Most young kids don’t want to catch because, quite honestly, it hurts. Young pitchers are not real accurate and throw a lot of balls in the dirt, which then hit the young catcher on the forearms, shoulder, wrist, etc. After a good number of these balls in the dirt, many players will decide that catching [...]
Written on January 28th, 2007
Read more articles on Baseball.
Most young kids don’t want to catch because, quite honestly, it hurts. Young pitchers are not real accurate and throw a lot of balls in the dirt, which then hit the young catcher on the forearms, shoulder, wrist, etc. After a good number of these balls in the dirt, many players will decide that catching is just not the position that they want to play. I see this quite often.
So how do you get a future catcher to stick with it? The most important thing to do is to teach the young catcher to use his equipment to protect himself. This is done by showing him that a ball hitting his mask, chest protector and glove really doesn’t hurt and to let him begin to trust his equipment.
Here’s how I do this with a relatively new, young catcher. All of his equipment is important. However, I’ll focus on what I believe is the most important piece for catchers just starting out. I start right at the top…the head and mask. The most dangerous movement young catchers make is turning their head away from balls in the dirt. I’ve seen kids get hit under the chin, on the side of the neck and near the throat. This hurts. They then become afraid of the ball even hitting their mask. This is something I try to get rid of real fast.
Here’s what I do. I use tennis balls at first for this baseball drill. I have the catcher put his mask on and kneel down. He doesn’t have to be squatting. I get about 10 or 15 feet away and kneel down too. I tell him that I’m going to throw balls right at the center of his mask and I want him to watch the ball all of the way into the mask. I tell him to work on trying not to blink…to keep the eyes open and see the ball all of the way into the mask. No turning or flinching of the head. Now you’re not throwing hard, you’re just tossing, or flicking the ball at the mask, almost like throwing darts. Do this until you see that he’s comfortable with the ball hitting the mask and you can see that he’s basically not blinking.
When your catcher gets really good at this, have some fun and tell him to now try and go after the ball with his mask, to knock the ball in a certain direction or just give it a good whack while again, keeping the eyes open. Kids master this quickly. You can see them using the mask instead of just wearing it. You also see a real increase in confidence and way less fear of the ball, even if it’s still just a tennis ball at this point.
When you think he has mastered this drill with the tennis balls, work the hard balls into this drill. The blinking will obviously be there again, but remind him not to blink and to recognize that this doesn’t hurt either, it’s just a little bit bigger and louder hit than with the tennis balls. Again, you’re not whipping balls…you’re throwing darts from 10 of 15 feet away. You’ll be surprised how fast he makes the transition to hard balls. This all comes from the confidence built up with the tennis balls.
Now, have the catcher again go after the hard ball…hit it in different directions and take whacks at it with his mask, eyes open the whole time. He’ll become good at this fairly quickly. What you’ve just done is changed his view of the mask. It’s no longer something that’s there to help him get hurt less, it is now a shield that he uses to protect himself as he blocks balls in the dirt. It’s something that he’ll learn to trust.
The drill above works fine with balls coming right at the mask, but now focus on the most dangerous movement young catchers tend to make…the turning of the head when the ball is bounced in the dirt in front of them.
This drill is set up the same way, tennis balls first. You’re again about 10 or 15 feet away. Now instruct the catcher to kneel down, legs apart, like in a blocking position. You are now going to bounce balls in from of him so that they bounce up and hit him in the mask. The most important thing here is to have him keep his chin down towards his chest. He must not pull his head up or look away when you throw balls that bounce up into his mask. This is when injuries occur.
Practice this over and over until you see that his eyes stay open, his head and chin stay down and he’s able to block the bouncing ball with his mask with no turning of the head or flinching too much.
Next, move to hard balls with this drill. You’ll have to do some practicing yourself to bounce a hard ball and have it bounce up and hit the mask. You may need a harder surface to do this. Again, practice this ball-to-the-mask drill over and over until the hard ball in the dirt causes no real fear, his head and chin stay down and the eyes stay open as the ball hits the mask. He’ll even look relatively relaxed after a while once he’s good at this.
If you can get your young catcher to take hard balls to the mask with no “scared” flinching, eyes basically open and following the ball during the hit to the mask and have the head and chin down into the chest, you’ve done great and your catcher is well on his way to becoming a good defensive catcher. I’ve always thought that it all starts there…at the mask.
The whole world of catching changes for a young catcher once he loses the fear of the ball hitting his head and mask. It’s the most important step to becoming a good blocking catcher.
About the Author
Chico Reese has been closely involved in youth baseball, softball and High School Baseball over the last twelve years and enjoys working with young catchers.
For excellent Catching instruction, drills and training, consider the following sources:
Catchers Instruction, Training and Tips
Written on January 28th, 2007
Read more articles on Baseball.