QUICKER FEET and RELEASE

Let me first refer you to Xan Barksdale who publishes regularly on these pages. You can do a search by poster and just put in Barksdale.

Or go right to his web site: www.catching101.com.

OK, so having said that, one of the better habits my catcher son got into at a young age was to play catch as though he were always positioning himself for a throw down to 2nd.

What I mean by that, if words can describe, is that he tries to always shuffle his feet on receipt so that the rear foot is behind the front foot in a rapid and pushing motion which accelerates an online and fast throw back.

Good luck!

And with that, the most important thing your catcher son can work on is hitting. Great hitting puts good catching over the line, or any other position for that matter, save pitching. Defensive positions can be adjusting but hitting is a must.

PSS: Welcome to the site!

Well, in reality you can only get as fast as your body was meant to go. So - you need to maximize what you have.

Repetition is truly the key to getting faster, however you need to be sure you are using the optimal mechanics to begin with.

There are a few different sites/videos that you can use to help with the mechanical issues. The DVD from The New England Catching Camp is excellent on showing the how and why of different techniques. Xan Barksdale also has an excellent set of video clips you can watch on his site. I'm sure there are some others that posters will mention as well.

Aside from the videos, the biggest tool you can use is a good video camera. The naked eye just doesn't catch many of the flaws that can keep you from making the quickest release that you can.

Work on fixing one thing at a time. Once you have identified a flaw and fixed it, then move on to the next.

Most importantly, remember that throwing out runners is only a small part of what a catcher has to do. I've seen many kids with cannon arms that can't manage to keep a ball in front of them, or who cost their pitcher strikes with poor receiving technique.

Appreciate it guys....actually changing the way i viewing all this ....he does have the positives of pitching hitting and he has really excelled at blocking ..he is quick down in that regards..its going AGAINST gravity we working on LOL...and i will check out Xan and some website to work on this.....i am definitely going to implement the work on feet in playing catch.... working him at first base as well to ensure he has secondary position to better his chances of making the line up in HS baseball....

I would also say don't necessarily think that because what your son is as an 11 year old is what his potential future body state can be.

My son was above average speed in elementary school until about 8 and then boom almost overnight his body changed. He got rounder and really slow.

Stayed that way until he was about 13 and then took off on a major growth spurt to where he sits 5'10" and 140 lbs as a 14 year old. While no means a burner with all that growth he is at least average speed if not a little above average and is considered one of his team's best base runners.

All the drills you are going to work on can be done right now regardless of foot speed/quickness right now and when/if he sprouts you will be all the better. Regardless of current size/speed/agility or lack of it always keep working on it.

Good luck on your journey with your son and welcome.

11 is kind of early to start thinking about making the hs team, however if he is interested in another position, 3rd base provides better options then 1st.

LOL...it is a bit early but its kind of not..My son is young in grade...so he will be 6th grade...so in 3 years time...he will be with 40 other kids trying to earn the spot on freshman squad....unfortunately by my own doing i prob set him back with his infield glove work when we were younger coaching 7 and 8 years old...Noone wanted to play catcher..so i made it easy ..SON SUIT UP..lol...so we are playing catch up a bit on his secondary position ..

TB,

My 2015 has the same "affliction". :-)

He's 15yo, 6' and 200 lbs. His feet are slow, and he currently runs an 8.3 60. Primarily a catcher, a plus 1st baseman, and a serviceable CO.

His size (and body type) is a blessing and a curse. Coaches really seem to like his big body, but they want him to get quicker in all aspects of the game.

IMO, he is excellent at the plate, and he works harder at hitting than any other aspect of his game (because it comes easiest to him). He also has a very strong arm, which helps with pop time (2.15).

He's always excelled at the local level with his stick and his arm, but now that he's getting serious about playing college ball, he is beginning to understand how being slow is going to limit his options.

The only thing that's ever specifically helped him with quickness is speed and agility training. He saw excellent results during his 8th grade year. Unfortunately, there was just no time to fit that in during his freshman year of high school along with a very tough academic load and playing three HS sports (basketball did help some).

11 may be a little young for S&A training, but keep it in mind for later. Let's be honest, it isn't fun... especially for the kids who need it most.

