Catching

[Excder_braves]

Can any body tell me or refer me to a place I can get workouts to keep me sharp at catching and work out my legs and , "getting up and throwing".

[Jake Patterson]

Can any body tell me or refer me to a place I can get workouts to keep me sharp at catching and work out my legs and , "getting up and throwing".

Ask Catchingcoach.

CatchingCoach???

[Excder_braves]

what/who is that?

[Jake Patterson]

what/who is that?

He's a Catching Coach that frequents "BF - Coaching 101." He specializes in the catcher's position.

[Whitesoxnut]

Squats, squats, squats, squats, squats, squats. And then after that do more squats.

[Catchingcoach]

Excder,

So I have a better idea of what to suggest a helpful piece of information would be how old are you??

PS, I run the New England Catching Camp in Hudson NH.

[scrface744]

can u help me while your here also? im 16 going to be a junior.........was brought up for playoffs as a sophomore and will be starting as a junior. im about 5-10 210lbs

[Jake Patterson]

can u help me while your here also? im 16 going to be a junior.........was brought up for playoffs as a sophomore and will be starting as a junior. im about 5-10 210lbs

Scar, I think coach needs more information. What exactly are you looking to improve upon??

Are you now a catcher?

Do you have any clips?

[scrface744]

i think i need to quicken my feet because i think that will help my footwork as well

[Catchingcoach]

i think i need to quicken my feet because i think that will help my footwork as well

I have catchers coming to me all the time looking to "quicken their feet". What I have found is that their request is based on their impression that if they could move their feet faster that would translate into a faster throw down time to 2nd.

I of course do not disagree that if a catcher can speed up his footwork, his upper half should speed up as well to stay up with their legs.

What I have found though is that for most 15-18 yr old catchers have already acquired most of the "quickness" in their muscles that they are going to get. They may be able to work on some agility drills, jumping rope and other drills that do help get a more explosive response from their lower half, but that is usually not where I find the biggest gains come from when trying to speed up the footwork.

It is far more important to look in detail at what happens from the time the ball hits your glove untill it leaves the tips of your fingers. The release time for a catcher is every bit as important as the MPH he throws. For every 1/10th of a second you reduce your release time it is the equivilant to increasing your throwing velocity by 5mph.

The best way to "increase the quickness" of your footwork and exchange is to be sure that the mechanics you are actually using do not contain any "time eating" movements. For example, I have worked with catchers that take the ball out of their glove and then have their throwing hand drop down like a pitcher and loop back to the throwing position. When they shorten that path they experience a "quicker release". Not because they moved their body faster, but because they changed to a shorter arm path that takes less time.

Do you have any film clips of your throwing, or at least you stance when runners are on base. I have had catchers reduce their throwdown times by nearly 2/tenths in one traning session after we just adjusted their receving stance.

So let me know if you do have any pics or film clips

[scrface744]

no sorry i have no clips