By Ethan Guevin
Most baseball fans of all talents and ages would agree that there is nothing quite like a good game of catch. For the serious ballplayer, a good catch carries a different connotation and importance. This article will be the first of a five-part series for aspiring college baseball players on the importance and techniques of playing catch the right way. Playing focused catch is one of the quickest ways to improve your game. Think about how many throwing errors you made in the last year. Now, what if you could cut that number down by a third or even half? Not bad, right? The best part is you can cut down on some of these errors without spending any extra time. All it will take is a commitment to tightening up your catch play routine and sticking with focused, rather than sloppy catch.
Today we will take a look at an overview of playing catch the right way by examining the Do’s and Don’ts of catch play/warm-up catch. Many of the ideas discussed this week will be elaborated in the coming weeks so be sure to check back in for more information for your position(s).
1. DON’T: Start throwing hard without warming up your body/arm. Instead…
DO: Make sure you have stretched and are properly warmed-up before you start to throw. This should allow you to jump in and throw, without having to baby your arm or worry about injury from not being properly warmed-up.
2. DON’T: Step on the foul lines when you play catch or wear out the same patch of grass. This is one of the unwritten baseball laws. Tearing up the lines is bad on a number of levels. Just avoid this one. Instead…
DO: Stay off the line and move around enough so you don’t kill the grass completely.
3. DON’T: Talk while receiving or throwing the ball. You don’t have a conversation while catching or throwing in the game, so why would you do it in practice? The mental focus you require to make each rep count goes out the window with talk. This can be a hard habit to break since it is tempting to talk with your friends during warm-up catch. Instead…
DO: Talk in between throws or during stretching/warm-up, if you absolutely must talk with your buddies.
4. DON’T: Pat your glove with the ball before throwing. Yes, this allows you to build a comfortable rhythm, but it also builds a potentially bad habit that is very hard to break. You want to be able to take the ball out of your glove and throw it so when you have a play that doesn’t allow time for a glove pat, you don’t do it as second nature. Instead…
DO: Focus on your transfer and building a rhythm with your feet and the tempo of your playing catch. You shouldn’t be playing quick catch, but you also don’t want to take forever before getting rid of the ball.
5. DON’T: Pose with the ball before throwing it on every throw. Get in the habit of taking the ball out of your glove and throwing it in a fluid motion. Guys who pose before throwing often develop problems on throws when they have to rush. Instead…
DO: As mentioned above, focus on the transfer of the ball out of your glove to your throwing hand and create a fluid rhythm with your feet and body.
6. DON’T: Just throw the ball to the vicinity of your partner. This is a disaster waiting to happen. In games, you have a specific target you want to hit and practice should be the same. Instead…
DO: Pick out a specific target and work on throwing to it. Make it something small and see if you can consistently hit it.
7. DON’T: Get lazy with your feet and body. Yes, it’s easy to catch the ball doubled over at the waist or by reaching far to the side, but there are far more productive ways to catch it while better your overall game. Instead…
DO: Keep your feet and mind active. Force yourself to move to the ball and catch it in the center of your body. This will make adjusting to the ball second nature when it comes time to do so in the game.
These 7 Do’s and Don’ts should give you plenty to work on for now. We will look more in-depth as we move into our positional breakdown of proper catch in the next few weeks.
