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THROWING &
CATCHING IS THE NAME OF THE GAME.
If you can't do it well,
you can't play hardball. It is not a coincidence that the best players we
see on our level are the ones with the best throwing and catching skills.
NOW is the time to develop these skills. If a player hasn't developed
proper throwing mechanics and catching skills by the time they're finished
with Little League (age 11-12), chances are remote they ever will.
There is no secret formula! It is repetition of proper form...and
practice, practice, practice. It will cost you NO money, requires NO
fancy equipment and all you need to do is put in the time and effort to
"play catch."
Unfortunately, all too often pracice becomes an arduous time-consuming
task; viewed by the kids as ALL WORK and NO PLAY! But it's no big secret
that the kids appreciation of baseball, as well as their ability to enjoy
playing the game, seems to grow proportionately with their ability to
compete.
PLAY CATCH:
I Know, I Know.
It's Boring!
(See
Drills below for fun & challenging variations.)
This is the single most important activity you, as an adult, can do to
enhance their baseball abilities. Playing catch
properly
teaches and reinforces two of the most important aspects of the game:
catching the ball & throwing the ball.
CATCHING THE BALL:
Always have your player
move toward the ball and try to catch it in the center of the body with
two hands. There are many players who still possess a real fear of the
baseball. Going to the ball and becoming confident in their ability to
catch the ball is the only way to overcome this fear. The obvious benefit
of catching with 2 hands is the prevention of the ball popping out of the
glove. Another important benefit of catching with 2 hands is the quick
transition of the ball from the glove to the throwing hand. Another key
element in playing catch is "Fingers Up, Fingers Down," depending on
whether the ball is above or below the belly button. Discourage
"slapping" at the low ball with the fingers up. Throw them line drives,
ground balls, pop ups, short hops, etc. Have them get low on ground
balls. Get that head down. Look for the button on top of their hats as
they field grounders. (You should be able to see it when they are doing
it properly.)
THROWING THE BALL:
Be sure to always have players stretch their arms. DON'T let them pick up
a ball until their arm is warm. When throwing the ball, get those front
(glove) shoulders pointing straight at the the target. Step toward the
target when throwing the ball, and follow through. Get those arms bent at
the elbow, up above the shoulder, when throwing the ball ("Down, Back &
Up").
(Coaching
Cue:
Thumb to the Thigh,
Knuckles to the Sky.) Elbow comes through first followed by hand and
ball, fingers on top of the ball. Use the 4-seam grip. Follow through on
your throws by bringing the
Throwing Side Hip
around on your follow through. In throwing, work on keeping the throwing
elbow UP. Don't sling it, push it or side-arm it. Throwing "over the
top" increases strength, velocity and accuracy. It also protects the arm
from injury.
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You can play catch almost all year round. Try to encourage the kids to
keep their gloves close by in the offseason. Playing catch develops
throwing techniques, receiving techniques and footwork more than any
single thing you do.
Talk to your players' parents. Stress to them the importance of proper
catching and throwing techniques. Encourage them to play catch with their
kids.
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LONG TOSS:
This is a great way to
develop arm strength and it helps lengthen a players' arm. This is
especially useful for players who "push" the ball in their throwing
motion.
Start the players at 30 feet apart and gradually have them back up,
eventually getting to 75 80 feet. Be sure your players aren't straining
to throw. Have them utilize the "crow hop."
QUICK HANDS:
Separate players into
pairs. Place them 30 40 feet apart. (You should now have 2 lines of
players.) Create a race to see which pair can successfully throw and
catch the most times in a 30-second period. If a ball is thrown away or
dropped, they must go back to zero!
RUNNING BASES:
Put a fielder at both
first and second base. Put helmets on your runners. Let the kids just
run wild between 1st & 2nd base. Tell your fielders to get as many outs
as they can in a 1-minute period. This is a fun game for both runners and
fielders alike, as the fielders must learn to both throw and catch "under
pressure" at a fast pace. They really need to be able to catch and
throw the ball very quickly. They will also have to throw accurately.
They will be forced to learn how to apply fast tags. They will start to
understand the do's and don'ts of rundowns. This is a great learning game
that happens to be a lot of fun.
REMEMBER:
Throwing
and catching improvement is done over time, with literally thousands of
repetitions.
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