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Framing the Pitch
Framing The Pitch
by Dave
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
If you watch a baseball or softball game on TV, you are sure to hear something along the lines of "he (or she) did a great job of framing that pitch." That's how commentators frequently explain a strike called on a pitch which was apparently outside the strike zone. You watch the replay and see the ball was clearly about three to six inches outside the zone, the catcher pulled the ball back inside and the ump called the pitch a strike. The only possible explanation is the catcher somehow fooled the ump into thinking the pitch was a strike. Right! I think the most over-rated event in diamond sports is the "framed pitch."
Umpires encompass a complete range of experience from those junior high schoolers calling their first game of tee-ball to those who have called thousands of high level games. They all take slightly different approaches and they are, after all, human. But somehow I doubt they are susceptible to being fooled by the movement of a catchers mitt from one point to another a foot or more away. A catcher can sometimes fool the ump slightly but I believe that is only in very rare circumstances. Let's take a look at the game from the point of view of the plate umpire and see if we can make some sense of "framing the pitch."
The strike zone
The strike zone is a three-dimensional space which covers the irregular area of home plate and spans the height from the batter's knees to armpits when he or she is in her natural hitting stance. Human beings are incapable of created dotted lines with their vision without the help of "bionics" so essentially the plate umpire creates a field of vision which he or she thinks encompasses the strike zone and if the ball passes through it, the ump calls it a strike.
The catcher is generally positioned a few feet behind homeplate. Batters usually stand someplace within the batter's box which extends in back of the plate. As she swings the bat towards the pitched ball, it swings in back of the batter's box and then through the zone. A catcher never places her mitt into the strike zone or even that close to it unless she wants to have her catching hand broken by a swung bat. This fact is not lost on umpires who are also charged with calling catchers interference if the bat hits the catcher unless the batter was clearly out of the box. Any umpire recognizes that the catcher is not part of the strike zone and, in fact, is not positioned all that close to it.
As a final point to the argument, with all the pitch angles and sideways movement of pitches today, a valid strike is frequently caught by the catcher not in a direct line from the pitcher through the strike zone. Often even a fastball ends up being caught outside what would be the strike zone if it were extended back to the catcher in a straight line. A curve or screwball with any sort of good movement will likely end up outside the zone. If the strike zone were actually a box, you would hope a rise ball would hit or roll along the upper lid of the box. Similarly, a drop ball should fall below the strike zone once it crosses the plate. A strike should be called if half the ball hits the invisible mass of air which makes up the strike zone regardless of where it ends up.
Catcher's movement
Catchers have it rough. That's not to say catching isn't the greatest position on the field. It is. But the catcher has to sit back there hunched on her knees in a position used for centuries to torture military and political prisoners while catching a ball thrown 40 to 65 mph from 35, 40 or 43 feet which breaks 6 inches to two feet or bounces in the dirt. Each game she must do this probably more than 100 times. And then there are those nasty foul tips which change the trajectory of the ball, sometimes costing you the use of your throwing hand thumb for a few weeks. It's a tough job and, make no mistake about it, you get beat up. Your knees hurt, your back hurts, your feet hurt, your hands scream at you every time you catch the pitch in the "wrong" part of the glove. As the game wears on, you move a little more slowly. Catch back-to-back or back-to-back-to-back games on a 95 degree day, and you are intimately familiar with your personal pain threshold. And while we would like to think that the catcher can move at the speed of light, she cannot. It is perfectly clear to the umpire when you catch a ball a foot outside and then move your glove perceptibly back inside the zone. the umpire watches the same games on TV you do and he or she knows catchers try to "frame the pitch." She sees you do it. She is not fooled.
Human factor
As we noted before, the ump is a human being with normal flaws including imperfect vision. She knows she is not going to call a perfect game. We've all seen umpires with a broad or tall strike zone. If you watch any college game, you are going to see pitches called strikes which are clearly outside the area of the plate. You are also going to see strikes which are clearly below the knees or above the armpits. We've all seen umpires with a very small strike zone. Depending on the umpire or the day or the number of games she called yesterday, the umpire is going to be imperfect to a greater or lesser degree. What we want is not perfect calls but rather consistent ones throughout the course of a single game. The ump knows that too. That is likely her objective as she dons the mask and yells "play ball."
What the umpire does is try to create an invisible box with her eyes by training her vision on a particular spot located in front of the catcher. She looks to see if the pitch hits that invisible area and then in a split second she makes up her mind whether that happened and makes the call consistent with her observation. Most of the time she'll make up her mind, ball or strike, before she even hears the whop of the ball in the catchers mitt. Sometimes she blinks at the wrong moment or loses her focus and on those couple of occasions during the game, she may make a bad or delayed call. Even then she cannot be fooled dramatically by a catcher because even if she missed seeing whether the pitch hit her zone, she still sees the catcher swinging her arms to move the glove two feet. Sometimes, when she blinks, she looks at where the ball hit the catcher's mitt and judges the trajectory based upon that. But I'm jumping the gun.
Sometimes it backfires
A more frequent event than an ump calling a ball, a strike because the catcher "framed it" is that one in which the ump has built up some dislike of one team or another because they have been riding her over plate calls or something else. Now if the catcher moves her glove around too much, an ump may take that opportunity to call a ball on a pitch which might otherwise have hit the zone. So what I'm saying is "framing," especially bad framing, can actually backfire. I believe that is a very rare occurrence, perhaps just as rare as a ball being called a strike because of good "framing." But it is something about which you should be aware. Dramatic movements of the catchers glove after catching a pitch can cause the ump to make a call against you however subconsciously she does this.
