball from the ground and throw, crow hop throws, long toss progressions, ect.

I also include games for the younger kids. Things like "first pair to 10 successful throws", "most successful throws/catches in 30 seconds", "throw for distance". Prizes can involved silly dollar store stuff or being excempt from pushups, or just glory.

80% of errors in softball are throwing errors. How long do you think you should practicing throwing and catching?

-W

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Slow it down and walk them through some progressions. Only one side has the ball, and you have them turn, load and fire. This way, you and the coaches can see what is going on and can help individually. Keep reminding them of the proper grip and getting the tips of the fingers on the seems. You can also, stress catching and you can see who is moving away from the ball, instead of towards it.

This will help, make certain that no one is hit with a ball, while they are running or reaching to recover a throw.

 

[RandomDad]

Quincy, I have the same problem. My girls are 8U and mostly 8 yr olds. I always tell them, 'we're playing catch, not playing chase'. I try to pair up my girls with similar skill levels and make sure they don't get too far apart. The bad thing is, when a ball is missed and chased, the girl throwing it back throws from about 15' further than I had her set and then the other girl has to chase the ball. It can be a vicious circle.

 

[MsDinosaur]

When our coach saw too many drops during their throwing warmups, she had the girls come closer together for a period of time, say, one or two minutes, and as Amy mentioned, first one side threw and then the other. They were all supposed to be concentrating on doing everything correctly. After that, each of the pairs moved further apart and threw/caught for another fixed period of time while she counted the total number of poor throws/catches. That count became the number of sprints the team had to do.

 

[chinamigarden]

As we used to say. You should be playing catch, not fetch.

We always started out our practices with catch, just make sure they are concentrated on the throwing motion and paying attention when their partner is throwing to them.

 

[Arm and Hammer]

This is my pet peeve. I believe too many Coaches do not teach throwing properly or give it the time and attention it deserves. It is the most basic and the most fundamental part of the game. Don’t underestimate the importance of this skill. Give it extra time and attention, you will be glad you did.

I always start practice with, and stress, proper throwing mechanics. I think it is somewhat regular that, at the 10-U Rec. Ball level, you will see regular dropped and miss thrown balls.

I pair the girls up a short distance to start and increase the distance until we get to long toss. The throws always start on one side, and throws are made ONLY on my command. I make SURE the structure and discipline of every throw and catch is detailed and timed in synchronization. As they throw, the other coaches and I watch and evaluate the throws as well as the catches. If any receiver misses the ball they RUN to get it and get back in their spot, (hustle is important and expected). Then repeat.

This is a very structured and synchronized drill. It reduces the chaos and confusion normally associated with free style throwing warm ups. It allows a systematic and organized approach to evaluation and instruction. Think about it, throwing (warm-ups) is the ONLY drill that Coaches normally just let the players go out and do what they want and how they want. They would never (or should never) allow it with batting, pitching, defense, etc.

After a while you can start to include a variety of throwing drills to keep it interesting. The type that starsnuffer recommended.

 

[Momo'sDad]

This is a 10U Team with mostly 9 year olds.

The 1st thing we do at practice is have the players line-up and play catch. Silly questions ….

How often does the ball touch the ground when a Team is playing catch? How often does the catcher need to go after a ball that got by them? In general how long of time do you have the players play catch, if at all?

My team is even younger than yours (four 8u players playing up for various reasons) and in the first 3 practices of the season, all we did was work on defensive skills - throwing, catching, fielding. I guarantee that each player on my team has already seen more ground balls than most of our opponents will see in practice all season. As a result, through 2 games, we have exactly 1 fielding error and no throwing errors.

In those early days, the more advanced girls moved to grounders sooner than those that I stayed with to work on throwing and catching. We're not perfect, but if you look at pregame warmups right now, it's a completely different-looking group, because we've focused so hard on the fundamentals. I tried to keep things from being boring, but when it comes to throwing and catching, it is what it is. I told the parents prior to the season what I would be doing and to this point, they're all still supporting the way we go about player development within the context of helping the team achieve its goals as well.

10u pitchers are going to walk batters. We gave up 5 runs yesterday without allowing a single hit (the fielding error did allow a run in), because every other batted ball led to a put out. It's up to the coach to make sure the team is prepared to get outs on every batted ball possible. Do that, and you'll build a successful team.

 

[quincy]

This part of practice has always been a free for all whitch has always been a pet peeve of mine for a lot of reasons.

Even this year all the adults are standing around chatting and ignoring the players throwing the ball to each other. It drives me nuts.

One interesting thing I have noticed is that the majority of the players have their thumb on the side of the ball when they throw. Their hands have grow large enough were they can get a proper grip but no one has bothered to show them. I have pulled out the dreaded stripped balls and have them use those when they warm up. It is a great tool to see if their hand position is correct and if they are releasing the ball with the correct rotation.

I am going to start incorporating some of the above into practice.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[rowdy]

Lots of great suggestions on this topic. One thing you must keep an eye on is the foot position when throwing. Playing catch is great fro warming up the arm but all of your footwork is wrong if they don't take the time after the catch to correct the throwing line with their feet. On the diamond the fielders are almost always in proper foot position to throw so it is pretty easy. In practice the foot position is 90 degrees off and if they are throwing like that accuracy is a big problem.