pop-ups

That's a tough one. Not very easy to pick up direction on a ball you don't really see. One key is to teach his pitcher to help him locate the ball. He should get up looking to his pitcher for direction and then move in that direction while finding the ball. We have been very successful early by getting the pitcher and catcher on the same page here. Seeing two kids work together like that is a lot of fun. The pitcher knows his responsibility and the catcher does not feel so lost when he first gets up. The pitcher is taught to point at the ball and walk towards it's flight with conviction. The catcher should always return this effort on infield flies, pointing, directing and moving toward the ball to help his infield make the play.

Another thing he needs to know is that in most instances the ball will travel away from the batter. This is not an absolute, but it is a good way to start. Right handed batter will normally foul toward first base side and left handed batter toward third. This may help him with his first move if he is not getting any help from his pitcher.

He needs to have a routine for getting up and making that play. If he does the same thing every time rather than just jumping up and scrambling he'll make more of those plays look routine. Up facing pitcher with the mask in hand, walk in direction the pitcher is pointing until he finds the ball, discard mask in opposite direction of play, run on balls of feet to get in position, remember the ball will tail back toward the field, keep glove at chest until under ball, make the catch and turn back to the field looking for another out.

The only drill I can suggest is just repetition of this play and the steps taken every time. Stand behind him throwing pops and have a pitcher out there giving direction so he gets used to the entire process and knows how to use it to hi sadvantage.

Not sure about any particular drill, unless you can get a live batter to hit popups in practice

About all you can do beyond discussing the physics of a pop up is a lot basic popup practice. One drill that you might consider uses a tennis racket and tennis ball:

1. Find a clear area in the outfield
2. Put on all the gear
3. Place the catchers glove on the ground in front of his feet
- The catcher is now holding a tennis ball in one hand and a tennis racket in the other
4. Catchers hits himself a high popup, squats down and then places (doesn't throw it) racket on the ground in front of his feet
5. Catcher then picks up mitt and puts it on, removes mask (holding it in his hand)
6. Catcher begins locating the ball on his own (the "savy" catchers remember the angle the ball came off the racket, just like a baseball)
7. Catcher locates ball and then disposes of mask in a "safe" area

Why use a tennis ball?

Because it's very difficult to "one hand" a tennis ball popup thereby forcing the use of two hands PLUS you can consistently get a tennis ball up to a desired height that allows enough time for steps 4 & 5.

Why not hit the ball for the catcher?

Because this is a drill he can do himself on his own time IF he is motivated to be a good catcher. If he can't or won't do this drill on his own perhaps he is playing the wrong position.

RH batter, the pop will almost always spin toward the catchers right rear or 1b side. LH batter will spin left rear or 3b side. Thats a starting point. You can, or a coach can stand on the plate facing the outfield and throw pop-ups striaght up. The back spin will often produce the same results. Some of us used to be able to hit pops pretty consistently, but rust brings out the worst in us. Have catcher practice turning right on RH pops and turn left on LH pops. He should always grab the mask and hold it until he gets under the ball, then he can discard it.

While we're at it. Can anyone here hit really good foul pops with a fungo? I have been practicing almost daily and I'm getting to a point where I can just aboout make contact every time.

I was watching a HS team take infield the other day and the coach hit six straight for his catchers. They were a thing of beauty. All I could think was what a tool to have in your bag. What an asset. When he finished the guy next to me said, now that was some pretty good fungo. Obviously I was not the only one who could respect the work the man had put into his craft to get to that point.

Back in the 1960's My father was the varsity coach of the HS team my boy now plays for.

He got pretty good with the fungo bat, and could hit a mean pop fly to his catcher. It's a hard thing to perfect. You have to swing hard to get the ball to go high, and you have to barely hit the bottom of the ball.

In pre-game infield, that was the last thing he did. Each of the infielders would do the home and follow, run into the dugout, leaving my father and his catcher alone on the diamond. He'd toss the ball, hit a nice high pop-up, and then they would follow the rest of the team into the dugout.

It looked great. Except one time.

One time, with everyone watching (nothing else to look at) he tossed the ball, took the big swing, and cracked a nice home run shot to center field.

I'm sure everyone in the stands was impressed!

Deaconspoint, CollegeParent, & Coachric, thanks for the advise, I really like the drill with the tennis racket. This allows my son to hone his craft without having "Pops" around to make sure the work gets done. He understands that this is a part of his game that needs improving & I don't think that I'll have to be the one that pushes him to practice it. He is pretty well self-motvated, I just needed to find some drills for him to practice. Thanks again for all the advise. It is so helpful to know that you can send out these type of questions & there's a group of guys out there always willing to share their knowledge of the game!!