Sometimes it works
I won't deny that sometimes, although rarely, framing a pitch can get you a called strike. But where I'm taking this discussion is, the few times in which a "framed" ball is called a strike is when the ump loses focus or blinks untimely and the catcher frames the right way. So what I want to convey at this point is the right way to frame a pitch. The wrong way is to move the positioning of your mitt several inches, even feet, after you've caught the pitch. Picture a pitch outside the zone, you catch it with your glove completely outside the extended area of the zone, and then pull it a foot or two inches until your mitt is completely inside the extended zone. That's the wrong way to frame a pitch. That's as obvious to the ump as it is to your 6 year old sister sitting in the stands eating ice cream.
Now, think of your mitt positioned right on the line of the outside of the strike zone. Obviously, a catchers mitt being about 12 inches or so by 12 inches or so, a good piece of the mitt is situated outside the zone, let's say 6 inches in and 6 inches out. If you hold your catching hand still and a completely straight pitched ball is allowed to hit the unmoving mitt, chances are good that a strike or a ball will hit the mitt in different places. The strike will hit the half of the mitt in the zone and a ball will hit the outer half. It is difficult for an ump to discern which half of the mitt has been hit, if she even tries to do that. You can fool an ump into believing the ball hit the inside half of the mitt if you try hard enough and have practiced performing this task enough.
The way to properly frame is to visualize how you catch a ball in different parts of the mitt. As a general matter, the unpracticed hand will move in the direction the ball is relative to the center of the mitt. In other words, if the ball hits the outer half, you tend to move your hand outside. If the ball hits the inner half, you tend to move your glove towards the batter and strike zone. The same is true of balls which hit the upper or lower half of the circular catcher's mitt. With practice, you can defeat your body's natural reaction to balls caught in different parts of the mitt. With practice you can move your catching hands slightly as if a ball which hits the outside half has hit the inside half - you can move directly opposite the direction your body wants to move your hand. All this accomplishes is to fool the ump by a few inches on those somewhat rare occasions she has blinked or lost focus. I doubt you'll be able to successfully "frame" numerous pitches each game unless the ump is calling 4 or 5 per day for several days in a row. But you might just frame an important strike three for the final out of a close game or otherwise change things at a crucial moment.
Practicing good framing
The way to practice framing is to take a lot of pitches while working specifically on this skill. A pitching machine can be used or, if you are lucky enough to be able to catch your team's pitchers a lot, live pitching can be used. The trick is to train your body into doing what it naturally does not want to do. Aim the jugs machine or ask your pitcher to try to throw a bunch of slightly outside pitches. Take up position with your glove aligned on the outside line of the strike zone and make every effort to fight to move your glove in the same manner it moves when you catch a pitch on the inside half of the glove when it hits the outside half. If you are a right handed catcher, that means a subtle, slight cocking of the wrist down and to the left. Again, you are trying to move your hand as if the ball hit the opposite side of the glove it actually hit.
Now do the same with inside pitches followed by high and then low pitches. On inside pitches, you want to turn your wrist inwards and move your throwing hand as if the ball hit the inside of the mitt and you are afraid you are going to drop it. On high pitches, you want your hand to flop downwards as if the ball has hit the heal of your mitt and you want to avoid dropping it. I want to be clear about something. Your arm should not be moving on inside, outside and high pitches. It is your hand which is doing the framing. That is not true on low pitches, however. On low pitches which have hit the lower half of the glove, your natural propensity is going to be to be move the glove down to the ground in order to smother the ball. If you've got a borderline low strike, you move your glove down to smother the ball and the ump blinks, she is going to think the ball was lower than it actually was. This is hard but you've really got to fight your normal reactions and try to lift the glove as if you are afraid the ball is going to come out the top. In order to do that, you are going to have to move your arm upwards.
When you have accomplished these skills of dealing with a pitch that is inside, outside, high or low, now it is time to work on those that are outside and high or low, and inside and high or low. Once you start working on proper pitch framing, spend some time just sitting there with your mitt thinking about this and seeing how you move your hand when the ball hits the glove in different places. In spare moments, think about how you go about framing. Then make it a discipline to practice this every time you catch a game, scrimmage, or even live batting practice. Because this is a "muscle-tendon memory" exercise, once you start, you don't want to ever allow yourself to get into bad habits and undo the work you have already done. This has to be a rigid discipline.
Conclusion
I am not a huge advocate of teaching catchers framing. There are so many difficult skills a catcher has to master that framing is almost a waste of time before a catcher has developed other important skills. And framing has perhaps the least beneficial payoff. Sometimes it can backfire. But I'm sure there are players and coaches out there who insist on the value of the framed pitch. For that reason I chose to address it.
I hope I have given you a clue as to how to go about framing pitches properly. Please keep in mind that bad framing can backfire and good framing rarely pays off. Your objective in framing a pitch is not the wholesale fooling of umpires. Your objective is to convince an ump on those rare occasions when she didn't get a good look at the pitch that the trajectory was close enough. You do this with subtle movements of the hand, not big arm movements. You're not really fooling anyone. You're merely providing minor evidence to someone who hasn't made up her mind yet.
Follow-up:
Randy writes "I just read the article on framing and though there are some good points you seemed to have missed the actual purpose of framing pitches. The purpose isn't to make pitches that aren't anywhere near the zone look like strikes. In reality attempting to get an obvious ball called a strike will make it difficult to get the borderline pitches called strikes. The purpose is to present all strikes and borderline strikes in a favorable manor with as little glove movement as possible. In fact the glove shouldn't be moving perceptively at all and any movement of the glove should be towards the zone regardless of whether the pitch is up, down, in, or out. The reality of framing is that you're trying to show the umpire where it came through the zone. There's no problem with framing a pitch close to the zone, it's framing a pitch that isn't where the problem lies. I tell my catchers that they are trying to ensure that all strikes are called strikes as well as some of the borderline pitches anything else is disingenuous toward the umpire."
