Hey guys - I'm back to coaching catchers after MANY years of not doing it. When I was head coach I always had a great coach in charge of them so I really never messed with them. I would just like a refresher on some old stuff that I used to do and some of the new ideas that have come out in the past few years that help.
I would love to hear about some basic, skill specific drills for catchers and overall general drills, agilities to increase mobility behind the plate.
The school I am at now is a lot smaller than what I'm used to so I got to take a kid and create a catcher out of him. I'm lucky because the starter is a returning all state senior so I'm going to keep him sharp and fresh. The majority of my time is taking this freshman and making him a lot better to hopefully step in next year or at least by his Junior year.
His biggest problems are
Receiving - there are sometimes where he just misses pitches from guys who throw a little harder. We got a kid who can bring it mid to upper 80's and there is no way I'm going to put him back there right now but I need to find some way to teach him how to catch guys like that.
Throwing - his mechanics are terrible right now. His elbow drops and he leads too much with his elbow which creates the push. But to me the biggest problem is his arm speed is so slow. Not sure what to do here other than tell him to speed it up.
Any help be appreciated it guys.
When life hands you gators - make Gatorade
