DRILLS TO PRACTICE AT HOME
PING PONG DRILL
The catcher is in full gear and the parent/coach is at least 3 feet
away throwing ping pong balls at the catcher. The catcher does this drill first without a glove, then with a glove.
It teaches the catcher to keep the ball in front of her at all times no matter where the ball goes.
REACTION DRILL
The purpose of the first drill is to get beginning catchers used
to seeing a flying object come directly at their face. Have the catcher (in her face mask, helmet and chest protector)
stand up against a wall with her hands behind her back. The parent/coach stands 1-2 feet in front of the catcher and
lightly throws balls so that they hit the catcher in the mask. As the balls are hitting the mask, encourage the catcher
not to blink--a natural reaction for everyone! It's not as easy as it sounds, and it will take several sessions before
the catcher truly become adept at overcoming the impulse to close her eyes and watch the ball all the way into (eventually)
the glove.
The second drill is to work on quickness and response time.
Have the catcher, in full gear, crouch 4 feet away from a wall, facing the wall. The parent/coach stands 2 feet behind
the catcher and throws the ball over the head of the catcher and at the wall. The catcher cannot see the throw and must
react to where it rebounds off the wall. Insist on good side-to-side movement, containing the ball with the shoulders,
and staying square behind the ball. As the catcher gets more proficient at this drill, vary the speed and angles at
which the ball comes off the wall.
REPETITION DRILL
The best thing for catchers is repetition. Throw 50 balls in
the dirt for blocking the plate, then make them throw 50 to second base off the pitch. A good drill for fly balls is
to have the catcher crouch with the parent/coach on their knees in front off the catcher, with ball in hand stretched out
so the catcher can see it like a pitch coming in. Then "flip" the ball in the air in different directions so that she
has to practice getting the mask off and finding the ball.
BACKSTOP
One thing I like to have my catchers work on is retrieving balls near the backstop and making
the play at the plate.
I dump a bucket of balls along the backstop behind the catcher. The catcher starts in her usual
stance; the pitcher starts approximately halfway to home. On "GO" the catcher must turn around, go for a ball, look quickly,
and backhand the ball to the pitcher running in. The pitcher works on fielding the ball and making the tag.
We do this
30+ times until the catcher is able to accurately place the ball at the plate on repeated tries. This drill has improved the
speed and accuracy of the catcher's throws and the effectiveness of this play. It also helps alleviate some of the pitcher's
anxieties about making the play on a girl stealing home.
In our last game, we caught two girls trying to steal home
on past balls. The opposing coach stopped sending his players from third. Need I say more?
DRAWING A CROSS
A significant thing that is not stressed in these other drills is the throwing mechanics.
A
catcher should always bring their hand up to their ear and throw (of course with a snap). When a catcher throws their glove
(which should be extended towards their target) should cross their chest when they throw. To gain speed on the throw down
to second, a catcher has to pop-up after they have caught the ball. When they pop-up their feet should be at a 90 degree angle
to what they were at before.
A good drill to practice the popping up on steals is drawing a cross. Crouching down on
one of the lines a catcher should be able to pop-up and land on the other line that crosses it.
*good practice
for throwing correctly is holding onto your ear as you pop-up each time*
POP-UP
Here is a good catching drill that our catchers do at every practice.
The catcher is
in ready position with all the gear on. The parent/coach stands behind the catcher. The person in back tosses the ball high
into the air and yells "ball" and the catcher imediately throws the mask & helmet and gets the ball before it hits the
ground.
It is harder than it sounds and is great practice!!
SIDE TO SIDE SPEED
I have been a high school catcher for 3 years now. A very good drill we did to enhance speed
and the ability to move from side to side quickly was to get behind the plate in full gear, and have the coach or pitcher
throw or pitch balls to both sides of you.
The point is to be able to get your body in front of the ball so it never
gets away from you. You do this for 50 balls once at the beginning and once at the end of practice. It's very tiring because
you don't have time to get up and walk back to the plate.
It is also a speed drill. Try it. It works!
SOFT / QUICK HANDS
The catcher, without a glove and hands shoulder width apart at stomach height, tosses ball from hand
to hand in 2-3' arcs for 30 seconds.
Gradually decrease height of arc and speed up hand transfer until ball is flying
back and forth between hands in a straight line.
Got that down? Then try it with eyes closed! The idea is not to drop
the ball.
WILD
BALL
Keep a full bucket of balls on the pitchers
mound, and throw every ball in the dirt in front of the catcher. Vary the pitches - some to the glove side, some right at
the catcher, and some to the backhand side. After throwing all the balls in the bucket into the dirt (to practice keeping
the ball in front of you) there are usually many balls behind the catcher, against the fence or whatever backstop exists.
When the last ball is about to be thrown, the pitcher (parent/coach) must warn the catcher.
Once this ball gets
by the catcher, they have to get every single ball as fast as they can. When the last ball gets by the catcher, the pitcher
(parent/coach) must grab the empty bucket and run to home plate. The catcher must make accurate throws to home so the "pitcher"
can refill the bucket. Any wild throws (throws past the pitcher covering home with the bucket) must be retrieved by the catcher.
Try timing this event for increase in speed.