Truth be told, what Randy has to say is exactly what I was trying to say. "Framing" should be accomplished by as little glove movement as possible and it is only a valid approach for pitches which are borderline. Framing pitches which are well outside the strike zone is disingenuous towards the umpire and may have negative repercussions on close pitches.
by Dave
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
If you watch a baseball or softball game on TV, you are sure to hear something along the lines of "he (or she) did a great job of framing that pitch." That's how commentators frequently explain a strike called on a pitch which was apparently outside the strike zone. You watch the replay and see the ball was clearly about three to six inches outside the zone, the catcher pulled the ball back inside and the ump called the pitch a strike. The only possible explanation is the catcher somehow fooled the ump into thinking the pitch was a strike. Right! I think the most over-rated event in diamond sports is the "framed pitch."
Umpires encompass a complete range of experience from those junior high schoolers calling their first game of tee-ball to those who have called thousands of high level games. They all take slightly different approaches and they are, after all, human. But somehow I doubt they are susceptible to being fooled by the movement of a catchers mitt from one point to another a foot or more away. A catcher can sometimes fool the ump slightly but I believe that is only in very rare circumstances. Let's take a look at the game from the point of view of the plate umpire and see if we can make some sense of "framing the pitch."
The strike zone
The strike zone is a three-dimensional space which covers the irregular area of home plate and spans the height from the batter's knees to armpits when he or she is in her natural hitting stance. Human beings are incapable of created dotted lines with their vision without the help of "bionics" so essentially the plate umpire creates a field of vision which he or she thinks encompasses the strike zone and if the ball passes through it, the ump calls it a strike.
The catcher is generally positioned a few feet behind homeplate. Batters usually stand someplace within the batter's box which extends in back of the plate. As she swings the bat towards the pitched ball, it swings in back of the batter's box and then through the zone. A catcher never places her mitt into the strike zone or even that close to it unless she wants to have her catching hand broken by a swung bat. This fact is not lost on umpires who are also charged with calling catchers interference if the bat hits the catcher unless the batter was clearly out of the box. Any umpire recognizes that the catcher is not part of the strike zone and, in fact, is not positioned all that close to it.
As a final point to the argument, with all the pitch angles and sideways movement of pitches today, a valid strike is frequently caught by the catcher not in a direct line from the pitcher through the strike zone. Often even a fastball ends up being caught outside what would be the strike zone if it were extended back to the catcher in a straight line. A curve or screwball with any sort of good movement will likely end up outside the zone. If the strike zone were actually a box, you would hope a rise ball would hit or roll along the upper lid of the box. Similarly, a drop ball should fall below the strike zone once it crosses the plate. A strike should be called if half the ball hits the invisible mass of air which makes up the strike zone regardless of where it ends up.
Catcher's movement
Catchers have it rough. That's not to say catching isn't the greatest position on the field. It is. But the catcher has to sit back there hunched on her knees in a position used for centuries to torture military and political prisoners while catching a ball thrown 40 to 65 mph from 35, 40 or 43 feet which breaks 6 inches to two feet or bounces in the dirt. Each game she must do this probably more than 100 times. And then there are those nasty foul tips which change the trajectory of the ball, sometimes costing you the use of your throwing hand thumb for a few weeks. It's a tough job and, make no mistake about it, you get beat up. Your knees hurt, your back hurts, your feet hurt, your hands scream at you every time you catch the pitch in the "wrong" part of the glove. As the game wears on, you move a little more slowly. Catch back-to-back or back-to-back-to-back games on a 95 degree day, and you are intimately familiar with your personal pain threshold. And while we would like to think that the catcher can move at the speed of light, she cannot. It is perfectly clear to the umpire when you catch a ball a foot outside and then move your glove perceptibly back inside the zone. the umpire watches the same games on TV you do and he or she knows catchers try to "frame the pitch." She sees you do it. She is not fooled.
Human factor
As we noted before, the ump is a human being with normal flaws including imperfect vision. She knows she is not going to call a perfect game. We've all seen umpires with a broad or tall strike zone. If you watch any college game, you are going to see pitches called strikes which are clearly outside the area of the plate. You are also going to see strikes which are clearly below the knees or above the armpits. We've all seen umpires with a very small strike zone. Depending on the umpire or the day or the number of games she called yesterday, the umpire is going to be imperfect to a greater or lesser degree. What we want is not perfect calls but rather consistent ones throughout the course of a single game. The ump knows that too. That is likely her objective as she dons the mask and yells "play ball."
What the umpire does is try to create an invisible box with her eyes by training her vision on a particular spot located in front of the catcher. She looks to see if the pitch hits that invisible area and then in a split second she makes up her mind whether that happened and makes the call consistent with her observation. Most of the time she'll make up her mind, ball or strike, before she even hears the whop of the ball in the catchers mitt. Sometimes she blinks at the wrong moment or loses her focus and on those couple of occasions during the game, she may make a bad or delayed call. Even then she cannot be fooled dramatically by a catcher because even if she missed seeing whether the pitch hit her zone, she still sees the catcher swinging her arms to move the glove two feet. Sometimes, when she blinks, she looks at where the ball hit the catcher's mitt and judges the trajectory based upon that. But I'm jumping the gun.
Sometimes it backfires
A more frequent event than an ump calling a ball, a strike because the catcher "framed it" is that one in which the ump has built up some dislike of one team or another because they have been riding her over plate calls or something else. Now if the catcher moves her glove around too much, an ump may take that opportunity to call a ball on a pitch which might otherwise have hit the zone. So what I'm saying is "framing," especially bad framing, can actually backfire. I believe that is a very rare occurrence, perhaps just as rare as a ball being called a strike because of good "framing." But it is something about which you should be aware. Dramatic movements of the catchers glove after catching a pitch can cause the ump to make a call against you however subconsciously she does this.
