Experienced P, Inexperienced C

[Eric F]

I was umpiring a rec game and the catcher didn’t move to catch the ball and it hit me. The pitch was decent and she didn’t even make a move to catch it, she just stayed in her stance. She did it on every pitch, just stayed in her stance and didn’t make a movement. They switched catchers after the inning.

Never seen anything like it.

10U rec ball, we had a newbie P and a newbie C in the game (my DD was injured). The ump got hit 3 times in one inning, came over to our bench and asked if we had anyone else who could catch. Unfortunately for him, we didn't. The girl was trying, but not having much success. 2 weeks later, she was much better.

 

[Schmick's Gloves]

4 years of pitching you should have a network of catchers, see if any want to join your kids team. Or go to Jen Schro's and start offering the catchers coming in there a deal.
Seems odd to only have 1 catcher on a team, I think my kids team has 3 or 4. How do you play 3-5 games a day with one catcher?

 

[Comocoach]

This feels like the kind of thing a poster would want to delete. But I'm a catcher's dad, I could be biased.

 

[radness]

Calvin stole my thunder. But, I was gonna suggest going out of your way to get that catcher to your DD's lessons. And do additional work whenever you and your DD pitch without lessons.

It's easy to think, "It's not my job to get that girl catching practice or help her get ready, I'm worried about my own kid!!' And you'd be right.... and you'd be wrong.

Every pitcher is at the mercy of their catcher. We'd all like to think it's the other way around but, it's not. And the sad state of things is, Good and Bad, there are 2 million pitching coaches out there (many are part of the PCM and should be locked up). Good and Bad there are 4 million hitting coaches out there. But you rarely see catching instruction and lessons. You rarely see that as a topic in coaches clinics/conventions. People like @RADcatcher are gold if you can find them: experienced players who teach from their experience.

Thanku Mr.B where do i send the endorsement check? LOL

There is sooo much info available to help educate and drills on video's.
IF the catcher is truely interested, dedicated to learning this position, support those goals to grow!
She may not be what you need right now, However in a short time have seen players make dramatic improvements.
Positive mindset to this situation will make the best impact!

 

[inumpire]

You're willing to pull the plug on a team your DD likes a lot after one experience with a brand-new catcher? Maybe consider that ANY player who is new to a position has a learning curve, and it's steepest at the beginning. Also consider the fact that C is one of the most challenging positions on the field. The fact that the C was upset about things tells me she gives a damn, and I would bet money she's going to work hard to improve her game.

How about this?...Invite the new C to catch bullpen sessions and/or lessons for your DD. Getting lots of reps is the best thing she can do as a newbie. Instead of complaining about how the new C is making your DD look bad, I would suggest making an effort to help her grow into an asset.

What age group is your DD?

What a concept. Read the whole thing twice. All I heard was me me me .

 

[Hawk_]

So we are entering a heavy recruiting time, have a long break for the catcher to work, and it's a fresh catcher...... take a breath you have time. Elite level catchers are very very hard to come by, but this girl might become a very good catcher over the break or you could find one soon enough. Trust me the coach wants a new catcher more than you do.

 

[uncdrew]

Solutions all mentioned above:

1. Invite Catcher to come work with your DD, before practice, on off-days, in her pitching lessons.
2. Get pick-up catcher on tournament days to help out.
3. Work with other girls on the team to see who has a knack for catching and might be a better immediate option
4. It's recruiting time -- find a catcher

In the meantime, your DD can rack up her counting stats. More strikeouts per inning (due to D3S).

 

[jdint]

I think the first question needs to be, "does the new girl really want to catch, or is the coach trying to turn her into a catcher out of need?" Catching is something , like pitching, that a girl needs to want to do. My DD thought she wanted to catch, until she tried it.

If she is taking off her glove and shaking her hand out a lot, I'm not sure she is going to be keen on coming to pitching lessons. That's assuming she was using a decent catcher's mitt. If she was using a regular glove then I totally get it. I do the same thing when warming up our pitchers.

If you think the girl is willing to give it a go, then by all means reach out to her. If not, then you have a problem. Second year 12u is a tough age to get thrown to the wolves like that so I'd be patient, but I also agree it's not really your problem to fix the catching issues.

I didn't read your post as "making your daughter look bad". More as you explaining the situation, but I could be wrong.

 

[Eric F]

I think the first question needs to be, "does the new girl really want to catch, or is the coach trying to turn her into a catcher out of need?" Catching is something , like pitching, that a girl needs to want to do. My DD thought she wanted to catch, until she tried it.

If she is taking off her glove and shaking her hand out a lot, I'm not sure she is going to be keen on coming to pitching lessons. That's assuming she was using a decent catcher's mitt. If she was using a regular glove then I totally get it. I do the same thing when warming up our pitchers.

If you think the girl is willing to give it a go, then by all means reach out to her. If not, then you have a problem. Second year 12u is a tough age to get thrown to the wolves like that so I'd be patient, but I also agree it's not really your problem to fix the catching issues.

I didn't read your post as "making your daughter look bad". More as you explaining the situation, but I could be wrong.

Valid point about WANTING to be a catcher. The girls that want it tend to progress very quickly. The ones that are hesitant, not so much. When I was the AC of my DD's 12U TB team, we had a situation were we needed another C on our roster. The volunteer was an athletic lefty with a great attitude. She worked her @$$ off with me, and quickly became a solid option for us. At our biggest tournament of the year, she was our starter due to an injury to my DD, and she did great. She went on to be the #1 C of her 14U team, and a HS starter.

You might be right about the intent of the OP, but I didn't get it the same way. My take was that she was looking for confirmation that pulling the plug on the team was the right choice. Maybe I'm wrong. It happens a lot. Just ask my wife...