Yesterday I was told that when throwing, I don't use any lower body strength. He wasn't totally able to explain how I can start using my lower body strength in my throws. Does anyone know what I can do to use strength from my legs? Thanks.

I too was told this last year.

He said when I was throwing down to 2b that I would pop straight up and rely only on my upperboddy strength to throw the ball,instead of staying in a lower athletic position when delivering the ball.

I think you may be raising up to soon when throwing down and relying on your arm,instead of driving through with your legs

A lot of times a catcer cannot use his lower body fully because he has a short time to get the ball to 2nd.
Using the lower body is finishing a pitch and letting the hips rotate and the leg to lift. many pitchers don't allow the body to folloe through and start deaccelerating early and not takind full advantage of the body thrust to the plate.

I caught for the first time in about a month today, I had a partially torn ACL, and after reading about technique and driving with your legs on throwdowns, I made a throw, and it was absolutely perfect, for me anyways. I nailed the glove, right in the perfect spot, with tons of speed on it. I now know how to use my lower body strength, and it will help me throw out lots more runners.

We had a game tonight

It was supposed to be my night off,but when our 2nd string catcher was blowing it up I was put in.First guy that got on I gunned down.Reason why I could get it to the 2b so quick was because I was able to stay low

Adam,
could you be a little more specific? you sound very convincing. Also, where did you read everything? Thanks alot man...

I'm not really sure how I got it, it kind of was like an epiphany. It just kind of worked for me. I guess it was from reading all of these tips andsuch because I've been of for 2 months, and I have been visualizing all of my technique, and now my stance is better, i throw better, and I have been blocking better. On using my lower body, I kind of sort of fell forward towards second. Not realy falling, but when I received the ball, I kind of leaned forward, and had to use my legs to keep up, and I ended up using it. I can't really explain it, it just kind of happened.

quote:

Originally posted by Catch43:
Yesterday I was told that when throwing, I don't use any lower body strength. He wasn't totally able to explain how I can start using my lower body strength in my throws. Does anyone know what I can do to use strength from my legs? Thanks.

Stay low, receive the ball close to your body, use your legs and hips to power the ball.

To do this, turn your front shoulder toward second base immediately after receiving the ball (you can use your front elbow as as a guide / pointer) and get your weight transferred to your back foot. Then push hard off your back foot and rotate your hips toward 2B as your arm comes around --- staying as low as possible the entire time.

Thats a great description, OnBaseball. Thanks.

Another way to think of this is by focusing on your nose. From the moment you catch the ball, try to make your nose should move only toward second base. It should not stray off line either left or right, and it should not move up before moving toward the base.

This requires proper footwork (to keep the nose online) and it will also prevent standing up to throw.

Yes, there will unavoidably be a certain amount of your "nose" raising up during the move from the crouch to the throw, but it should be a result of the leg drive/foot work/throwing motion rather than a distinct "standing up and throwing" motion.

Standing up to throw is the most common mistake I see among catchers at the HS level and below. It consumes a lot of release time and also lowers velocity - not much good about it.

The good news is it ain't all that hard to fix.