Sometimes it works
I won't deny that sometimes, although rarely, framing a pitch can get you a called strike. But where I'm taking this discussion is, the few times in which a "framed" ball is called a strike is when the ump loses focus or blinks untimely and the catcher frames the right way. So what I want to convey at this point is the right way to frame a pitch. The wrong way is to move the positioning of your mitt several inches, even feet, after you've caught the pitch. Picture a pitch outside the zone, you catch it with your glove completely outside the extended area of the zone, and then pull it a foot or two inches until your mitt is completely inside the extended zone. That's the wrong way to frame a pitch. That's as obvious to the ump as it is to your 6 year old sister sitting in the stands eating ice cream.
Now, think of your mitt positioned right on the line of the outside of the strike zone. Obviously, a catchers mitt being about 12 inches or so by 12 inches or so, a good piece of the mitt is situated outside the zone, let's say 6 inches in and 6 inches out. If you hold your catching hand still and a completely straight pitched ball is allowed to hit the unmoving mitt, chances are good that a strike or a ball will hit the mitt in different places. The strike will hit the half of the mitt in the zone and a ball will hit the outer half. It is difficult for an ump to discern which half of the mitt has been hit, if she even tries to do that. You can fool an ump into believing the ball hit the inside half of the mitt if you try hard enough and have practiced performing this task enough.
The way to properly frame is to visualize how you catch a ball in different parts of the mitt. As a general matter, the unpracticed hand will move in the direction the ball is relative to the center of the mitt. In other words, if the ball hits the outer half, you tend to move your hand outside. If the ball hits the inner half, you tend to move your glove towards the batter and strike zone. The same is true of balls which hit the upper or lower half of the circular catcher's mitt. With practice, you can defeat your body's natural reaction to balls caught in different parts of the mitt. With practice you can move your catching hands slightly as if a ball which hits the outside half has hit the inside half - you can move directly opposite the direction your body wants to move your hand. All this accomplishes is to fool the ump by a few inches on those somewhat rare occasions she has blinked or lost focus. I doubt you'll be able to successfully "frame" numerous pitches each game unless the ump is calling 4 or 5 per day for several days in a row. But you might just frame an important strike three for the final out of a close game or otherwise change things at a crucial moment.
Practicing good framing
The way to practice framing is to take a lot of pitches while working specifically on this skill. A pitching machine can be used or, if you are lucky enough to be able to catch your team's pitchers a lot, live pitching can be used. The trick is to train your body into doing what it naturally does not want to do. Aim the jugs machine or ask your pitcher to try to throw a bunch of slightly outside pitches. Take up position with your glove aligned on the outside line of the strike zone and make every effort to fight to move your glove in the same manner it moves when you catch a pitch on the inside half of the glove when it hits the outside half. If you are a right handed catcher, that means a subtle, slight cocking of the wrist down and to the left. Again, you are trying to move your hand as if the ball hit the opposite side of the glove it actually hit.
Now do the same with inside pitches followed by high and then low pitches. On inside pitches, you want to turn your wrist inwards and move your throwing hand as if the ball hit the inside of the mitt and you are afraid you are going to drop it. On high pitches, you want your hand to flop downwards as if the ball has hit the heal of your mitt and you want to avoid dropping it. I want to be clear about something. Your arm should not be moving on inside, outside and high pitches. It is your hand which is doing the framing. That is not true on low pitches, however. On low pitches which have hit the lower half of the glove, your natural propensity is going to be to be move the glove down to the ground in order to smother the ball. If you've got a borderline low strike, you move your glove down to smother the ball and the ump blinks, she is going to think the ball was lower than it actually was. This is hard but you've really got to fight your normal reactions and try to lift the glove as if you are afraid the ball is going to come out the top. In order to do that, you are going to have to move your arm upwards.
When you have accomplished these skills of dealing with a pitch that is inside, outside, high or low, now it is time to work on those that are outside and high or low, and inside and high or low. Once you start working on proper pitch framing, spend some time just sitting there with your mitt thinking about this and seeing how you move your hand when the ball hits the glove in different places. In spare moments, think about how you go about framing. Then make it a discipline to practice this every time you catch a game, scrimmage, or even live batting practice. Because this is a "muscle-tendon memory" exercise, once you start, you don't want to ever allow yourself to get into bad habits and undo the work you have already done. This has to be a rigid discipline.
Conclusion
I am not a huge advocate of teaching catchers framing. There are so many difficult skills a catcher has to master that framing is almost a waste of time before a catcher has developed other important skills. And framing has perhaps the least beneficial payoff. Sometimes it can backfire. But I'm sure there are players and coaches out there who insist on the value of the framed pitch. For that reason I chose to address it.
I hope I have given you a clue as to how to go about framing pitches properly. Please keep in mind that bad framing can backfire and good framing rarely pays off. Your objective in framing a pitch is not the wholesale fooling of umpires. Your objective is to convince an ump on those rare occasions when she didn't get a good look at the pitch that the trajectory was close enough. You do this with subtle movements of the hand, not big arm movements. You're not really fooling anyone. You're merely providing minor evidence to someone who hasn't made up her mind yet.
Follow-up:
Randy writes "I just read the article on framing and though there are some good points you seemed to have missed the actual purpose of framing pitches. The purpose isn't to make pitches that aren't anywhere near the zone look like strikes. In reality attempting to get an obvious ball called a strike will make it difficult to get the borderline pitches called strikes. The purpose is to present all strikes and borderline strikes in a favorable manor with as little glove movement as possible. In fact the glove shouldn't be moving perceptively at all and any movement of the glove should be towards the zone regardless of whether the pitch is up, down, in, or out. The reality of framing is that you're trying to show the umpire where it came through the zone. There's no problem with framing a pitch close to the zone, it's framing a pitch that isn't where the problem lies. I tell my catchers that they are trying to ensure that all strikes are called strikes as well as some of the borderline pitches anything else is disingenuous toward the umpire."
Truth be told, what Randy has to say is exactly what I was trying to say. "Framing" should be accomplished by as little glove movement as possible and it is only a valid approach for pitches which are borderline. Framing pitches which are well outside the strike zone is disingenuous towards the umpire and may have negative repercussions on close pitches.
