Using 2 hands to catch

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Wondering what everyone's take is on having girls catch with 2 hands. I am personally against it (unless its a grounder) because it limits the distance they can reach for the ball and slows down their reaction time. I have never told my DD to do this, I taught her to squeeze the glove shut tightly, just like I taught her brother to do it.

My DD is a pitcher and doesn't have the time to be trying to get both hands in front of her when about to be hit with a line drive. I've seen too many girls trying to use both hands and they put the ungloved hand up and it gets hit or they put their ungloved hand in the palm of the glove before the ball gets there and again it gets hit.

Why is this taught? I don't see coaches telling baseball players to do it. Girls are just as capable of squeezing the glove shut has boys. Please correct me if I'm wrong. What other reasons do they do this?

 

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I have seen alot of balls pop out of their gloves when trying to catch a fly ball because the balls are larger than baseballs and squezzing is a bit more difficult. 12 inch glove catching an 8 inch baseball, more surface of glove to cover the ball. Same size glove catches 11 inch softball, less glove surface to secure the ball. That's also why most baseball players don't know what a snowcone catch is.

Unlike baseball, the bases are closer thus making softball a faster sport. A baseball ss has the time to field the ball, stand up, bring the throwing hand in to retrieve the ball when the hands are separated, and still make the throw to first for the out. In softball, same play, the girls need to start retrieving the ball while in motion of getting back up just to have a shot of making a play.

I have always taught my players to catch the ball with the back of the glove so they hear that smack and quickly get that second hand there to make sure the ball doesn't pop out. My dd is a pitcher as well, she has yet to get her bare hand smacked. But pitchers, to me, also get more of the benefit of doubt when they only use 1 hand.

 

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I think two hands for pop ups only and ground balls. Line drives you have to use common sense. Most line drives you cant get two hands up. FWIW I dont stress two hands while coaching because of the same reasons you said. I think two hands used should also be based off the caliber of player quite honestly (JMO). Come to think about it I kind of get irked when I hear 3 or 4 people hollaring "two hands" and I always wanna say "squeeze the !@#$ glove".

 

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Instead of telling her "You MUST do it this way...", give her options - different ways to catch. After all, it's the END RESULT (the catch) you're after, not the technique.

Some girls have long fingers, others short. Some have big strong hands, others petite. In terms of catching a ball, they'll eventually figure out what works for them.

More important is TRANSFER TIME. Let's say she chooses a certain way to catch, and she rarely misses catching a ball. BUT - she takes far too long to get the ball out of her glove to make a throw. That's where you need to do a little research, and trial and error experimentation with her - use a stopwatch. Also, video her catching and throwing. You can review (even in slo-mo) her actions, and see exactly what she's doing - instead of guessing.

I would recommend getting your hands on some Howard Kobata stuff, and study the techniques he uses. He's all about QUICK!

 

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Wondering what everyone's take is on having girls catch with 2 hands. I am personally against it (unless its a grounder) because it limits the distance they can reach for the ball and slows down their reaction time. I have never told my DD to do this, I taught her to squeeze the glove shut tightly, just like I taught her brother to do it.

My DD is a pitcher and doesn't have the time to be trying to get both hands in front of her when about to be hit with a line drive. I've seen too many girls trying to use both hands and they put the ungloved hand up and it gets hit or they put their ungloved hand in the palm of the glove before the ball gets there and again it gets hit.

Why is this taught? I don't see coaches telling baseball players to do it. Girls are just as capable of squeezing the glove shut has boys. Please correct me if I'm wrong. What other reasons do they do this?

At many of the clinics, we do we see the baby finger and thumb locks stuffed inside the gloves or not tied at all or are loose.

These locks allow the thumb and baby finger to close the glove when the ball is in the glove. At the house we go over this and I adjust their glove. