- Sep 3, 2009
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IMO Teaching a catcher to catch and transition the same way you would teach a SS to catch and transition seems great, but the SS doesn't have to worry about a foul tip 2 feet in front of her and the SS needs to transition to a throw quickly on 100% of the throws she makes and even an aggressive catcher is probably throwing down on less than 10% of the catches she makes. So to gain slightly on that 10% chance you will need to throw down your putting yourself more at risk 100% of the time. Plus the catcher has time to transition the ball because she does not catch it in a throwing position, a SS should catch the ball in a throwing position. Catching the ball with two hands isn't something I see professional baseball catchers do. I would question that what you have is a college coach who looks at catchers as somewhat disposable. If MSU is Michigan State university, I'd be suprised. I'vef heard their head coach talk about the catching position at NFCA clinics and her main goal was to find a catcher that gets the most out of the pitcher and that pop time was less important than you might think. Better to have a good battery keeping kids off the bases rather than worry about throwing out 100% of stealers.
First, thanks for the reply. I'm not disagreeing with anyone, just trying to find out the "why", and try to make sure I understand correctly. I completely agree about the SS being a different scenario than the catcher. My thinking is that maybe when you're behind the plate and you see a runner start to go, your mind goes away from framing the pitch, and you switch your concern to receiving the ball and making a play on the runner. So I'm only talking about that particular situation; when a runner goes for a base. I personally don't see it having any benefit, except in that situation. But I could be wrong, and wanted to find out from those more experienced than me, if i'd be sending my dd down a road of bad habits.
The clinic was at Missouri State. I thought it was a good clinic overall, and this drill struck me as a little unconventional and wasn't something I'd heard of before. Love the feedback and suggestions, thanks.