He was very clear that he lets them rest, pitch, rest then later on in the tournament he uses them as catchers. He said it makes the most sense because pitchers and catchers both need incredible strength, and while the throwing mechanics are different for each the strength required to make the throw is the same...
Makes sense for who? The coach trying to put together a winning program, or the player? How much rest can you possibly get in a 2-3 day tournament? The way I look at it, one of the biggest factors in breaking down the kinetic chain is fatigue. The biggest issue with catching isn't the throw-backs or the throw-downs, it's the workload on your legs. A pitcher should never take the mound with a fatigued lower half. JMO
I agree MidAtlanticDad...but this coach did say they rest, pitch, rest then catch...they don't pitch after they catch. Any objection to a player catching after the fatigue of pitching?
Define rest. They should be resting as much as the pitchers after catching if they are going to pitch. If they catch an entire 7 inning game they are going to need rest equal to a pitcher who pitched approximately 4 to 5 innings (based on some info I read a while back). Which would equate to about 70 to 80 pitches. The recommend rest for this pitching load is about 4 days I believe.