Can a skinny girl be an effective catcher?

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There's an old saying:"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the

dog". If the girl has the basic ability and the desire to improve her skills, there are no size

limitations at any position, including catcher.

 

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Not to be rude, but I'm a realist. To me, saying something like that is optimistic to the point of foolishness. Even if a skinnier girl has equal ability with a lean, muscular (not fat) girl, a college coach will choose the muscular girl for the intimidation factor alone. That, and you can't help but agree that a skinnier girl is more likely to be hurt playing such a, for lack of a better word, brutal position.

 

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09,..I don't think you're being rude by stating your opinions based upon your experience, I just have never been intimidated simply by the size of a player and I don't think many players with experience are intimidated either. The dugout is the classroom, and every coach and player studies the ability of a catcher. Technique, speed, quick release, awareness of the runners and lead off tendencies, the ability to control runners, all these things and more go into judging the "intimidation" factor of a catcher. I've seen slightly built catchers play all day and I've seen larger catchers taken out by relatively innocent looking contact. EVERY position now is being filled by athletic players, and they come in all sizes.

 

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Thunder, you hit the nail on the head. Athletic girls will get the first look by college coaches. If players are athetic, colleges will find a place for them to play.

 

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Oh, I totally agree. Athleticism is definitely the main thing, but it seems to me that a smaller framed catcher (male or female) has less room to build and maintain muscle mass.

 

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I think the catcher dosent have to be huge but they must be at least average size to hold up over the long haul.
I have seen some "tough" smaller catchers with a lot of heart at U10,11,12 however, they generally move into other posistions as they get older (If they stay small).
Teams can get away with having a 80/90lb catcher for a few years however, once they get 13 and they are still small you have got to think is catching the right posistion.

The catching position takes a big toll on the body and no matter how big the heart of the player is eventually the body will break down.
Look at most of the training videos out for catching and you will not find too many small girls behind the plate as the model from high school on up.

Last year I was blessed with having two very good catchers. One was 5.0 185lbs the other was 5.4 about 130lbs at U12.

Both could set up and frame pitches and were leaders on the team with a "Catchers Attitude and Heart".

They both had diffrent catching styles. The hot humid days effected them equally during games but neather girl ever left a game because they were too tired. (However, I rarely caught one in girl back to back games so they stayed fresh).

The smaller girl was more a finesse catcher with long legs and long arms able to stretch out and get balls off the plate with her glove and she had good quickness to get up and fire the ball to any base.
On wild pitches she did not do quite as good of job using her body to keep the ball in front.
When she had plays at the plate she was quick enough to get into a posistion to avoid a major collision but still have her glove in a posistion to make the play at the plate. Her quickness also allowed us to play a stronger bunt defence as well.

Our heaver catcher used her body more to keep balls in front when needed and would throw to the bases from her knees. On plays at the plate she generally would charge up the line at the runner and more often than not the runner would just stop and get taged out. If it was too close to charge up the line she would get low and spring out at the advancing runner usually stopping them a foot or two from home. (She enjoyed the contact).
We gave up a little range on bunt defence but she was solid otherwise.

Two diffrent catching styles and size same good results behind the plate.

 

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Don't think it could've been better worded.

 

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I am a varsity assn't coach, I speacialize is catchers/catching. My choice would be a strong, fast, beast with agun for a arm, a straight A student, that is quick, fast and very coachable, and works hard everyday. However I live in the real world and those types of players don't come around much, if at all. So to answer your question, absolutely. Mentally tough, smart, coachable and leadership qualities, that is what I look for. Besides, who knows things happen to girls as they mature, maybe she will get stronger, bigger, no one knows. If she loves catching, then do everything to be a good catcher. If she enjoys it she'll work the hardest doing what she enjoys. Fo the record though a gun for an arm really helps

 

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You have to go on ability. If its the bigger girl then go with her, if she is the lesser of the 2 then you have to go to the smaller and quicker one. Blocking and the rest has to be taught and improved on no matter the size.

 

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SOME QUOTES TO LIVE BY ...

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do." - Bagehot

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go." - T.S. Eliot

"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever." - Lance Armstrong

I say .. go for it if you are willing to put in the effort .. it will be rewarded!