Teaching and Training a Catcher
Teaching And Training A Catcher
by Dave
Monday, July 25, 2005
After pitching, the next most important position on the field is quite possibly the catcher. A good catcher keeps runners glued to the bases, helps the pitcher call the right pitches, and generally captains the defensive team. Just as it takes years to develop a good pitcher, catchers need time and good instruction to develop the skills necessary for success.
A strong throwing arm is a prerequisite to being a good catcher. The only way to develop a strong throwing arm is to throw often. If your daughter aspires to catch, you've just got to throw with her as often as possible. If she is older and has a friend to catch with, you should help her to develop a plan of throwing at least 4 times per week.
Before throwing, stretching is critical to avoiding injury. We haven't the space to go into stretching here. If you are not familiar with baseball arm stretches, I suggest you go out and buy a good book on the subject. Remember that stretching after a brief warm up is better than stretching cold.
After stretching, each throwing session should begin with close throwing in which proper arm form is emphasized. As she becomes warm, your catcher should try to throw harder and harder and then the distance should gradually be increased to 60 feet. Each session should reach its zenith with distance throwing which exceeds the distance from home to second. It is important to throw further than game situations when practicing because psychologically it is just easier to make a shorter distance in a game when you have practiced throwing from long distance. The throw to second becomes very easy if you practice throwing at about 30 feet past. And the throw to third is downright simple. Your long throws do not have to be as intense as throws to the base. You are stretching the arm muscles and using the legs to throw. The throwers no not have to throw line drives, they can throw more arced throws.
Only after throwing for distance is done should your young catcher then begin throwing to second and then third. Here aiming is important and she should throw to hit the base where a stealing runner would be sliding. The throw should be low and straight. It is better for a catcher to throw into the dirt rather than over the infielder's head. She should make at least ten throws to each base, more as she gets older. These throws are made even more effective if your catcher starts from the squatted, catcher position. Some throws should be made beginning with her back to the target as in passed ball / wild pitch situations but we'll get to that in the foot drills section, below. After making the game situation throws, she should warm down by making shorter and shorter throws, emphasizing mechanics and leg usage, eventually to the distance she started with. After throwing, your catcher should perform the same stretching exercises she began with. Each throwing session should be around a half an hour. This will strengthen her arm very quickly.
Please note that some of your young catcher's throws should be done with regular stepping - the way any player throws. But some should be with short, hopping steps (which we'll get to a little later) and some with no stepping at all. Catchers often do not have the luxury of taking steps to make a throw and this should be practiced. To throw with little or no step requires a skill of using the middle part of the body to generate the torque which usually comes from the legs. Basically if you take a look at a player who is throwing properly, using her legs, and eliminate the legs, you can see how the body moves from the waste up. This body movement needs to be accentuated when making a no step throw. And the follow through is also more pronounced.
Although it is a prerequisite, throwing is just not enough. Catchers need good footwork as much as any player on the field. It is a common misconception that catching is a less athletic position than, for example, shortstop. They just don't need to have the range and overall speed that shortstops do. Their steps are shorter and quicker than a shortstop's. There are a number of drills you can use to work on this footwork. Once you cover these in basic, it is important for a catcher to practice them anytime she is having a catch. Here are some drills (designed for right handed catchers - make modifications for lefties):
Standing in a good athletic position with the right foot back a couple inches from the left, take a throw to your upper right. Lift the right foot slightly and plant it with the instep pointing in the direction of the throw, step with the left foot and throw. Now try this with a throw taken to the lower right. Now try with a throw in the dirt to the right.
In the same position as above, take a throw to your upper left. Lift the right foot and move it just in front of the left, forming a "T" with the two feet. It is awkward at first but soon becomes second nature. Step with the left and throw. Now repeat with a throw to the lower left.
Repeat this drill with your catcher placing her right foot just in back of the left in a quick shuffling motion. Here the speed of the shuffle is very important. You can make a game of this where the object is to throw the ball as quickly as possible back to the person who threw it to you.
Now repeat these drills with the throw to your catcher further and further away. This will cause her to take some shuffle steps and reach to catch the ball but each time, immediately after catching the ball, her next step needs to be with the right foot into the position to aim the throw in the right direction, instep facing the target. Then she needs to practice making that step at the same time as catching the ball so the next step upon catch is with the left, followed by throwing the ball.
These drills should also be practiced where the only step is with the right foot and the actual throw is not performed with a left foot throw. The left footwork actually occurs after the throw is released. As I said above, catchers often do not have the luxury of having time to step and make a mechanically beautiful throw. The torque of the midsection of the body provides the momentum to get something on the throw. The left foot does take a step but this is actually after the throw. (To explain, think of taking a long stride with your left leg where your body sort of falls forward and at the last minute you lift your left foot and stride. Rather than your right leg providing the force behind the step, you allow your body's weight to do it. This is how a catcher is able to make a strong throw.)
The next drill I recommend is a game situation one and needs to be done on the field. You need to have a fielder at second and third bases. Place some balls next to the backstop. Have your catcher assume catching position. Then she retrieves one ball at a time and throws to the base you call out. Don;t make this easy because part of the object here is to get her to change her footwork in accordance with last-minute, split-second decisions.
Yes, we are talking about "drills" but, no, this should not become "work." Emphasis must be on having fun when you are playing catch. Foot work drills must be worked into a fun game of catch. Once a player works on these drills for a while, I think you will see that she no longer enjoys an "ordinary" game of catch. The drills should enhance the fun aspect of playing catch.
Another misunderstood aspect of catching is the physical fitness needed to withstand the wear and tear of playing the position. A catcher must have very strong legs, especially the muscles in the front part of the upper leg and back part of the lower leg. To see what I mean, assume the catching position, now stand up, now squat, now stand up. Do this several times and see which muscles begin to bother you. A catcher does this as little as 100 times and as much as 200+ times each game. An exercise regime which works these muscles is key to having injury-free success at the position.