It really comes down to hard work, whether with conditioning or catcher drills. My son is just beginning to accept the fact that he has to work twice as hard as the other kids just to be average. But, I also remind him that he's lucky to have the skills that do come naturally to him (some of which cannot be earned through hard work). He's already talking about dropping some of the other sports so that he can work on conditioning for baseball. I'll leave those decisions to him.

Good luck!

quote:

LOL...it is a bit early but its kind of not..My son is young in grade...so he will be 6th grade

A lot of kids stop playing between ages 12-14, some seemingly talented players quit due to burn out, and/or not makeing a succesful transition to the big field. Spending alot of time learning a new position to help make the hs team 3 years from might be overdoing it, unless its his idea. I think at this age you just need to let them play and help them when they ask for assistance. And if he's asking, its pretty much all about the bat, on my son's D1 team 1st base was often occupied by a kid that could hit even if he had never played 1st.

Each kid's different so this advice won't apply to all.

Good luck.

Tex,

Welcome to the HSBBWEB family.

The most effective way to improve quickness in both footwork and release is making sure that the mechanics he uses are consistent. Muscle memory of efficient mechanics has a way of speeding the process up when it comes to the time it takes a catcher to get rid of the ball. In this case it is a repetition, repetition, repetition issue. Consistent intent-driven practice turns into consistent mechanics over time.

With your son's age, the two biggest things to focus on are making sure he is getting the ball out of his glove early and not taking extra steps to second base.

quote:

Originally posted by RedSoxFan21:
And with that, the most important thing your catcher son can work on is hitting. Great hitting puts good catching over the line, or any other position for that matter, save pitching. Defensive positions can be adjusting but hitting is a must.

As for this. I do have to respectfully, but emphatically disagree (Just want to throw my two cents in here and not hijack the thread into a hitting vs. defense conversation, but...). When I am out looking at a catcher, their ability to swing the bat is not my primary concern. Don't get me wrong, hitting matters, very much so, but when dealing with a catcher, his defense behind the plate will trump his ability to hit every single time. Especially at the age Tex's son is at. That only changes marginally as they get older.

Like I said, hitting matters, but if I see a catcher who's defensive skill-set is above average in every way, he could swing a wet newspaper...I'll find a spot for him.

Thanks for the kind words everybody! I've been out busy on the recruiting trail the past few weeks and haven't checked the message board in a while. I appreciate the links to my website too. I try very hard to put up quality information for catchers and coaches.

With that said, I think the most important thing you can have your son do is practice at full speed. Repeat...100% speed! This is the only way to become quicker. If you want to gain bat speed you don't swing at 75% all the time. You must swing hard to gain bat speed and the same holds true for throwing, blocking, etc. It is about having good mechanics, but it's about being able to execute them quickly.

I bet when Usain Bolt trained for the 100m and the 200m I bet he was sprinting 100% and not jogging around the track!

quote:

I think the most important thing you can have your son do is practice at full speed. Repeat...100% speed! This is the only way to become quicker. If you want to gain bat speed you don't swing at 75% all the time. You must swing hard to gain bat speed and the same holds true for throwing, blocking, etc. It is about having good mechanics, but it's about being able to execute them quickly.

I bet when Usain Bolt trained for the 100m and the 200m I bet he was sprinting 100% and not jogging around the track!

Xan,

With all due respect. This is just not accurate. The human brain does not work like that. Proper mechanics are built upon muscle memory of efficient movement patterns. Those patterns, whether it be swinging a bat, throwing a baseball or sprinting technique, need to be repeated over and over again correctly in order to create an instinctual action over time.

Having lived with a man who worked with Olympic-level sprinters in his coaching life, I can actually tell you for a fact that most world class sprinters go through a training routine that originates with an incredibly slow breakdown of each block start and their stride pattern. If you cannot correctly do it slow, you cannot do it at full speed correctly.

Simply doing something fast does not mean you are doing it right. Some of the game's worst catch and throw guys behind the plate are incredible athletes, but lose so much velocity due to their "panic-mode" throws, that it nullifies whatever gains they made in their quick release.

Our throw is a process. A system. Each body movement needs to be meticulously rehearsed in order to be able to respond to a runner who attempts a steal with proper mechanics.

The idea that by simply going fast, Ricky Bobby-style, you will achieve a fundamentally sound set of mechanics is incredibly misguided.

