photo Good Catchers Call a Thinking Game
Rayla Allison

When the catcher is calling the game, planning her next move against the batter's next move, the catcher will signal for the pitch with "three strike zones" in mind. Yes, there are actually three strike zones for each batter.

  1. The area that is the hitter's strength is called the hitter's strike zone.
  2. Where the umpire will call strikes is called the umpire's strike zone
  3. That area into which the pitcher throws her most effective pitch against the batter is called the pitcher's strike zone.

Every pitch that is called should travel into the pitcher's strike zone or the umpire's strike zone, but never in the hitter's strike zone. (Refer to Figure 1)

 

 

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A wild pitch is not the only pitch that goes to the backstop, but is also the pitch that traveled into the hitter's strike zone and was hit for the RBI scoring double. When the pitcher is behind in the count, the pitch that is called should correspond to the umpire's strike zone as well as the pitcher's.

As the game progresses, a batter will respond differently in the sixth inning, with runners on and two outs, than she did in the first inning. A batter's weakness is only a weakness if worked effectively. If a batter has a problem hitting a drop inside because she is standing upright, holding her arms straight back, she would eventually adjust if the only pitch she faced was low inside.

The catcher should evaluate each batter on her individual weakness, remembering that every batter changes with the situation and that a batter cannot be repeatedly fooled. The catcher sets the batter up, having the pitcher throw to her strengths, but out of the strike zone. Then the catcher comes back by calling a pitch in a batter's weak area. Then the catcher keeps the batter off balance by calling change ups or by changing the tempo of the game with the time it takes her to call a pitch.

The catcher plays a game of chess when calling the pitches. She has to think out every pitch. How will it affect the batter? Where would the batter hit the ball if she makes contact? How will it affect the game situation, the number of outs, runners on, who is up next, inning, score etc., etc.? The catcher is thinking, "If I called this pitch in the first inning, could I still call it again, and when, to whom?

A good thinking catcher can make or break the average pitcher and certainly enhances the great ones.

Preparing to Catch a Foul Pop-Up

Do your catchers drop more than their share of "pop-flies"? Do you coach them by providing a method of preparation? Catching pop flies is as important in the bottom of seventh with a one run lead as any play in the book. Usually calling pitches, blocking the base and balls in the dirt, or throwing out runners are commonly taught each catcher. Most of the time we fail to work with her on catching simple pop flies. This can be costly. Why do we teach these things so that the catcher doesn't have to think and can make an immediate reaction to the pop up. Eliminating hesitation or circling around the plate like a drunken duck is the objective.

Following are some keys elements routines that each catcher should be put through or taught.

 

  1. Practice pop-up fly balls should be realistic as possible. Two handed catches and full body turns are important things to be taught. Face the ball. Some suggest using hand paddles and rubber balls to add difficulty.
  2. Teach the proper catching techniques. Make her use a catcher's or first basemen's mitt. use two hands to catch the ball. The catcher should place herself with her back to the infield so that the ball will come to her rather than be forced to dive forward losing control. To catch a descending ball look for it over the top of the catcher's mitt. Hold it at shoulder height, with the fingers pointing up ready to clamp the ball.
  3. The catcher should be directed by her teammates as she seeks to position herself under the ball. .She's got to listen to her mates and learn to trust their directioning. Good catcher will back off on a ball when called off by the must listen for the first baseman or third baseman who may have a better look at the ball. When called off she becomes a looker helping by blocking a base or calling the throw after the catch is made. Each of these infielders chasing the pop up has the responsibility to watch out for safety the other calling out hazards that the pop up chasing player may run into.

Experienced catchers Know how to read the ball off the bat. An inside pitch to a batter will veer off to opposite side of the infield of the batter for example. Generally pop-ups behind the plate, near the foul lines, and behind the corners, tend to drift back toward the field of play as they come down. Through experience, you can develop a whole set of expected responses of balls off the bat in relation to where and how fast their thrown. When the catcher realizes that the pop-up is in the batter's box area, she must reach up and grab the bottom of the mask and pull straight up, pulling the mask up and away from her face. Once she locates the ball and its coming down, the mask is pitched out of her expected movement area usually in the opposite direction. She should never toss the mask until she has located the ball.

Finally a smart catcher will check out the layout of the field and park where the game is to be played. She'll camp out around home plate getting a feel of the place, the construction of the backstop and its rebounding potentials, the screen over the backstop and it's hang length or angle over the home plate batter's box area, things that can influence a potential pop up play. Distances to the backstop, the dugouts and any other obstacles that might present a problem need to be mentally measured.

Obvious things often not taken into account are the ground rules, the wind direction and strength, and direction of the sun, or evaluating glare from lights etc.