Riding a bike, whether stationary or not, is the best way to build up the muscle in the front of the upper leg. A good exercise regime will contain both long riding and short sprinting. Longer riding is great cardiovascular training which is necessary for any athlete but the twin diamond sports of baseball and softball really consist of a long series of somewhat infrequent short explosive movements. So sprinting of all kinds is encouraged. Do not simply ride a ton of miles in a slow methodical rhythm. A catcher must perform bicycle sprints. And when you perform these sprints, it is not necessary to work on cardio. Explosiveness is the key. I suggest warming with a long methodical ride followed by a series of short sprints, followed by a long warm-down ride.
Bicycling is the best method of building the front of the thigh but, if for some reason it is not practical, running is a decent substitute. Again, emphasis has to be on short sprints. You are trying to explosive power in the legs so keep this in mind. 60 feet is plenty and helps with running the bases too. You needn't push your catcher to run a lot of sprints in a short amount of time since cardio is not what you are after.
Working the calf muscles is a quite a bit easier and requires no equipment. While standing next to and holding onto a wall, stand on your tip toes. Hold this position for a count of ten and then slowly come down to a flat foot position. Now slowly rise back up to tip toes, hold and slowly come down. There is no rush to do these quickly because we are trying to strengthen the muscles rather than increase endurance. Do these in sets of ten to twenty and repeat as often as you like. These are also a great warm up exercise for your catcher before a game.
Another way to workout a catcher's legs is the very obvious way in which I asked you to examine the muscles being used by a catcher. A catcher can build explosive leg muscles by assuming the catching position and then jumping as high as possible from this position. Performing this motion builds both sets of muscles simultaneously. This is maybe too obvious to discuss but it can be almost as effective as riding and running so I would be remiss not to at least mention it. If you use this method of building leg muscles, do at least 20 repetitions in several sets. Again, you are not working on cardio. Think of a game where your catcher gets up and squats 100 - 200 times. That would be a good number for a workout just as a pitcher needs to throw 100 pitches in order to build strength.
Stretching the legs before each workout, practice and game is another important key to avoiding injury. The earlier your catcher learns how to do this, the better. Again, stretches are a little beyond the scope of this already lengthy piece. If you have no idea how to stretch legs, buy a book on exercise. At the very least, any player needs to sit on the ground, spread her legs out to the sides, and touch her toes. But I do suggest you find more sophisticated stretching regimes.
Any discussion of how to condition a catcher brings me to the back issue. As catcher get tired, their body mechanics tend to fall apart. This is very evident in long defensive innings on hot days when the catcher feels a little like a punching bag. There is a tendency for her to begin putting more and more pressure on her lower back so it is necessary to strengthen her stomach and lower back muscles. She should routinely perform the kind of exercises which a person with a bad back does. Here is a good link for lower back exercises. Please take this discussion about back exercises very seriously. If you get nothing else out of this article, please visit the link and have your young catcher begin doing these exercises.
Finally, I want to talk a little about catching position. Girls just beginning softball who play catcher usually put one knee down. I don't have to tell you that this position is wrong. After more experience, catchers take a more appropriate position of squatting where their butts rest on the heels of their feet. This is closer to correct position but it is not perfect. The right position for a catcher is to flex the thigh muscles so the butt is not resting on the feet. Butt resting on feet is to be avoided for long periods because it is just too hard on the knee joints. Shin guards with a cushion in back help and these were developed because of the knee problems catchers develop but they are not enough as the cushion is small and the knee still takes too much strain. Your catcher can assume this position for short durations, like while giving signs to the pitcher but then she should assume good catching position. The back should be straightened as the butt comes off the feet with thighs flexed. She can even get into a good catching position from a standing position, gradually squatting down with her back straight.
In any event, if your catcher is young and inexperienced or if you have any question regarding her physical fitness with respect to legs or back, do not allow your catcher to catch multiple games back to back. If she is playing anything other than rec ball, chances are pretty good that her team is playing 2 or 3 games in one day, sometimes as much as 9 or 10 games over a three or four day stretch. Do not allow her to become the team's donkey who must catch every game. If you do, you stand a pretty good chance of having a kid with a very bad back. High school is the first place you should allow your daughter to catch multiple games back to back.
If you get the chance to watch baseball or softball games with your catcher/daughter, take time out to observe just the catcher. Point out the things the catcher you are watching is doing right and wrong. Especially watch his or her body position and point out if he is putting too much strain on his back or knees. Watching games is a great instructional device for teaching any player. Because catcher is such a complicated position, it is important to get out and see some really high quality catchers at work whenever possible.
To sum up, catching is probably the most physically demanding position on the field and one of the most important. A good throwing arm is important and should be worked on. Just as important as strength of throwing is foot work. This is easy to practice and I've given you a few suggestions to follow but you can use your imagination to modify these and create others. Leg strength is an important consideration in training a catcher. Bicycling or running can accomplish this but you should emphasize sprinting over cardio work. Finally, please note that catching is hard on the back and you must consider this in any exercise regime.
by Dave
Monday, July 25, 2005
After pitching, the next most important position on the field is quite possibly the catcher. A good catcher keeps runners glued to the bases, helps the pitcher call the right pitches, and generally captains the defensive team. Just as it takes years to develop a good pitcher, catchers need time and good instruction to develop the skills necessary for success.
A strong throwing arm is a prerequisite to being a good catcher. The only way to develop a strong throwing arm is to throw often. If your daughter aspires to catch, you've just got to throw with her as often as possible. If she is older and has a friend to catch with, you should help her to develop a plan of throwing at least 4 times per week.
