Re: Don't Ever Teach Your Catchers to Frame a Pitc
Catchingcoach (Dave Weaver) has posted these same tips on several other websites over the course of the past few years. His posts on "framing" always generate a lively discussion on strikes and the strike zone. If you haven't visited his website- a link to it can be found on his OFC profile- it's worth a look, with tons of good information on the catching position.
While the "hook" in the title of his article might draw you in, the techniques he is advocating are the classic definition of "pitch framing". And that is one important distinction that has to be made. "Framing" a pitch means the catcher receives the ball with little movement or effort, as opposed to "pulling" a pitch- receiving the ball, then moving the mitt toward the strike zone. They really are two completely different things.
Some other observations on the subject:
- This whole concept might be hard to grasp unless you have been behind the plate and charged with the responsibility of judging pitches.
The strike zone, while given definition in the rule book, is influenced by some fairly subjective limits. It is essentially an invisible, three dimensional box, floating in space, with the fringes extrapolated from some points outside that box- armpits and top of the knees on a batter outside of the zone and the edges of the plate lying on the ground.
Tracking a moving object through an estimated "window" is bound to be more difficult at the fringe borders of that box. The catcher's mitt provides another point of reference when tracking the path of a moving object. And that is one big distinction that must be made- the mitt does not define the strike zone, rather it can help to define the path of the pitch and how that path relates to the strike zone.
- How the catcher receives the pitch should only have a meaningful effect on "borderline" pitches- those at the fringe edges of that three dimensional box.
Pitches that are clearly within the zone should never be called a "ball" simply because the catcher caught it at an awkward angle, had to move her mitt to get it or even if the ball is dropped. But those pitches at the fringes- where the pitcher often lives or dies and even the best umpire is making an educated guess- can be influenced by how the pitch is received.
Teaching your catcher these fundamentals can help the borderline pitches go in your favor. Even if it only comes into play a few pitches a game, why would you not want to give your team every possible advantage?
- This whole theory is magnified as you progress up through the higher levels of playing ball.
At the younger ages, where the pitchers and catchers are less skilled, painting the corners and framing pitches isn't much of a factor. In the typical 10U recreational league you're happy to get a hittable pitch in the same zip code as the plate, let alone a catcher who can catch the ball!
As the battery becomes more skilled, these techniques become more influential. When you have pitchers that can hit their spots, with appreciable speed and movement, the borderline pitch becomes a much bigger factor. How the catcher receives these borderline pitches can tip the scales in your favor.
