What is the Coach looking for??

I think you can teach a lot of aspects of catching (blocking, footwork, etc). What I want to see is a kid who 1) wants to be a catcher, 2) who I think has the toughness and leadership needed for the position, and 3) I like to see athleticism (real deep stuff there, huh?).

On point 1- I think catcher is unlike any other position on the field in terms of the amount of work it requires to be good. It's also a position that I think comes least naturally to most guys. If a guy doesn't want to be a catcher then it's never going to work. I had a guy a couple years ago as a freshman who was an athletic centerfielder who had issues with fly balls. I talked to him and told him that I thought he was a great fit to be a catcher. His reaction? "Ummmm, well, uhhhh, I've never caught before, and, well, I mean....I'll give it a shot but I don't know....". That's not an exact quote, but it told me what I needed to know. I didn't bring it up again.

On point 2- I want a leader behind the plate and someone with some mental toughness. Does it suck to be a catcher sometimes? Yeah, it does. You're catching bullpens and wearing hot gear and squatting all day and balls are bouncing off your forearms and thighs and drilling you in the cup. Especially at this age there's always a couple pitchers on a team that are "projects" that are just brutal on catchers. You know, the 6'2" freshman LHP with a decent arm but no clue where the ball is going? I don't want my catcher b!tching and moaning about having to do the things that are required of a catcher. I want someone who is going to show up and go to work. He's going to set the tone for the pitchers. He's loud when he needs to be on the field. He takes it personally when a ball gets to the backstop. I want a catcher that pitchers want to pitch to b/c he's set the tone that he's going to work for his pitcher.

On point 3- I think some folks think you can just stick any ole stiff behind the plate and be ok. I see a lot of lesser teams sticking their least athletic player behind the plate. I'm not sure if the thinking is that if the catcher is at least big then maybe he won't catch it, but maybe somehow his big body will stop the ball. I have no clue exactly what they're thinking. But I do think you need some basic level of athleticism as a foundation to build from. You don't have to be fast, but you need some quickness.

To summarize, I don't think you're looking for anything close to a finished product as a freshman. I would look for some things to build on. You don't have to have a cannon, but you do have to be willing to work on arm strength and work on throwing properly so we can maximize what we get out of your arm. You don't have to have dancer's feet, but you do have to be willing to put the work in to clean up footwork and eliminate wasted effort. I can teach you how to block, and then you're going to practice blocking ALL THE TIME (tennis balls, bullpens, etc). I guess what I'm saying is that a guy has a basic level of athleticism and the right mentality, I don't need anything close to a finished product behind the plate.

Great advice.. Thank you.I will pass this on to my son.

Depends upon the coach. Most don't know what the proper footwork or throwing technique is for a catcher However they can see how often the ball ends up in the backstop.

Most coaches can figure which guys can hit and which ones have good arms and will work around that. The whole point of Frosh and JV teams is to develope players for the varsity. As a general rule kids that can hit will play somewhere....

Good luck.

quote:

Originally posted by CollegeParentNoMore:
Depends upon the coach. Most don't know what the proper footwork or throwing technique is for a catcher However they can see how often the ball ends up in the backstop.

Ha! Well said! Focus on catching every ball that is thrown in the air, blocking every ball that is thrown in the dirt, and making quality throws to 2B. That will make a lot of coaches happy!

There's also something about catching that coaches want a kid who is going to set a tone with pitchers. It's more pronounced at higher levels, but the time to start getting in the right mindset is in high school.

Quick story: my son's freshman fall in college, one of the first times catching the pitchers off the field mound. The pitcher gave an ambiguous signal for what was coming, and my son got crossed up. No big deal - it's just a bullpen. But he doesn't want another curve when he is expecting fastball, so he called out "hey could you give me a little clearer signal?"

For the next pitch, the pitcher gave a hugely exaggerated sign that a curve is coming, dropping his glove from his chin to his knees with a sarcastic look on his face.

My son caught the pitch, and then without any hesitation threw the ball right back at him as hard as he could, as if he were throwing to second.

The pitcher gave it the ole', but caught it. From the coaching staff came chuckles, and from the seniors on the team, a few "attaboys."

The name of the position is "Catcher" lets start with that.

Catch, Block, Throw, Lead!

He needs to be the hardest worker at all of these aspects to the position.