I've filmed my son's throws lately trying to figure out why he's not having as much success throwing runners out at second. On his release he turns his hand almost as if throwing a slider. Palm rotates out. What would be the effect of this? Also seems to be leaning too much to his left on follow thru. Any drills you guys know to work on this problem. Thanks so much for any help.

I think I know what you mean by leaning to the left during the follow through. I got in a little bit of a funk a few years ago doing that. One drill that really helped me stay straight was what I guess I call "the line drill." its where you gain a little bit of ground while doing your footwork up the first or third baseline. you want to pretty much stay on the line. However, another idea to stop the leaning would be to have him make throws to second while having someone stand in there and simulate a righty batter. And the batter will really crowd the plate and not give much room for your son to be falling over towards that side. It will help him go straight towards the target.

hope this helps because I did have a similiar problem during a stretch of games a few years ago and this was what corrected me.

A B C
- D


Make a plywood T. Distance between A - C is the width of the catcher squat stance. Distance B - D is the throw stride to second base. Paint circles about the diameter of the foot of the catcher in places A, B, C, D.

Drill:

1) Receive in the squat position with feet on A - C.
2) As catcher jump turns, right foot lands on B.
3) After throw, left foot lands on D.

You can now do repetitions and gauge where foot lands, accomplishing over time what defense wins championships is talking about.

PM me with e-mail address and I can send a pretty simple word drawing.

appreciate the responses. What about the release out of his hand. Looks like he's throwin a slider. Palm rotates out. We've been focusing since discovery on making sure he stays on top of ball for throw. We were thinking his arm slot is wrong and needs to release the ball a little further to the outside not so close to his head. What do you guys think, and is this a problem you've seen before. Thanks again!

I think the problem with release maybe the placement of the thumb. Dont have the thumb flat on the ball, but have the side of the thumb on the ball.

I think that Backstop-17 is on the right track with this one. It may not produce the correct footwork because it is all relative of how you apply what has been described.

However, in my opinion the poor throwing could be due to poor footwork. Start from the ground up....as is the case with most throwing problems it would be wise to address the feet first.

Backstop-17's advice will at least get the catcher square to second base.

This is all provided that his grip is good....fingers on top of the ball and thumb under the fingers.....

Another one of the throwing drills at Coach Griffin's Elite Catching camp (and on his DVD) is the throw and hold (or something like that) where after you throw you "stick the landing" i.e. balancing on your front foot with you back foot in the air. By doing this, you keep from falling off to one side and get your weight and throw going more forward. This drill can be done while warming up (as can your receiving drills, glove-hand exchange, footwork, etc.).

Here is a youtube of my 13yr old doing another drill but concluding with the stick and hold

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nNW1PBz9HJ4

(Note: as you can see my son didn't do it very well as his head still went to the side and causing him to be off balance. He did get a little better at it later, but you really need to be over your front foot with you back leg up in the air behind you...kind of like a figure skater)

Hopes this helps.

If you post a video of the bad throws it will be easier to suggest an adjustment. Different catching styles (i.e. jump turn or not) may result in different answers.

I'm with LOW337.

If he's falling off to the left on his throws then of course he's giong to come around the ball.

Once he gets working up the middle with his footwork, he'll have a much easier time getting and staying on top.

I think another good thing would be to think about working on the jab step method of throwing down so he can focus on what getting his front shoulder closed off feels like. It's slower but it gives him that extra lil step to get closed off. It'll also help him keep his momentum working straight forward.

After he gets the feel of where his body is/needs to be, he can eliminate the extra step just work on making up ground with the jump pivot method.

Good Luck!

If your catcher is pulling off to the left, this is a matter of either stepping off line, or flying open with his front side (left shoulder swiveling too much/too early).

When you do that, your throws will tend to sail (tailing action) to the right of 2nd base. Many times a player will try to compensate for that by "cutting" the ball, that is, throwing something like a cut fastball down to 2nd. So what you're seeing go on with his hand action may be an outgrowth of the problem of being off line with his base.

You need to get a look first of all, focusing on whether the off-line problem is a matter of where he's stepping or whether his upper body is flying open too soon.

The problem with the plywood board idea is that it forces you to work without your spikes, or else you'll slip. Plus, you have to look down to see where you're stepping, when you really want to train his eyes to pick up the target.

What I've done in this situation is to take the bench from a picnic table and lay it on its long side, with the seat side towards home plate. Place one end of the bench flush with the side of his left foot as he squats and then line up the bench on the throwing line to 2nd. Then have him work on catching and throwing down.

The first few times he will stumble over the bench and even fall over it. Then he will adjust quickly.

You can talk to a player about this all day and they will struggle with implementation. But if they fall on their keister a few times, the embarrassment factor is a powerful motivator.

I use this method with pitchers -- and batters, too --and it works wonders, and fast.

We used something similar to what Midlo is talking about. We would have catchers get up next to a fence with their left foot (in crouch) and work on throwing. Foot usually not dead flush next to fence but pretty close so they were forced to stay closed and throw somewhat over the top. If the footwork is right, they won't hit the fence and they will learn to stay closed.

Same concept, but when you use the higher barrier, there is the problem of the right hand hitting that barrier on the follow through. A bench is typically only about 12" high when turned on its side, so you don't have the problem of bruised knuckes (or a broken hand).

Fence is not a problem unless the footwork is wrong. If they come up too much over the left foot side they will know it before the throw even starts. If a kid has a problem leaning to the left, he'll never even throw because he'll bump into the fence as he comes up or loading to throw.

Hit the fence or fall over the bench and sprain a wrist...choose your poison. Catching ain't for everybody. We use a fence because every field has them and they provide some good pyscholgical references for getting the hips/shoulders square.

I'm basically just too lazy to drag a bench around a ballfield.

Man, I should have spell checked that one..try psychological. Sheesh.