Relaxing the arm...

My son was taught to relax the glove during the delivery. About the time when the pitcher is starting to move to the plate, the hand relaxes and the glove closes slightly. Some catchers relax the wrist, making the glove drop, but my son prefers a subtler move in which the hand closes a bit as the pitch is on its way.

The reason to do this is because a relaxed hand is quicker to the ball, and softer on the catch.

Looking at your son's man on stance, it is a little hard to tell, but it seems to me his feet should be wider, butt higher, and back more parallel to the ground.

Let me say up front, I'm not an expert and this is just my opinion and what I've seen.

I teach throwing hand on the outside of the right thigh. I also prefer the catcher rotate the thumbside of the glove up and relax to receive. Here's a couple of pics....


Once the pitcher gets a target and begins his wind-up, the glove/target positioning does not matter.

That position, is very exhausting, IMHO. And, a ball strike to that tensed arm is very difficult to play thru.
GED10DaD

Thanks guys. The game yesterday went well. He was able to relax the arm briefly just before the pitch and I think it helped him get to more pitches with greater ease. I know he looked more relaxed out there. We'll keep working on it. Now if I can just keep his coaches from trying to turn him into a pitcher we'll be in business. :-)

Thank again,

Tim

Hey Deaconspoint.

I'm a freshman this year and i have caught for about 7 or 8 years and I start on my High School's JV Team. I have been taught that after he gives the pitcher what pitch to throw ( if they do that where he plays) the pitcher will start his motion and to re-adjust and put the mitt out where the pitch is supposed to be and put the handby the right thigh, Like GED10 said, but if a runner is stealing, put the hand behind the mitt if your teammates yell "going" (which they should be doing) so he can get the ball out of the mitt quicker. But, thats just what i've been taught. Just thought i would tell you what i have done.

Thanks for your input MGB.

Tim

"Relaxing" the glove acts as similar to a trigger in a swing.

It allows the hands to be soft prior to receiving the ball. If a catcher were to keep his glove still prior to receiving, he would appear stiff and frame poorly (look like he is wearing boxing gloves rather than a catcher's mitt). This becomes more apparent at higher velocities.

Another "trigger", is a counterclockise turn of the hand after setup (start with the thumb pointed down to 6 o'clock and rotate it 4 o'clock as the pitch comes).

Either way, "re-presenting" your mitt allows you to receive the ball correctly.

Deaconspoint,

I would recommend your son getting his glove hand closer to his body. His extension creates tension.

With no runners on, I would also recommend he not place his hand so far behind his back (behind his calf/heel would be sufficient). MY son is most comfortable with his fist resting in the crease between his hip and quad (and he is fully protected).

Also, I am not an advocate of the hand attached to the mitt with a runner on base.

deaconspoint
not too bad for 10 yr old. looks better in bottom picture...move throwing to side of right leg instead of behind back; it'll make catching easier. catching arm/elbow position a bit high. neither picture is bad.

top picture....widen stance, feet point down foul lines. get glove lower along with his body more parallel(a little too tall with glove in the hitters zone). as far as the throwing hand, either behind the glove or resting on his high with hand resting near chest protector.

relaxing the arm...some give a target and slightly let the wrist relax and drop the glove. some do a quarter turn with the glove. either way relaxing the glove will give him faster/softer hands. see where his glove position is...some catchers as they drop will slightly bring their hands back then go forward; nothing really wrong if they just go back to the orginal position but it bears watching as he doesn't want to stab at the ball. being relaxed behind the plate is important. catchers want to be smooth with their glove.

overall, not too bad at his age and he will improve as he builds strength and continues working on fundammentals. *****I caution about making him solely a catcher at 10yr; needs another infield position plus an outfield position to work on. If he plays in HS, the coach may not see as a catcher so the more position flexibity he has the better.

Thanks everyone. Aidan and I really appreciate all of your responses. We worked on relaxing the arm and glove and he was able to try it in a game Saturday. It was clear he was more comfortable and probably quicker to the ball as well. Looked smoother overall. We'll keep working on this until it becomes second nature and not something he needs to think about doing.

I'll have him play with the throwing hand position to see if the alternate position is more comfortable for him. I was told to have the hand behind the back for safety reason and that is the top priority at this point. However, in many videos it seems that hand flies out as the pitch is coming in anyway, so behind or near the leg may be a good option. We'll give it a try.

redbird - I have had Aidan extend his arm prior to receiving due to him stabbing at pitches and basically popping the ball out of his glove. I see where he needs to move it back now that he has advanced somewhat. It also seems that the new move of relaxing the arm prior to receiving has kind of automatically solved this when looking at the video from Saturday's game. Much more comfortable and catching with the arm not as extended. Thanks for that advice and I will keep an eye on it.

S. Abrams - Thanks for your concern about playing other positions. That is something we struggle with. Simply by virtue of Aidan being a little ahead of the curve in our league as far as catcher's go, catching has become his primary position. Not boasting, it doesn't take a lot to get ahead of the curve when few other have any desire to learn a position. He likes to catch, but he does play other positions. He pitches, plays first, third and left. We make a point of not having him "catch up" for coaches during practice. He is out taking infield and fly balls with everyone else.

Here's some stuff from Saturday's game.



video link








FUN STUFF!!

quote:

Originally posted by redbird5:
"Relaxing" the glove acts as similar to a trigger in a swing.

Another "trigger", is a counterclockise turn of the hand after setup (start with the thumb pointed down to 6 o'clock and rotate it 4 o'clock as the pitch comes).

Either way, "re-presenting" your mitt allows you to receive the ball correctly.

GED10DaD