Proper Catching

[RandomDad]

I coach an 8U rec team and many of my girls are coming out of t-ball and have no real experience. I am having trouble teaching them the proper way to catch the ball and was hoping you guys had some ideas for me. I'll try to explain what they are doing.

Several of them try to catch everything with the back of their hand pointed down, like a bread-basket catch. They even do this on balls that are above the waist. I show them how to hold the glove upright and to use two hands, but a lot of them just won't turn their glove over.

I'm really afraid that one of them is going to have a ball bounce off their glove and hit them in the face.

Is there a drill that I can do to make them hold the glove the right way?

 

[quincy]

If you play catch with them you should notice that majority of the time you catch the ball your fingers are pointing down too. The girls like throwing the balls low to each other.

I would play catch with some tennis balls making sure the ball is going at the fielders head. When the majority of the throws are on the high side, start working on the correct glove position.

 

[RandomDad]

I like the tennis ball idea. I'm going to try this with my two worst offenders of this at next practice. Thanks!

 

[darken]

There is what I call the clock drill (though the name lost with the youth of today with all the digital clocks).

You stand about 15-20 ft. away and throw the ball to the player in a ready position using the player's chest as the center of a clock. First throw throw just over their head (12 o'clock), then just off the right shoulder (3 o'clock), at the knees (6 o'clock), etc. When they get the right glove position with the throwing hand helping to close the glove, then mix it up.

You can use this drill in pairs or with a thrower in the middle of a circle of 4 or 5 catchers.

 

[SoftSocDad]

I'm really afraid that one of them is going to have a ball bounce off their glove and hit them in the face.

Why are you afraid of that? It's actually one of the best things that can happen to a young player. It teaches them to keep their fingertips up, palm pointed towards the ball and it also shows them that coach really does know what he or she is talking about.

 

[obbay]

Why are you afraid of that? It's actually one of the best things that can happen to a young player.

a ball off the glove into the face is one of the best things that can happen to a young player if you're trying to teach them to be afraid of the ball.
we're talking 8U girls here!

it also shows them that coach really does know what he or she is talking about.

I would disagree.

 

[SoftSocDad]

You're welcome to feed your players' fears, but over the years, what percentage of girls you've seen hit with the softie ball have been 'hurt'?

I've seen girls hit numerous times and never did any lose more than a few seconds of playing time. The general reaction was "wow, that didn't hurt, but I don't really want to get hit again".

 

[Amy in AZ.]

This is very common. I have them correct it every time, I see it. I find it with both boys and girls. And they will get lazy, and revert back to the basket catch, given the chance. Shuffling their feet to get off to the side of the throw, is another common problem.

I tell the girls to make a stop sign, with their glove hand, with all of their fingers up. They can then, move their fingers a little bit towards 1 o'clock, as they become more comfortable. You also have to show them how far to keep the glove away from their body.

Then, demonstrate to them, when they would need to turn the glove around for a basket catch (for a ball down by their knees.)

I tried to video this lesson, last week. PM me if you need more ideas.

 

[obbay]

what percentage of girls you've seen hit with the softie ball have been 'hurt'?

Not many-I forgot we're talking softies at that age. What I've seen is U12 girls in rec ball who went uncorrected and wound up with a bloody face full of ball because volunteer coaches either didn't see the problem or just didn't fix it.

That clock drill sounds similar to what I used to do. tell the girl where you're going to throw it and they learn to get comfortable with the positioning.

 

[shockcoach]

Show them the proper way. Practice it. Remind them. Practice it. Remind them. Practice it. Remind them. Practice it. Remind them. Practice it. Remind them. Practice it. Remind them.

I think you get the idea. Just be patient and use positive reinforcement of the proper mechanics.