Focus on your target sooner/longer???? REALLY?

[slingnit]

Depending on the age and level of the player there should not much need to look for the target. If you take enough reps you should know where you are on the field and know where you are throwing to. If you are playing 3rd and taking a shot down the line you should already know where you are stepping as soon as you field the ball. First base is not moving back and forth or anything like that. That is why reps are so important in practice. you learn your throws from different areas of the filed. Just like a basketball player. They know where they are on the court and can pull from just about anywhere with a hand in there face and drain a shot.

 

[Doug Romrell]

So the players shouldn't worry about picking up their target quickly after catching the ball? Sounds like some of you want the players to catch the ball and stand there admiring it.

Who's saying they should stand there and admire the ball???

Part and parcel of #4 is locating your target as soon as you have possession of the ball. No, first base didn't move. But seeing your target is the first step in delivering an on-target throw.

The point with this discussion is that the player must first focus on controlling the ball before honing in on the target. It's been my experience, particularly with younger players (but not limited to younger players), that they want to start looking where they will be throwing the ball before they have control of the ball. Visual processing is actually very fast. It doesn't take a stare-at-the-target as if admiring it for 5 seconds before you know where you're throwing. It only takes a very brief moment. Control first is far more important that staring at the target early in the process.

I think that clip Eric posted is great in teaching this!

 

[sluggers]

Holy cow, me and Doug agree on something!

If you teach your kids correctly (which is always a big "if", considering some of the bozos I've seen), a player knows the base she is throwing to when she picks up the ball, either because of the situation or because someone (e.g., the catcher) is telling her where to throw the ball.

Of course, I suspect coaches like Doug drill the kids until throwing to a base is second nature.

 

[Doug Romrell]

Holy cow, me and Doug agree on something!

If you teach your kids correctly (which is always a big "if", considering some of the bozos I've seen), a player knows the base she is throwing to when she picks up the ball, either because of the situation or because someone (e.g., the catcher) is telling her where to throw the ball.

Of course, I suspect coaches like Doug drill the kids until throwing to a base is second nature.

Given I agree with the real experts here, I'm surprised that you are surprised that we agree on something.