Before throwing, stretching is critical to avoiding injury. We haven't the space to go into stretching here. If you are not familiar with baseball arm stretches, I suggest you go out and buy a good book on the subject. Remember that stretching after a brief warm up is better than stretching cold.
After stretching, each throwing session should begin with close throwing in which proper arm form is emphasized. As she becomes warm, your catcher should try to throw harder and harder and then the distance should gradually be increased to 60 feet. Each session should reach its zenith with distance throwing which exceeds the distance from home to second. It is important to throw further than game situations when practicing because psychologically it is just easier to make a shorter distance in a game when you have practiced throwing from long distance. The throw to second becomes very easy if you practice throwing at about 30 feet past. And the throw to third is downright simple. Your long throws do not have to be as intense as throws to the base. You are stretching the arm muscles and using the legs to throw. The throwers no not have to throw line drives, they can throw more arced throws.
Only after throwing for distance is done should your young catcher then begin throwing to second and then third. Here aiming is important and she should throw to hit the base where a stealing runner would be sliding. The throw should be low and straight. It is better for a catcher to throw into the dirt rather than over the infielder's head. She should make at least ten throws to each base, more as she gets older. These throws are made even more effective if your catcher starts from the squatted, catcher position. Some throws should be made beginning with her back to the target as in passed ball / wild pitch situations but we'll get to that in the foot drills section, below. After making the game situation throws, she should warm down by making shorter and shorter throws, emphasizing mechanics and leg usage, eventually to the distance she started with. After throwing, your catcher should perform the same stretching exercises she began with. Each throwing session should be around a half an hour. This will strengthen her arm very quickly.
Please note that some of your young catcher's throws should be done with regular stepping - the way any player throws. But some should be with short, hopping steps (which we'll get to a little later) and some with no stepping at all. Catchers often do not have the luxury of taking steps to make a throw and this should be practiced. To throw with little or no step requires a skill of using the middle part of the body to generate the torque which usually comes from the legs. Basically if you take a look at a player who is throwing properly, using her legs, and eliminate the legs, you can see how the body moves from the waste up. This body movement needs to be accentuated when making a no step throw. And the follow through is also more pronounced.
Although it is a prerequisite, throwing is just not enough. Catchers need good footwork as much as any player on the field. It is a common misconception that catching is a less athletic position than, for example, shortstop. They just don't need to have the range and overall speed that shortstops do. Their steps are shorter and quicker than a shortstop's. There are a number of drills you can use to work on this footwork. Once you cover these in basic, it is important for a catcher to practice them anytime she is having a catch. Here are some drills (designed for right handed catchers - make modifications for lefties):
Standing in a good athletic position with the right foot back a couple inches from the left, take a throw to your upper right. Lift the right foot slightly and plant it with the instep pointing in the direction of the throw, step with the left foot and throw. Now try this with a throw taken to the lower right. Now try with a throw in the dirt to the right.
In the same position as above, take a throw to your upper left. Lift the right foot and move it just in front of the left, forming a "T" with the two feet. It is awkward at first but soon becomes second nature. Step with the left and throw. Now repeat with a throw to the lower left.
Repeat this drill with your catcher placing her right foot just in back of the left in a quick shuffling motion. Here the speed of the shuffle is very important. You can make a game of this where the object is to throw the ball as quickly as possible back to the person who threw it to you.
Now repeat these drills with the throw to your catcher further and further away. This will cause her to take some shuffle steps and reach to catch the ball but each time, immediately after catching the ball, her next step needs to be with the right foot into the position to aim the throw in the right direction, instep facing the target. Then she needs to practice making that step at the same time as catching the ball so the next step upon catch is with the left, followed by throwing the ball.
These drills should also be practiced where the only step is with the right foot and the actual throw is not performed with a left foot throw. The left footwork actually occurs after the throw is released. As I said above, catchers often do not have the luxury of having time to step and make a mechanically beautiful throw. The torque of the midsection of the body provides the momentum to get something on the throw. The left foot does take a step but this is actually after the throw. (To explain, think of taking a long stride with your left leg where your body sort of falls forward and at the last minute you lift your left foot and stride. Rather than your right leg providing the force behind the step, you allow your body's weight to do it. This is how a catcher is able to make a strong throw.)
The next drill I recommend is a game situation one and needs to be done on the field. You need to have a fielder at second and third bases. Place some balls next to the backstop. Have your catcher assume catching position. Then she retrieves one ball at a time and throws to the base you call out. Don;t make this easy because part of the object here is to get her to change her footwork in accordance with last-minute, split-second decisions.
Yes, we are talking about "drills" but, no, this should not become "work." Emphasis must be on having fun when you are playing catch. Foot work drills must be worked into a fun game of catch. Once a player works on these drills for a while, I think you will see that she no longer enjoys an "ordinary" game of catch. The drills should enhance the fun aspect of playing catch.
Another misunderstood aspect of catching is the physical fitness needed to withstand the wear and tear of playing the position. A catcher must have very strong legs, especially the muscles in the front part of the upper leg and back part of the lower leg. To see what I mean, assume the catching position, now stand up, now squat, now stand up. Do this several times and see which muscles begin to bother you. A catcher does this as little as 100 times and as much as 200+ times each game. An exercise regime which works these muscles is key to having injury-free success at the position.
Riding a bike, whether stationary or not, is the best way to build up the muscle in the front of the upper leg. A good exercise regime will contain both long riding and short sprinting. Longer riding is great cardiovascular training which is necessary for any athlete but the twin diamond sports of baseball and softball really consist of a long series of somewhat infrequent short explosive movements. So sprinting of all kinds is encouraged. Do not simply ride a ton of miles in a slow methodical rhythm. A catcher must perform bicycle sprints. And when you perform these sprints, it is not necessary to work on cardio. Explosiveness is the key. I suggest warming with a long methodical ride followed by a series of short sprints, followed by a long warm-down ride.
