Starting from scratch. Where to begin

[chinamigarden]

Our #1 catcher just quit the game. Our season starts June 1 and we need to develop another catcher. We have 3 girls who have caught, but 2 of them I am not that confident, and the third is one of our primary pitchers. BTW we are 14U

Fortunately I have a girl who is, in my mind, a perfect replacement. She has a great arm, fast release and is cat quick. Plus she is willing, where do I start?

 

[Coach JV]

proper footwork leads to a quicker release.
Catcher needs lots of 1 to 1 lessons as you are running
out of time.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Get Dave Weaver's dvd. The New England Catching Camp

I would go buy her her own equipment and see if her folks can buy the mitt. A good mitt is well worth the money.

 

[Momo'sDad]

You've been slacking, Coach. My 10u rec team has 4 catchers and 3 of them have thrown out baserunners.

It's a bummer that your #1 decided to hang them up, but at least you've got a couple of weeks to get 2 new girls ready to get the job done.

 

[Lozza]

Amy do you know if the DVD is able to be bought online or any text info? I don't think his DVD would work over here and it's something I'm interested in as I'm going to be head coach next year of one of our starter teams (yay new job!)

 

[Amy in AZ.]

Just post here. Attn: Dave Weaver. He might see it. Perhaps you could Skype with him.

 

[starsnuffer]

Lozza,

Here's his website: The New England Catching Camp

GREAT DVD. I bought about 6 this year and gave them to various coaches.

-W

 

[SoftSocDad]

I don't think his DVD would work over here and it's something I'm interested in as I'm going to be head coach next year of one of our starter teams (yay new job!)

Congratulations on the new job!

DVD-R's are region-free, and are generally compatible with some 99% of the world's DVD players. As for your TV display, don't many newer TVs there have an NTSC setting available? Worst case scenario, you'd be able to view the DVD on your computer.

 

[chinamigarden]

Get Dave Weaver's dvd. The New England Catching Camp

I would go buy her her own equipment and see if her folks can buy the mitt. A good mitt is well worth the money.

We got the gear, I will be picking up a mitt. Calling it a team mitt as we have 3 girls who don't have a catcher's mitt who we will be using as catcher. Up until 2 years go we were set with 2 very solid catchers, when these girls were 11 no one ran on us. Period. Then one of them turned out to be the best lefthanded pitcher in the area, and the other ended up not liking the game. Her mom loves the game and it turns out has been making her play. Due to changes in the family dynamic, the girl has finally been able to exert her will and is not playing.

The girl I want to switch to catcher is a prime example of a kid with great tools who has not been helped by playing up an age. Coaches see her run and throw and they want her, but no one has taken the time to coach her. They just put her in the outfield and let her natural skill take over. She caught a batting practice once for us, and I wanted to make her a catcher then. The head coach was reluctant because he was in love with her in Center. Now he has no choice.

Tell me if I am wrong, but I want to work from the ground up. Feet first, throwing last. I figure with her arm if I can get her feet right she will do ok with the throwing until we have time to get to how to throw like a catcher.
Stance
Receiving
Blocking
Game situations
Throwing.
???

 

[MsDinosaur]

All by June 1st... OK, my advice is probably not worth much, but...

She has been playing for several years; she probably has seen enough to pick things up quickly. I would show her and her parents the things that are easiest to work on at home: stances, receiving, blocking, the footwork for the throw downs. She can work on that every night in her living room, with her parents lobbing tennis balls or rolled up socks at her. You can then check her progress on those each time you work one-on-one with her and help her make adjustments. (oh yes, and the dreaded wall sits--she's got to start building up those quads right away!)

I would make sure that you give her lots of catcher's game situation instruction at your team practices. She needs to have your team's strategies down for holding runners and getting them back to their bases or the other teams will eat her up. I wouldn't have her trying to learn to pick them off, just get them back securely. Have her practice the throw downs, the passed ball run and slide with the flip back to the pitcher and making the catch and tag at home. You don't want her first game to be one of the first times she tries those. Good luck!