Catching

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Permalink Reply by Jon Crouch on February 3, 2010 at 10:57am

Ryan,

My 11U catchers we have them do the team warm up ( Cross over leg bends, bend over reach for the toes stretch, arm rotation circles forward and backwards , grab the elbow and pull toward the shoulder both arms, then raise arms up and grab elbow from behind the head both arms and jogg from acroos the outfield and back.) Then for the cactchers I have them do 3 reps of from squat postion to throwing postion. Then get them back into a squat postion and throw from about (5) 1 hoppers to the left to a block postion and same for the right. The team warm up gets their arms loose , my choice is not to have them throwing to much before game time. they get a good work out as the game goes along.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Easler on February 3, 2010 at 12:05pm

Hi,

I'm not Mike Easler, I'm a partner with our company, "Conditioned to Hit"
I'm a strength & conditioning coach, so what I recommend the most for catchers is to make sure the hip flexors get plenty of stretching. If you work from the squat position, the hip flexors will become short and tight. Also, glute (butt muscle) strength is highly important.
As far as stretch selection..anything is better than nothing. Do stretches that are easy to teach (especially to young kids) and make sure the hips and hip flexors are getting plenty of attention.
Stretches for the arms and upper body can be done with the other players.
Please contact me if you have further detailed questions.
thanks,
Brandon Smith CSCS
www.conditionedtohit.com
brandon@conditionedtohit.com

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Permalink Reply by Michael on February 3, 2010 at 12:22pm

Your basic stretch routine will work just fine............However, the key area will be the hip flexors due to the nature of the position. Those hip flexors will get tight repeatedly. Hamstrings will need work. Plus, low back strength will be a plus.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Freitas on February 3, 2010 at 12:43pm

so to stretch the hip flexors try putting the instep of your right foot on a bench and do a knee bend with your left leg.
then the other direction is similar to sitting on a bench and crosing your right leg over your left knee and applying pressure down on your the inside of your right knee, keeping your back straight in good posture. Use slow steady movpements and hold for 15-20 seconds, then alternate.
Always warm up with a short jog and exercise routine before stretching because warm muscles stretch better than cold ones.
Tell players the importance of stretching for their speed, agility and overall ability so they can really do it, even if no coaches are around to make them do it.
pf

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Permalink Reply by Joe Wilkins on February 3, 2010 at 1:25pm

I was a coach at Wake Forest last year and I recorded one of our pre-game stretches that can be used for position players and pitchers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mRww5rQkTw

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Permalink Reply by Bill Stanton on February 3, 2010 at 2:40pm

here is Joe's video:

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Permalink Reply by Joe Wilkins on February 3, 2010 at 1:28pm

Here is a video from a Wake Forest pre-game static stretch from the '09 season: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mNemAq276w&feature=channel

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Permalink Reply by Bill Stanton on February 3, 2010 at 2:41pm

here is Joe's pre-game static stretch. Thanks for sharing. Great stuff!

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Permalink Reply by HENRY MUNEVAR on February 5, 2010 at 1:54am

781 891 0621 STREACHING IS GOOD. I SAY GET THE BODY READY TO PLAY. LESS CHANCE OF INJURY. FOLLOWED BY CALISTENICS THEN SHORT RUNS, FOLLOWED BY SPRINTS. LAST THING THAT A PLAYER DOES IS PICK UP A BASEBALL.

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Permalink Reply by Coach Bill Ayres on February 5, 2010 at 11:48am

Ryan,

Stay away from static stretching. In other words stretching when the body is not moving. This kind of warm-up has been around forever and it has been proven NON BENEFICIAL! It actually promotes injury. Have your catchers do little hop and skips while moving forward( like down the foul line ) . Spiderman, where the kids get on all fours and crawl moving sideways two strides to the left, then two to the right.

Check out the US Tennis Association. They have a great warm-up routine that uses dynamic stretching. They DO NOT allow static stretching anymore, neither does the US womens soccer team. Look at Coach Wilkins video down below. That is how you want to warm ALL your kids up, regardless of their position.

Just because coaches have done a certain workout routine with their kids for 40 years does not make it correct! I have been a pitching instructor for 25 years and I don't do today what I used to do in training. Some coaches can be students of their sport and some just continue to do the same old, same old.

Again, great video by Coach Wilkins. He gets it!


Hope this helps

Coach Bill Ayres
www.3up3downpitching.com

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Permalink Reply by Anthony Fruhling on February 6, 2010 at 12:12pm

You said stay away from static stretching and that Coach Wilkins gets it but the title of one of his videos even says static stretching. I totally agree that you stretch while in movement it's a lot more helpful to your body.

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Permalink Reply by Mike Greene on February 7, 2010 at 8:03pm

After our normal team stretching that we do before practices and games our catchers have a drill that they do to continue getting ready for the game. They take a basketball, standing about 15 feet apart and throw the ball back and forth. After receiving the ball they pop as if they were going to throw down on a steal attempt. The key is they alternate sides. They do not pop only to their normal throwing side, they pop to both sides. This drill not only helps with their pop times and reactions but it also balances them out so one side does not become dominant from a muscle standpoint. Knock on wood, but we have not had a catcher injury to the legs or hips since we started doing this drill. As a note, during our team stretches we spend a lot of time working on legs, both individually and with partners. Our school season is Feb. - April, so we are out in colder weather a lot. Getting legs stretched correctly has really cut down on overall injuries on the lower half.

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