For anyone trying to change or build their mechanics into an efficient process, keep this phrase in the back of your mind. "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast."

Here's a story from someone I talked to about this exact topic... His specialty, speed shooting.

"I used to be a nationally ranked competitive shooter and one of the things I did a lot of is called "Dry Fire" practice . I would get all my gear on and set my timer up to give me a starting signal every 30 seconds or so . When the timer went off , I would proceed to go through my draw sequence at about 25% speed focusing on proper sight alignment and mechanics with every draw . I would also ad in magazine changes and target to target transitions again running at about 25% speed focusing on doing things right . The result was that I built "Correct" muscle memory and my scores improved greatly....Slow is smooth and smooth is fast."

"Just not accurate."?? It is completely accurate. I didn't say to not worry about your mechanics once in my statement. You need to practice the correct mechanics at a very high speed. Not poor mechanics at a high speed, the correct mechanics at a high speed.

There is a time to break down mechanics and go in slow motion, but that doesn't make you quicker...it simply helps you repeat the correct mechanics.

For you to say that I'm suggesting a "Ricky Bobby style" is ridiculous.

This post isn't oriented towards mechanics, it's about quickness...two completely separate things! Here is an example. I have literally seen hundreds of kids that have a good mechanical swing, but they're poor hitters because they can't catch up to a fastball because there is no speed/quickness there. You watch their swing in slow motion and try to break it down and there isn't a whole lot to change. However, you watch them at full speed and they can't catch up to a BP fastball. Their mechanics are good, their quickness isn't.

Same thing with throwing the ball to any base. Do you need good mechanics? Yes. Do good mechanics guarantee that you're going to have a good pop time? No!

Ever seen the kids that are super-mechanical and look like robots? They are the ones suffer from this type of mentality that "if I practice it correctly, my mechanics are good, and don't worry about the speed then I'll be ok". Not true.

So the speed shooter you're referring to never went at full speed? All his practice was at 25%? Doubtful. I'm not saying there isn't a place for it, I'm just saying that if you want to get quicker you need to train the muscles to move quicker.

Mechanics and quickness ARE NOT different things. I understand your point about training mechanics vs training quickness. I agree you can train them separately, but at no point when training quickness are you also not training mechanics. If you aren't training quickness within the framework of mechanics, then what you training regarding throwing pattern and sequence will likely be lost.

Also, a comment on robotic kids. If a kid is throwing overly "mechanical" to the point of being robotic, then the kid is flat out learning the wrong set of mechanics. Proper patterns and sequencing will promote rhythm and athleticism. Kids should be able to be deliberate with that rhythm and athleticism. Training quickness for the intent of being quicker should be saved for the strength coaches. (And even then, special attention should be paid to the positional demands facing the athlete.) The game will speed you up. Whatever mechanics are most ingrained will show up.

Being "quick" for a catcher is a math problem. The mechanics produce the numbers that add up. If I want a catcher to have a .7 release time, then I would train the mechanics and execution to achieve that time. Any time slower should be an objective, correctable flaw that can be specifically worked on.

Also, bat speed programs... If done without specific concern for swing pattern it is a waste. You can't impose athletism that doesn't exist. Of course, this thought process needs to have an underlying belief that there is a best set of mechanics available.

quote:

With that said, I think the most important thing you can have your son do is practice at full speed. Repeat...100% speed! This is the only way to become quicker.

Xan,

Yes, this statement is absolutely inaccurate.

Quickness and mechanics are NOT mutually exclusive. Efficient mechanics lay the groundwork for quick athletic movements. In order to repeat efficient mechanics, muscle memory of those movement patterns must be created. You CANNOT create efficient athletic movement patterns by simply just trying to go faster. Our body and brain do not operate that way.

Think about it this way. When you were a child and your mom was teaching you to tie your shoes. Did she teach you to do it as fast as you can in an effort to get you to the point where you could do it fast? I sure hope not. Otherwise you would have tripped and fallen over your untied shoes constantly. No, you were taught to tie your shoes by going through a meticulous process (the "bunny ears" story). Only after mastering the process at a slow speed could you even begin to think about going fast.

In your analogy of swing mechanics, I could not disagree more. The reason those players cannot catch up to a fastball has everything to do with their mechanics. Fast-twitch is fast-twitch. Some people have it, others do not. But you cannot claim that a player who can't catch up to a fastball is still demonstrating a good mechanical swing. Quickness is preceded by sound mechanics. It is as simple as that.

