- Apr 16, 2013
- 1,113
- 83
OK, I have to ask this question and it is one of the biggest problems I have with my DD and I am not sure on what to do about it. What are you all teaching/taught/teach about recognizing a would be base steal'er? I find that a lot of catchers do not notice when a runner is attempting a steal and causes them to be late throwing the ball. This is one area that I find baseball catchers have a huge advantage over softball catchers. Baseball can have a running start so to speak (like the video JAG talked about in his earlier post) since the runner can leave whenever they want, the catcher can see the runner break first so they already know before the pitcher even releases the ball that they are throwing. I know that in an ideal world teammates/coaches/fans would yell out something but I find a lot of the time this just isn't the case. Are lets say it is during a very noisy game and the catcher can't hear. Does anyone have anything that they teach regarding this? May be a way to use their vision differently are subtle cues to look for? I just see a lot catcher's sticking a pitch with her eyes focused on the glove/ball and the runner is well into the steal. This is one thing that working on the transfer time cannot help with. A girl can have a .5 second transfer time but if she doesn't recognize the steal early she has not shot at getting her out.
I think this is something that only experience can teach. I don't think it's ever been an issue with my DD as she seems to have a good "IQ" and rarely gets caught napping. That being said, I can tell when a girl is going to steal a good 3 out of 4 times just based on her body language and how she sets up on the base. If she's INTENTLY watching the pitcher's movements, and you see her swinging her arms in time with the pitcher, you know something is up.