Why is there so little coaching for softball catchers?

[sru]

Agree 100%. When DD started catching first year of 12U, her coaches thought her only job was to "catch the ball". She get dragged to 2 pitcher/catcher practices a week with all of the focus going to the pitchers, it drover her (and me) nuts.

Thankfully a team change happened and she had access to a former national team catcher, who worked with the catchers of her association every week (for free too!). Her coach actually came to 40% of her games and was first out of the dugout at the end of each inning to debrief and review the inning with DD. It was a fantastic learning experience for her.

Fast forward to this year, DD is 16U age playing 18U gold, the former NT catcher is gone (work commitments), so DD is now sharing her knowledge with the younger catchers in the association with weekly catcher clinics.

We need more catching instruction!

 

[Rooster98]

Catcher like. Now the batter needs some help

 

[Eric F]

Great pic Eric - she looks like a real pro. Just double check to make sure she keeps her thumb tucked inside her fist.

It is. There's a shadow hitting her hand that makes it look like her thumb isn't tucked. Believe me, I'm very picky about throwing hand protection.

 

[MightyMO]

Good for your DD sru! It's great to see someone so young willing to give back!

 

[Eric F]

In my experience with rec ball and observations of mediocre HS ball, it's a matter of ignorance. Most coaches know less about proper catching techniques than they do about hitting mechanics. Like hitting mechanics, if they have any guidance to offer, it's some cue they heard someone else use and don't really have any idea whether it's right or wrong.

For those of us who have made the effort to get proper instruction for our DDs (via NECC, or other), the best we can do is get our DD's to be an example, and share information with anyone willing to listen.

 

[MsDinosaur]

I am blessed to be in KC with Chaz and have coached several of his catching students. I refer him and him alone for catching instruction in the region. I highly recommend you visit him and utilize Chaz as an instructor.

hes a good man-does this for the kids.

I second this. Chaz is DD's catching instructor and she has learned so much from him!

P.S. He runs clinics here in the KC area every now and then, if you can PM him and get on his mailing list, that might be a good option. You could pile several of your catchers in a car and bring them down for the day.

 

[RichK]

EricF, your DD looks great. A couple of questions. Is that pad on her forearm for protection or just "looks" -- I am reluctant to move catchers to hand behind glove (maybe the only part of NECC instructing I resist) it just seems risky. Also, why the knee savers, she's clearly not using them and they make moving around clunky. Again, curious not criticism. TKS.

 

[Eric F]

EricF, your DD looks great. A couple of questions. Is that pad on her forearm for protection or just "looks" -- I am reluctant to move catchers to hand behind glove (maybe the only part of NECC instructing I resist) it just seems risky. Also, why the knee savers, she's clearly not using them and they make moving around clunky. Again, curious not criticism. TKS.

My DD wears EvoShield wrist guards on both arms for extra bruise protection while blocking. They have become her mental trigger for "beast mode", too.

The magic of the hand-behind-glove in a "runners-on" stance happens while blocking. On a block, both hands will move towards the ground together (glove rotates towards the pitcher), and the throwing hand stays protected behind the glove the whole time. If the throwing hand is behind the leg or back, it must travel through a lot of unprotected space before getting behind the glove during a block. Additionally, in a catch-throw situation, the hand is already much closer to get control of the ball for a throw.

She started using the knee savers after having some knee pain during Fall Ball, and they helped. I'm trying, but I haven't been able to get her to give them up yet. She likes them for "sign-giving" and "no-runners" stances.

 

[Sweet Lou]

To get the OPs question about why there is so little instruction may be a bit captain obvious but it takes a lot of time to train a catcher. There are many catcher specific skillz to work on and unless you were a catcher, really study the position or have access to the NECC material many coaches simply don't know what to teach.

Beyond that you often have a team of 12 girls and 2 coaches it becomes difficult to devote a chunk of your practice (at least at the rec level) to developing 1 or 2 catchers simply because of time and coach/player ratio. So unless you have specific extra time for catchers where both coach and player are willing to put in the extra time, they simply get thrown back there and told to "just catch the ball".

Further add that catching gear and glove isn't exactly cheap and it's expense many parents don't want to make unless they are sure that their DD is committed to the position. So a team often has one set of shared gear which takes time to swap out when you want to work multiple catchers all of whom aren't sure if catching is what they want to do.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Just having some fun with my friend GM.

It was a pretty obvious trap. Needless to say, I obliged and took the bait (but only to make you happy so that you could keep pitching well).