Yes, I thought he made some very good points.
quote:Exactly....Feet have moved "prior to catching the ball". Which means......right foot is planted while catching and throwing. EXACTLY my point. The key is not the footwork. The footwork is already done. A catcher receiving pitches from a pitcher 95% of the time, already has the feet in the position needed. The key is the load/unload of the hips. The key is "how do you create momentum without moving your feet. How you do THAT is the key. Not the footwork.............And it is very easily done. And it is not linear. Linear, while creating momentum is slow developing. Too slow. Whatever advantage your player gets from linear momentum is offset by the time it takes to develop it. Fact. Fifteen minutes with your linear catcher and I can teach him how to develop momentum in another fashion. Will take him longer to perfect it. But he can "get the concept" and agree to it's value in 15 minutes.
This makes sense. This is good. This I can not argue with (not that I'd want to). This is why I disagree with those who claim catchers cheat at showcases. People say they cheat by moving towards the ball and throwing way out ib front of the plate. My question is... Who are they cheating? Themselves. The ball travels faster than the body.
However, there are still the catch and throws where the right foot simply can't be planted before receiving the ball. I really would like to see video clips of the greatest catchers ever (catching and throwing) the glove side pitch.
Is it possible to catch a 95 mph running fastball and have your right foot moved and planted with your body in the best possible throwing position before the ball gets to your glove. That's a long ways to move that right foot (actually both feet and the body) without creating momentum towards 3B in about .4 seconds.
I will agree, that most any pitch that can be caught with the thumb down, the technique Linear mentions will be the quickest. However, those pitches that are caught with thumb up require a different technique (jump pivot) is probably quickest. However, when catchers receive the ball with thumb on top, it's usually a stolen base anyway, no matter what method is used or who's doing the catching.
Problem is... where would a person find those clips... anyone have any?