Hey my names Cody im a junior at Ola High in McDonough,Ga. Im going out for the baseball team this year and im going our for catcher. Is there anything I can do to increase my pop time by myself. Anything i pretty much do i have to do on my own, my dad has Hodgkin's Lymphoma Cancer and my mom cant due much with anything just simply cuz im afraid ill hurt her. Is there anything i can due. Thanks

You need find a local trainnig facility. Ask your mom to help drive you to the facilities if thats possible for her. Also, find winter and catcher camps. Good luck with your high school tryouts.

i'll give you the advice my high school coach gave me...."Catch the ball then throw the S H I T out of it"

Simple things that you can do inside byourself though that will help are jumping rope and jumping squats. Jumping rope will make your feet quicker and jumping squats will strengthen your legs and get your body used to getting out of the crouch quick.

Other than that just long toss as much as possible.

OlaCatcher09,

I have sent you a Private Message

My advice: Listen to Catching Coach

Aside from working out,when Im at home I do stuff like squeeze tennis balls.I dont know if that has actually helped my pop,but until my throws start doing something bad,or get weak,Ill keep doing it

Find a field and a fence (or wall.) Put a trashcan at the fence and walk a straight line from it until you get the distance from home to second base. Set up home plate there. Take a bucket of balls. Get in your crouch with one of the balls in your glove (as if you just caught it). At a "trigger" (count down 3-2-1) transfer the ball, move your feet toward the target (can) and throw for accuracy. Work on your movement from crouch to throw. Work on a smooth, quick transfer from glove to hand while moving forward. Think about your footwork and follow-through. Go through all of the balls. Pick them up and start again. Work on making the throw from your knees, just in case you can make it following a block. The big thing will be making your transfer from glove to hand very quick and smooth (work on that over and over without throwing), then your footwork and balance, and using your back leg for power while following through with your body. Don't let yourself stand too high before the throw--stay low and zing it. Practice quickly finding the seams on the ball in your glove without looking. Throwing a 4-seamer will improve accuracy to 2nd.

It may be expensive to hire an instructor. If you can't do that, see if you can find an instructional video or even a book. Watch foot movement, ball transfer, and body mechanics over and over. Practice!

That's it! Great good luck.

Also, try doing some plyometric exercises that help develop your legs. For example: Put a bat on the ground. Practice jumping over it from side to side until you are tired. Add time as you get better. Do the same thing using only one leg-- change legs. Replace the bat with a crate or box when it gets easy. Do lunges/ swamp walking around a track.