Young catchers, how many innings a week?

If you are playing 4 games as you note then every other game will be fine

I never let my catchers catch both ends of a double header. It is just too much for anyone, much less a kid who might not let you know that it is too much.

TR's statement works for me.

i was wondering since neither of the responses yet have touched on it...is it a bad thing if a catcher is catching both ends of a doubleheader or every game in a particular season?

geoff,

My son is a C for our 11U team. I really watch the innings I put on him. Over the last few years, we have developed 3 others to catch and our team is better for it. We select which games to catch him and rotate him into other positions. I am not worried about overusing his arm but I am very concious of his knees.

Hi, Also agree with the two pervious post. I believe that it's not necessary for him to catch both games. The legs need rest just like a pitcher's arm at this age. I have coached travel pony and outside travel teams and usually have 2 or 3 catchers available.
It also lets him play other positions and lets him throw some days, if not a starter then maybe a releiver. If he's a catcher he must have a good arm so why not let him pitch as well.
Pony playoff's are long with at least 4 tourney's and then district and on further...
You could just have him take a day/game off and just dh/eh keeping his bat in the line up. He like my son have alot of baseball to play still before high school so why burn him out just for the glory now of catching all the time. His leardership will be noticed on and off the field I am sure. Save his legs!!!
sorry folks didn't mean to ramble....

Just my opinion….
Overusing a catcher is more of just “wearing him out” rather than doing damage to his body. The way a catcher uses his legs is very different that the way a pitcher uses his arm. A great amount of damaging force is being put on a pitcher’s arm when he pitches whereas muscle fatigue is the culprit of the catcher. I feel as if knee problems aren’t necessarily the result of catching but I’m sure if there is a problem with the knees it would be aggravated by the continual flexing of the knee. Knee savers do distribute the weight more evenly and allow the catcher to “relax” his muscles and joints more while squatting. When my son first started catching he would have soreness in the groin, legs, and knees, but only because his body was not conditioned. The more he caught the better his legs felt. Keeping the body hydrated is also important. Catchers’ bodies lose a tremendous amount of fluids while catching which will lead to muscle cramps and soreness. So how much is too much? In my opinion a catcher in “game shape”, even a pre-high schooler, should be able to catch a game a day without any problems...but...a double header behind the plate, especially in hot weather, is asking too much from a kid.
Fungo

Fungo,

I agree. My son has been forced into catching both ends of a DH before and he was worthless the next day. I could see him dehydrate even though we poured fluids through him the night before.

My son is a 14 year old catcher.

He has once or twice caught both games of a doubleheader, and it was too much. I think at his age 9 innings in a day is about it. So he could easily enough go one full game and two innings in another.

I think four games in a week is not a problem. During the course of this summer I expect he will catch 55 games or so, without too much wear and tear.

About hydration: I agree it is totally important. The wierd thing about water is: if you are thirsty it is too late for it to help you much.

If I know it is going to be hot and my son has a game, I will start 24 hours prior to the game and make him down glass after glass of water. He rolls his eyes, but drinks it.

So all day the day before the game, and all day of the game, I'll have him drink drink drink.

It has a noticeable effect on reducing fatigue during the game.

Another question. Do those of you that have multiple catchers pair them up with pitchers? In other words, do your catchers only catch certain pitchers?

Callaway,

Sometimes. Usually we put a struggling pitcher with a better catcher to get his confidence up. We encourage him to throw off speed and keep the ball down. Having a solid C who can block will raise his confidence.

We have had all the discussions about pitchers now we are working on the catchers. Maybe ther will have rules for innings caught for them. What is going on here? Come on common sense. Double headers yes if it 95 degrees and all that. I know I an old timer but sometimes I wonder.

Will, there won't be any guidelines for catchers any time soon. heck, they can't even agree on pitching rules.

redbird

Why do you have pitching rules? Because coaches dont have common sense. common sense dictates you do not let your pitcher throw x amount of pitches and then come back after x days rest. I liked to win just as much as the next guy. But winning a baseball game or a championship should be a little down on the list of priorites
when considering the well being of your players.

Will,

I totally agree. However, we are usually the minority as far as coaches go. Not on this board, but in relation to th enetire population.

Will

The problem, particularly with the Pre-HS teams that have an abundance of "dad" coaches is that too many have limited knowledge or experience with regard to safety. I see it all the time. These little guys are being over pitched by anyone's standards. It is sad that more care and common sense isn't taken, but the level of knowlege simply isn't there. Without limits, many of these kids futures will be over before they ever reach the more experienced HS coaches.

Baseball beyond Rec for Pre-HS players is here to stay. It is growing exponentially, as is the potential to really hurt some of the kids. It just makes sense to try to limit as best as possible and the more noise made about it the better.

I totally agree with your sentiments, unfortunately, there is way too much ignorance guiding an abundance of young futures. JMO.

R.