12U catcher advise

My son did the same thing. I also worked him in the OF to save his arm. He is now in HS and started catching exclusively in his Jr year. I still say his future lies on the mound as he throws 82-83 down to 2B.

My son, who just turned 12, plays catcher almost exclusively and has not pitched for the past 3 years (he has no intererst). Given how much throwing he already does, not to mention the abuse he gets from balls in the dirt and fouled pitches, I'm sort of glad he does not pitch!

We have dealt with the same issue for the last three years. My only advice is to be careful. At 11 we weren't and jr. was shut down for about three months with zero throwing with a shoulder impingement problem. Talk about a stressed and grumpy father and son combo.

Crazy as it may seem we went the other way this year. Based on what I had seen on here from some of the other coaches we actually have done a lot more throwing. Play catch six or seven days a week at minimum to 127 feet (throw to second distance) with three days long toss. We picked up a solid second catcher so mine is catching a little less but he says his arm has never felt better.

May not be the answer for everyone but it has worked for mine.

Bigger issue I believe is that the throwing is not compatable much at all. Arm action that makes you effective at one works against the other. I think that forces a committment to one or the other as much as anything.

quote:

Originally posted by BackstopDad32:
We have dealt with the same issue for the last three years. My only advice is to be careful. At 11 we weren't and jr. was shut down for about three months with zero throwing with a shoulder impingement problem. Talk about a stressed and grumpy father and son combo.

Crazy as it may seem we went the other way this year. Based on what I had seen on here from some of the other coaches we actually have done a lot more throwing. Play catch six or seven days a week at minimum to 127 feet (throw to second distance) with three days long toss. We picked up a solid second catcher so mine is catching a little less but he says his arm has never felt better.

May not be the answer for everyone but it has worked for mine.

Bigger issue I believe is that the throwing is not compatable much at all. Arm action that makes you effective at one works against the other. I think that forces a committment to one or the other as much as anything.

Agree.

Throw, throw, throw. Kids do not throw enough and do proper arm care. I'm not saying throw bullpens everyday, but normal throwing, long toss, tubing, med balls, etc.

I think that catching and pitching OVERALL is not a good idea. The main issue isn't how much the arm is used either (although it is important) but the main issue is how fast the you will lose your legs. Catching is tough and will lose leg strength over a season but the same can be said about pitching so when you add the two together you will probably struggle due to tired legs.

If you do it every once in a while it's not a big problem because you can recover from it. If the legs go then the arm will surely follow due to mechanics breaking down.

Another problem is the arm motion. Catchers use a more compact motion while pitchers get a longer motion.

Can this be done effectively??? Without a doubt but I just don't think it's something you want to do long term or over several seasons. Pick one and stick with it. If you're team has to have you at both then tell your coach to get off his butt and develop more players.

Thanks all for the input. Ok, so I screwed up and now everyone knows he can pitch. He didn't start out to be a pitcher or try out as one, but the team is lacking developed pitchers and His coach seems determined to use him in both positions. He heard he could pitch through one of his assistants who saw us goofing around before practice one day. Is there a way to respectfully let his coach know that he wants to focus on catching and that I don't want him to pitch?

This is not all my idea, though he would do whatever he's called on to do without question. He has told me on more than one occasion that he would rather catch than pitch. I have to stand up and make that decision at this point I think. Catching four innings then coming in to pitch is not gonna cut it, nor is catching a 6 inning game the day before and being called on to start the next morning.

I have offered to work with the coach and his staff to help develop more arms. I offered to work with our pitchers during or outside of practice. We have kids who can throw, but are not getting looked at because they can't pitch without quite a bit of coaching up. Coach has two assistants, but does not really allow them to do much in the way of coaching. He leads, everyone else follows and that's about it. we'll hit tonight and he'll throw in a cage while boys stand in line waiting their turn, while two coaches watch and i sit on my hands with a tee in my truck after he says he's got it. I haven't run into this before, most coaches have been more than willing to let others help keep things rolling or work kids in small groups.

Yea, I'm a little bent. Coach left my boy on the mound an inning too many yesterday morning, after he caught a long game the day before. He lost his legs, git tired and got rocked. He did well at first and was up 5-0 after 2 1/3, started getting behind when he got tired and got hit hard trying to come back at em, then pulled after 2 2/3 down 7-5. Coach visited the mound after the first HR and told him to keep throwing strikes and don't walk anyone. How do you convince a 12yo that he didn't lose the game, he did what he was called on to do. I'm overreacting I know. I am honestly the kind that sides with the coach or teacher at almost every turn and will be the first to tell my kids when the teacher or coach is right and they're wrong. I just have a hard time with someone who won't allow anyone in to help when it's needed.

Tim

I help coach my son's team as well. It is a hard balance but it can be done.

At 12 they still have a lot of developing to do and while my son's team is only a year age wise ahead of yours (we are practically neighbors by the way) you begin to see the seperation. Some kids don't throw any harder now than they did at ten. Some kids can't get the feel for anything other than fastball or fastball doesn't move. Lots of reasons why they may not pitch anymore.

Conversely don't assume that hitting now computes to hitting later. We have a couple of kids who tear up average and below pitching but can't some close to anything with plus velocity. Guess what as you get older the bad pitchers stop throwing.

Unfortunately mine is wildly erratic at the plate. Will hit .400 for three months, but then won't strike out but will ground out to short three straight tourneys. So every time I go to pull the plug on pitching he stops hitting for a month and gives me pause

I know with the pitching he can still contribute to a high level team during the times he is struggling with his stick.

My experience is yes manage it, but don't walk away from the pitching just yet. If you can't work it out with this coach find one you can in the future. If he is catching more than 50% of your team's innings at this age find another team with a solid catcher, because even without the pitching at this age he needs to be somewhere else for his body's sake. Mine wanted to be back there all the time. He now welcomes his innings at first base as a pleasant break physically and mentally.