As A Catcher - Learning Your Pitching Staff
To begin with you must be confident in your own skills, as you can't expect anyone else to trust you if you can't trust yourself.
The only method to build confidence is hard practice, practice and more practice.
Always be available for bull pen work catching any pitcher who wants to throw.
They learn you...
You learn them.
The more reps you take as a catcher the better you become with the catcher's mitt, the better you learn to shift your weight to the ball without having to think.
Granted you may not have seen how they'll react in Real Game Conditions but you should have a pretty good idea of your pitchers' abilities and their ego.
Handling a pitcher who throws 78 mph with an average curveball and never questions your call, is much easier than a pitcher gifted with a 89 mph fastball and a slider with a hard downward break, who has the ego of an lion and the brains of a cuckoo bird.
You'll end up catching both types in your career and it's part of your job to handle them, to pull the best pitching performance out of them they can give, each and every game.
Here's a hypothetical approach to both pitchers when they're in trouble.
Going to the mound to talk to the arrogant air head you may have to con him into listening to you.
"You're fastball is really moving, but you're curve ball is unreal today.
Let's stay with the curve," pat him on the rump with your mitt and jog back to the plate before he has time to think.
In reality his fastball is flat and 3 mph slower than normal, which happens, but his ego would never allow him to admit it.
You have stroked him about his fastball, but insisted his curve ball was the best he'd ever thrown.
The curveball is what you went out to convince him to throw, and you did, just in a different manner.
Same scenario the 78 mph pitcher.
"What do think..
Curve or fastball?" you'll ask.
"Fastball" he may reply.
If you agree be sure to let him know you adamantly agree his fastball is the one to throw as to bump up his confidence.
Should you not agree " Really, I think you're able to do anything you want with your curveball today.
" "Ok, fine, if that's what you want.
" See he's not going to argue and you knew that going to the mound, but you wanted to calm him down a bit, taking the time to walk to the mound, and offer a little positive reinforcement.
In Pre-Game Warm ups you must work your pitcher and determine how his velocity is, does his curveball have good tight spin, how's his change up, everything you need to know about his pitching performance that day.
Mentally record your appraisal as you'll need it to initially call your game and later on to detect if any of his pitches increase or decrease in efficiency as the game progresses, as it occurs both ways.
You have come a far piece since opening day of practice.
You've learned the idiosyncrasies and abilities of each pitcher on the staff.
You have practiced until your own skills are finely tuned and ready.
The only method to build confidence is hard practice, practice and more practice.
Always be available for bull pen work catching any pitcher who wants to throw.
They learn you...
You learn them.
The more reps you take as a catcher the better you become with the catcher's mitt, the better you learn to shift your weight to the ball without having to think.
Granted you may not have seen how they'll react in Real Game Conditions but you should have a pretty good idea of your pitchers' abilities and their ego.
Handling a pitcher who throws 78 mph with an average curveball and never questions your call, is much easier than a pitcher gifted with a 89 mph fastball and a slider with a hard downward break, who has the ego of an lion and the brains of a cuckoo bird.
You'll end up catching both types in your career and it's part of your job to handle them, to pull the best pitching performance out of them they can give, each and every game.
Here's a hypothetical approach to both pitchers when they're in trouble.
Going to the mound to talk to the arrogant air head you may have to con him into listening to you.
"You're fastball is really moving, but you're curve ball is unreal today.
Let's stay with the curve," pat him on the rump with your mitt and jog back to the plate before he has time to think.
In reality his fastball is flat and 3 mph slower than normal, which happens, but his ego would never allow him to admit it.
You have stroked him about his fastball, but insisted his curve ball was the best he'd ever thrown.
The curveball is what you went out to convince him to throw, and you did, just in a different manner.
Same scenario the 78 mph pitcher.
"What do think..
Curve or fastball?" you'll ask.
"Fastball" he may reply.
If you agree be sure to let him know you adamantly agree his fastball is the one to throw as to bump up his confidence.
Should you not agree " Really, I think you're able to do anything you want with your curveball today.
" "Ok, fine, if that's what you want.
" See he's not going to argue and you knew that going to the mound, but you wanted to calm him down a bit, taking the time to walk to the mound, and offer a little positive reinforcement.
In Pre-Game Warm ups you must work your pitcher and determine how his velocity is, does his curveball have good tight spin, how's his change up, everything you need to know about his pitching performance that day.
Mentally record your appraisal as you'll need it to initially call your game and later on to detect if any of his pitches increase or decrease in efficiency as the game progresses, as it occurs both ways.
You have come a far piece since opening day of practice.
You've learned the idiosyncrasies and abilities of each pitcher on the staff.
You have practiced until your own skills are finely tuned and ready.