While having good mechanics may not guarantee you will have a good pop-time, relying and reinforcing an inefficient set of mechanics in a practice environment, will guarantee a slower pop-time than what that particular catcher has the ability to achieve.

You are right, there is a time to break down mechanics and go in slow motion. It is EVERY time as you begin working on every particular skill. To suggest that the best thing to do to improve quickness is to go as fast as you can, is counterproductive to building an efficient, and thus quicker, movement pattern.

You still aren't getting it. Good mechanics do not equal quickness...plain and simple. What you're saying is that if you have good mechanics you will be quick, so does that mean that everyone who has a poor pop time has bad mechanics?

Some people can simply move faster than others. If you want to be able to move faster you have to work on that. Is it the only thing you should work on? Of course not, but it is an important part of it.

The analogy of tying your shoes doesn't really make sense. I didn't say that day one of coaching Tee ball that kids should be doing rapid fire drills. The OP's son is 11 years old and seems to have been catching for a while. I'm guessing he already has at least some understanding of mechanics. For him to advance he will need to be able to perform these mechanics quickly.

Have you ever seen the YouTube videos of people who can solve the Rubik's Cube in under 10 seconds? How do you think they have been able to do that besides practicing doing it quickly? They're not doing each move slow and methodically, they're honing their skills by practicing it at a fast pace.

There people everywhere that have good mechanical swings and there simply ins't enough athleticism (aka quickness in this case) to catch up to a good FB. I find this hard to believe that an instructor doesn't see this. It would be like putting a NASCAR driver in an Accord and expecting him to win a race. He still has the same maneuvering skills and is technically a sound driver, but he doesn't have the speed to beat the 1000HP cars. Well, instead of having a car as a tool we only have our bodies. Some people can move them like they're supposed to, but they aren't fast enough to compete at a high level.

There are plenty of high level track athletes who will train by running down hills. This allows them to move faster than they can on flat ground and they're working on the fast twitch muscle groups. There have been a number of studies that say swinging a weighted bat isn't good for bat speed and that's why some people choose to swing a fungo bat in the on deck circle. They're training the fast twitch muscles to move even more quickly.

That's what I'm suggesting the OP son does. Most people don't exert themselves 100% when practicing, but they take the easy road and practice at 75% because it's easier. I'm suggesting that his son should practice at game speed (100%) more often

Obviously you are both correct - you are just arguing it from different angles.

You need good mechanics to maximize your body's given physical tools. You also also need to train to use those mechanics at maximum speed in order to attain the greatest results from your physical tools.

I don't think either of you would advocate a catcher with poor mechanics should continue to practice them, just as neither of you would say that there is no need to practice mechanics at game speed. There, argument solved!

Now, can we get back to important topics - perhaps skull cap vs hockey style, or knee protectors - godsend or curse?

quote:

Originally posted by Rob T:
Obviously you are both correct - you are just arguing it from different angles.

You need good mechanics to maximize your body's given physical tools. You also also need to train to use those mechanics at maximum speed in order to attain the greatest results from your physical tools.

I don't think either of you would advocate a catcher with poor mechanics should continue to practice them, just as neither of you would say that there is no need to practice mechanics at game speed. There, argument solved!

Now, can we get back to important topics - perhaps skull cap vs hockey style, or knee protectors - godsend or curse?

HA! That was easy enough!

1. Personal Preference
2. Godsend (from someone who tore their ACL)

hitters are the starters and the big defensive guys are usually the backups.. its rare that they are both... i think too much emphasis is put on having quick feet.. if feet are too quick then you lose your legs and have nothing behind the throw because you are on the front foot.. your transfer will determine how quick your feet are.. guys with quick transfers and think get it and get rid of it are the guys that throw everyone out.. quick feet happen naturally so why does everyone continue to stress quick feet, quick feet.. feet are too quick then arm drags behind.

If your feet are too quick for a particular move, slow them down. However, as the fastballs get faster, having quick feet helps with a myriad of defensive moves, not just throwing.

how can you slow your feet down? they react and kids are trying to be as quick as possible... by playing over situations in your mind you will react better to certain plays.. i dont understand what you mean by the speed of the ball having anything to do with your feet.