On another thread (Pitchers With Less Than Perfect Mechanics) Bill H. mentioned that he catches his students during their lessons. This got me wondering how common this is. In my tiny world of DD taking lessons, learning to coach pitching, and giving lessons, I've almost never seen this unless there was no one else available to catch. Instead of diverting that thread off on another tangent, I thought I'd ask it here. Have you seen this before?
Who catches pitching lessons?
- Thread starter Northball
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- Oct 26, 2019
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I used to catch lessons in baseball as the instructor. It’s more common there than in softball from what I’ve seen.
- Jun 18, 2023
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My daughter's two pitching coaches both catch her. We briefly did 3 person group lessons in between, I caught those.
- May 27, 2013
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I’ve seen it done by some instructors when girls are younger but not with older, experienced pitchers who throw with decent velocity. Kudos to Bill for being willing to do it and for being able to make corrections to the pitcher for what he’s seeing. I’ve got to imagine it takes a lot of talent to be able to do that - see the ball and know exactly what the pitcher is doing wrong mechanically at the same time!
I catch most my lessons, unless there is someone else for beginners where more hands on is needed.
My daughter's original PC caught her lessons until she got pregnant and hired a catcher. Her next PC either had me catch, paid a catcher, or had her throw to a net. Her current PC is online, so it's just into a net now.
Not being a trained PC, I find it hard to see how one can catch and observe mechanics at the same time. I'm more concerned with not getting creamed by the ball than wondering what she did wrong with her feet.
Not being a trained PC, I find it hard to see how one can catch and observe mechanics at the same time. I'm more concerned with not getting creamed by the ball than wondering what she did wrong with her feet.
I can see the spin when I'm catching great but sometimes I get caught in between looking at the body position and actually catching the ball. My daughter has had 2 coaches and I have caught for both. She has played with a girl who goes to Canaday's coach and apparently she catches.
Actually the view behind the catcher when filming is one of the best to look at. Before I started wearing shin guards, I got caught watching the pitcher to long and took a direct shot to the shin. That shin place is still bigger than the other shin.
I catch for most of my lessons, not really by choice though. It has it's pluses and minuses. Typically a pitcher will naturally throw a spin without really realizing it, if I'm catching I can notice this and if she repeats the spin with some regularity I will start drawing her attention to it. We will then try to include it in her repertoire. However I have been burned more than once because I find it difficult to see certain parts of the motion and this has allowed flaws to creep in unnoticed. Now I will try to have my pitchers throw into a net or the backstop while I take some video with my phone. But the fact that 'flaws' creep in is one of the reasons why I started the 'Less Than Perfect Mechanics' thread. I have a 12U pitcher who is 2-3 mph faster with the her natural 'flawed' motion and has been very resistant to change. So the question is; do I work with what she's doing or keep spending time trying to get her back to what I consider the ideal motion?