 

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If the player can control the running game, can stop balls in the dirt, then she can catch.

Kelsey Beers aka "Bean" played at Kenton Ridge was a heck of a catcher and trust me - she understood leverage and staying low on close plays at the plate.

She might have been 105lbs.

IMHO weight and size is not a factor at the advanced levels, skill is the governing criteria.

 

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OK Ballmagnet, I just found this post so here's mho...

It seems to me that your dd is on a team w/a "larger" catcher...ask yourself these things

1. does your dd get to catch? ?There are not many catchers large or small that can go all day back to back in 98 degree heat (exception the AWESOME catcher Johnnies has but I heard that even she was getting a bit worn down after 5 in a row) ?I would not have my dd play for a coach that as a rule catches my dd every game (except when there's an injury etc) since big or small it's too much

2. Are your dd's blocking skills good? ?I'll take a catcher (again big or small) who can keep the ball in front of her any day of the week cause if the ball is at the backstop, most days it doesn't matter how great your arm is, they'll get the base.

3. ?Yup, the "quicker, skinny" girl can get out to that bunt quicker, HOWEVER, I've seen a lot of bigger girls handle it too, and many times since the corners are playing in they many times have a better angle on that play.

I've been around this for a few years and can honestly say that I've never heard a coach say at tryouts, or games that he wants a "bigger" girl behind the plate. ?They want one who can get the job done regardless of size. That's why they test them at tryouts. ?The coaches look at their ability, can they block (using correct techniques, not just hand eye), can they throw, can they cover a bunt and I've never seen a tryout where they have a runner barrell into the catcher to see if they can handle it....The only time they may say something about size is if they're a BIG hitter too!

SKILLS REGARDLESS OF SIZE IS WHAT'S IMPORTANT. ?

 

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i am a 16u catcher and not the "typical" size for a catcher. im 5'6" and 120 lbs. i have been catching and starting for atleast 5 years now. SIZE DOESNT MATTER. as long as you have the techniques down you can out catch anyone. since she is small and skinny it gives her the ability to move quicker on her feet. if she loves catching and is willing to put a lot of time and effort into it, there is no reason she should have to change her position

 

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My DD caught about 40 games last year on our 16u team, She is 5'5" and 115lbs. Smaller Size can be helpful to get better umpire calls because she does not block out the umpire as much. I think we got more favorable calls because of this, both strikes and outs. ie. batter out of the box, stepping on the plate at contact, bunted ball hitting the batter out of the box etc...With a bigger catcher, she may block the umpires view and he can't call what he can't see...

 

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DD's interested in catching, we'll evaluate and have had girls with different builds playing this position. Look at athletics, arm strength, understanding of this position.

 

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You want a catcher who is quick, smart, fundamentally sound, with great blocking skills, cannon arm, and can play all day in any climate. It doesn't matter if the catcher is short, tall, thick, or thin.

Len

 

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Hell heck ya!! I've worked with just as many catchers who were small in stature as I have the larger girls. Size isn't an issue, skill, smarts, and quickness is an issue. They have to have a leader mindset as well, they need to run the field and be vocal. If anything, the bigger, slower girls make worse catchers than the little quick ones. Slow behind the plate will kill you! Just because they are little doesn't mean they aren't strong!

 

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my 10U DD is 4' 7" and barely weighs 70lbs. She's tiny to say the least. She's also a catcher. she has drawn solid reviews for ability to move behind the plate and her ability to block balls inside, outside and down the middle. her arm is still developing, though..but she's 10 and is working hard to improve. Her throws to second in August were two to three hops...yesterday in practice her throws to second were short hops right on the bag.
so, yes, skinny girls can make very good catchers. Especially if they are going to put in the time to work at it.

 

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I know of a college catcher (DIII) that was I'm guessing 5'3" and all of 110 soaking wet. She was fun to watch!

 

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There is a girl out of Mt. Gilead that I saw at the OSU clinic a few weeks ago and then I saw her again Saturday night at Grand Slam live pitching and hitting league. I think she plays for Lasers. She is small framed girl and I can honestly say that she is the BEST catcher I have seen in fastpitch. Lightning fast and a Rocket for an arm.