catching is easy. catching well is an art. youre involved in ever play. you can see the whole field. you can(if youre knowledgeable of the game) control everything.
ive been catching since i was a kid. 12 maybe. then HS, college, leagues after college, then softball, leagues, major tournaments etc. now that im old and fat i dont do it much. knees and all. still no position id rather play in a serious game. not those relaxed beer leagues tho.
some tips. i will assume you are righthanded.
to start, center yourself on the plate. have your left foot every so slightly closer to the pitcher than youre right foot. i cant give you inches or feet measurements on how far back you should be from the batter. its all kinda feel. get close . if you think youre gonna get hit, move back. if you get hit there, move back a little more. if you notice youre nowhere near getting hit, move forward. try catching some batting practice to get a feel for it.
get low. a catcher who squats sitting straight up does nothing but block the umpires view. it also causes you to have to lunge for every pitch thats not right at your glove. my ass was sitting between my feet.
do you play bunting and stealing? if so you will have to lift your ass up a little in your squat while keeping your upper body bent over. stay on your toes.spread the feet apart a lttle more for balance and ease of shifting to one side or the other.
can your pitchers hit spots? if so you should move your whole body around to where you want the ball. not just the glove. always want the glove center of your body for a target. if i want the ball on the inside corner of the plate to a right hander, i will sit on the inside corner. what does that mean? drawn an imaginary straight line from the back of the inside egde of the plate back to where you are. that line should be hitting you in the crotch. it is the sMe thing for the other side of the plate. this way if you want a pitch on the first base side of the plate, youre not lunging with the glove to catch it. youre sitting there waiting for it. it can and usually wil get you more calls that are actually off the edge of the plate. if the ump gives you just off the corner, move an inch or 2 more out. keep going out nin smaller increments until the ump doesnt give it to you anymore. then move back in that one increment .
dont "over" frame pitches. meaning dont frame every single pitch, especially ones that are not close to strikes.umps will be less likely to giv you that close call if youre trying to make a ball that almost hit the batter look like a strike. by framing it means turning the glove and wrist in certain ways to make a ball appear as to be a strike. ive sen a lot of guys who are new to catching try to frame every single pitch. if its not close to being a strike, dont bother, if its just off the edge, snap that glove. also frmaing is not big wide sweeping of the arms. arm should really be fully extended and not move. the wrist and angle of the glove is what moves. and please. do not frame by pulling everythig into the center of the zone. it infuriated me when i see other guys doing this. just little motions. small increments. i'll explain
first, give your target with a motion of the glove. then slide over to be lined up where you want it. as the pitch is about to be delivered your glove should be low, down below your knees. for low pitches, youre glove obviously stays there, nice and low. just below the path of the ball. as youre about to catch it, you bring it up a bit. this way your arm motion is moving into the strike zone. not stabbing downward out of the zone. as you make the catch your glove gets rotated upwards a bit while the arm tries to remain relatively in place. this gives the appearance that you moved your arm and glove upwards and stopped right where you caught it. all the while you probably caught it 3 or 4 inches lower.
i like to catch everything low with my arm out, fully extended. if i were to catch it close to my body the ball had more time to travel further thus get lower. its just the opposite with borderline high pitches(unluess it a riser). on high ones i want to catch closer to me so as to give to ball that extra 2 feet or so to be lower. for pitches to my glove side, from my left shoulder outwards, you want to catch it with your thumb pointed up. start with your glove just a tad further out than the path of the ball,m bringing it in as you catch it. as you catch the ball you curl your hand inwards so as to be able to see into the glove a little. now you dont want to do it so your looking directly into the mit, thats too much. just a simple 90 turn is enough. by thumbs up i mean...extend your glove arm out fully. turn your hand so your thumb is pointing up. your fingers out to the left.
for balls on the other side of your body you should be catching t thumbs down. agaun curl your hand and wrist inwards. this will bring the ball and glove in towards the plate a bit more. and hold it there. dont go dragging it 6-8 inches in towards the center of the plate more. for balls to my right i will usully drop my left knee to the ground. this gives me a little mor reach while staying as low as i can ths giving the ump the best view possible. anything to my left, i just lean into it ever so slightly.
thats the basics. hope i didnt miss anything. its late.
catching really is the best position on the field. if you have good teams, a solid pitcher and love it. i LOVE it. my inner thighs would be black and blue all summer. my arms would have seam marks. i wouldnt have it any other way
