- Sep 3, 2009
- 674
- 0
This is an awesome thread, and I agree with all of you. It's just not taught, at all, or correctly most of the time. My dd attends lessons catching lessons with a great teacher who teaches Coach Weaver's system. It's amazing how many teams will just grab the largest girl at tryouts, and give her the gear and tell her to "start catching". They're easy to spot; up on their toes, ankles touching, looking like they'll fall over in the breeze. It's easy to pick out the catchers on any field who have had some type of catching lessons. And believe it or not, you can pick out the ones who have learned Coach Weaver's system. They stand out like a rose in a pasture.
Like I said, my dd takes lessons, catches at a couple of her pitcher's lessons; we rotate so she becomes accustomed to them all, rather than just one or two. Her team practices typically incorporate the catchers doing throwdowns and bunt recovery, as well as tags at the plate, and the pitcher covering home on a passed ball; all during situational practice on the indoor field. I wish though, that we would do some catcher specific drills, but I think it's expected to be done outside of practice, much like pitching lessons, etc. I don't know how well bringing a pitcher to a catching lesson would work though, being that their warmups take a while longer. Our catching lessons are a half hour, and the pitching lessons are always an hour.
Like I said, my dd takes lessons, catches at a couple of her pitcher's lessons; we rotate so she becomes accustomed to them all, rather than just one or two. Her team practices typically incorporate the catchers doing throwdowns and bunt recovery, as well as tags at the plate, and the pitcher covering home on a passed ball; all during situational practice on the indoor field. I wish though, that we would do some catcher specific drills, but I think it's expected to be done outside of practice, much like pitching lessons, etc. I don't know how well bringing a pitcher to a catching lesson would work though, being that their warmups take a while longer. Our catching lessons are a half hour, and the pitching lessons are always an hour.