I love this game! There are so many ways to approach it and get great results... here is Coach Wagner's thoughts (Rhodes U in Memphis)
Hey Doug,
Every time I recruit a catcher I ask if they are comfortable calling their own game – however, the value placed upon this ability varies between college coaches.
I am in the camp of – a catcher that can call her own game will develop into a better collegiate player because it demonstrates the athlete already has grasp of the nuisances of the game. My thought process, right or wrong, is basically as follows:
1. A catcher that calls her game has to understand the game in order to do so – situations, spins, individual batters, opposing team dynamics. A catcher that looks to the dugout for each pitch tends to disconnect from “thinking”. The position of catcher transitions from a leader, an individual that has been able to learn from their mistakes throughout their career, to an individual whom lacks confidence at the college level because, “what if I make a mistake?” These types of inner thoughts are a hindrance to any player, especially a catcher which is involved in every pitch. I don’t want a catcher who is looking to defer to others when the game is on the line. I want a catcher who has worked through every different scenario in their head before the batter enters the box…this can only happen if the catcher has been allowed to be an active participant in the game of softball, not a glorified backstop.
2. Softball players, 99.999% of them, are not going to make a living playing softball – in fact even those athletes that play professional still can’t make a comfortable living unless they receive endorsement deals. My opinion let the kids play the game. If a kid is a catcher, let them be a catcher. In my opinion, right or wrong, coaches that micromanage catchers are not only doing them a dis-service for their prospect of being “game ready” as a college freshman, but they are robbing the athlete of a lot of joy that comes with that position. The catcher gets beat-on every game – balls in the dirt, crouching for every pitch, risking getting hit with the bat or foul balls – if a catcher is expected to play the position, let ‘em PLAY the position. Let the kid experience the game of softball, it’s a great game; I’m not a fan of recruiting a catcher and trusting them to do all the dirty work but not trusting them to “think”.
I coached a D1 institution last season and in place of on field practice, we held catcher practices where we required our freshman catcher to meet with the coaching staff and watch MLB games; why? She was a freshman in college and had never called a game. Because of this disservice she lacked situational awareness and proper thought process behind the plate. We spent hours watching baseball and asking her to think out loud to develop an understanding of pitching and catching. Questions such as: How does the amount of outs affect our pitch selection? Paying attention to opposing hitters’ tendencies… How to work with a struggling pitcher by choosing locations rather than spins… How to manipulate a batter to feed a defense… these are all skills a catcher should have at the college level and unfortunately, fewer and fewer are entering the ranks with a full grasp of what it means to be a catcher because they aren’t allowed to learn. Too many travel and high school programs lose sight of proper player development, even if it means dropping a game or two, and focus strictly upon the teams winning percentage as a determinant for how successful a season was.
Although I have given my opinion throughout this email, one thing I can say with absolute certainty – if you are a travel ball coach and your catcher is comfortable calling her own game, it will only help the catcher receive collegiate attention.
Consider the following: If you have two travel catchers of equal size, arm strength, mechanics, hitting abilities, speed – one can call a game and the other can not – the catcher that calls her games will satisfy 100% of the college coaches (half the coaches want her to call the game and the other half wish to call for her). The individual that can not call her game, at best, will receive looks from 50% of the college coaches (half the coaches that want a true catcher will look elsewhere, and at best your prospect will only receive the attention of the half that wish to call pitches…that’s if all of those coaches have a need at catcher). Make sense?
Hope this helped – feel free to share this if you think it will help
Coach Wags