Bicycling is the best method of building the front of the thigh but, if for some reason it is not practical, running is a decent substitute. Again, emphasis has to be on short sprints. You are trying to explosive power in the legs so keep this in mind. 60 feet is plenty and helps with running the bases too. You needn't push your catcher to run a lot of sprints in a short amount of time since cardio is not what you are after.
Working the calf muscles is a quite a bit easier and requires no equipment. While standing next to and holding onto a wall, stand on your tip toes. Hold this position for a count of ten and then slowly come down to a flat foot position. Now slowly rise back up to tip toes, hold and slowly come down. There is no rush to do these quickly because we are trying to strengthen the muscles rather than increase endurance. Do these in sets of ten to twenty and repeat as often as you like. These are also a great warm up exercise for your catcher before a game.
Another way to workout a catcher's legs is the very obvious way in which I asked you to examine the muscles being used by a catcher. A catcher can build explosive leg muscles by assuming the catching position and then jumping as high as possible from this position. Performing this motion builds both sets of muscles simultaneously. This is maybe too obvious to discuss but it can be almost as effective as riding and running so I would be remiss not to at least mention it. If you use this method of building leg muscles, do at least 20 repetitions in several sets. Again, you are not working on cardio. Think of a game where your catcher gets up and squats 100 - 200 times. That would be a good number for a workout just as a pitcher needs to throw 100 pitches in order to build strength.
Stretching the legs before each workout, practice and game is another important key to avoiding injury. The earlier your catcher learns how to do this, the better. Again, stretches are a little beyond the scope of this already lengthy piece. If you have no idea how to stretch legs, buy a book on exercise. At the very least, any player needs to sit on the ground, spread her legs out to the sides, and touch her toes. But I do suggest you find more sophisticated stretching regimes.
Any discussion of how to condition a catcher brings me to the back issue. As catcher get tired, their body mechanics tend to fall apart. This is very evident in long defensive innings on hot days when the catcher feels a little like a punching bag. There is a tendency for her to begin putting more and more pressure on her lower back so it is necessary to strengthen her stomach and lower back muscles. She should routinely perform the kind of exercises which a person with a bad back does. Here is a good link for lower back exercises. Please take this discussion about back exercises very seriously. If you get nothing else out of this article, please visit the link and have your young catcher begin doing these exercises.
Finally, I want to talk a little about catching position. Girls just beginning softball who play catcher usually put one knee down. I don't have to tell you that this position is wrong. After more experience, catchers take a more appropriate position of squatting where their butts rest on the heels of their feet. This is closer to correct position but it is not perfect. The right position for a catcher is to flex the thigh muscles so the butt is not resting on the feet. Butt resting on feet is to be avoided for long periods because it is just too hard on the knee joints. Shin guards with a cushion in back help and these were developed because of the knee problems catchers develop but they are not enough as the cushion is small and the knee still takes too much strain. Your catcher can assume this position for short durations, like while giving signs to the pitcher but then she should assume good catching position. The back should be straightened as the butt comes off the feet with thighs flexed. She can even get into a good catching position from a standing position, gradually squatting down with her back straight.
In any event, if your catcher is young and inexperienced or if you have any question regarding her physical fitness with respect to legs or back, do not allow your catcher to catch multiple games back to back. If she is playing anything other than rec ball, chances are pretty good that her team is playing 2 or 3 games in one day, sometimes as much as 9 or 10 games over a three or four day stretch. Do not allow her to become the team's donkey who must catch every game. If you do, you stand a pretty good chance of having a kid with a very bad back. High school is the first place you should allow your daughter to catch multiple games back to back.
If you get the chance to watch baseball or softball games with your catcher/daughter, take time out to observe just the catcher. Point out the things the catcher you are watching is doing right and wrong. Especially watch his or her body position and point out if he is putting too much strain on his back or knees. Watching games is a great instructional device for teaching any player. Because catcher is such a complicated position, it is important to get out and see some really high quality catchers at work whenever possible.
To sum up, catching is probably the most physically demanding position on the field and one of the most important. A good throwing arm is important and should be worked on. Just as important as strength of throwing is foot work. This is easy to practice and I've given you a few suggestions to follow but you can use your imagination to modify these and create others. Leg strength is an important consideration in training a catcher. Bicycling or running can accomplish this but you should emphasize sprinting over cardio work. Finally, please note that catching is hard on the back and you must consider this in any exercise regime.
Duties of a Catcher
Submitted by
Darren Mueller
Softball Coach
North Dakota State University
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before taking the field, check with the scorer for the information what batters are up and where they hit and what they did if on base.
Alert players as each batter comes up as to what happened last.
Remember it is better to hold the ball when a runner has started to take a base. Run toward her first and make her commit herself.
Check positions of runners before returning the ball to the pitcher.
With runners on base, be up in a more mobile position to make a throw.
Throw to the base not to the fielder moving to the base.
Back up 1st base with no baserunners on.
Qualities of a good catcher:
Is a team leader
Has a positive attitude
Is an enthusiastic player every day
Is tough, durable and dependable
Works well with her pitchers
Has a good relationshp with her coach
Gets along well with umpires
Has a professional appoach to the game
Submitted by
Darren Mueller
Softball Coach
North Dakota State University
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Before taking the field, check with the scorer for the information what batters are up and where they hit and what they did if on base.
Alert players as each batter comes up as to what happened last.
Remember it is better to hold the ball when a runner has started to take a base. Run toward her first and make her commit herself.
Check positions of runners before returning the ball to the pitcher.
With runners on base, be up in a more mobile position to make a throw.
Throw to the base not to the fielder moving to the base.
Back up 1st base with no baserunners on.
Qualities of a good catcher:
Is a team leader
Has a positive attitude
Is an enthusiastic player every day
Is tough, durable and dependable
Works well with her pitchers
Has a good relationshp with her coach
Gets along well with umpires
Has a professional appoach to the game
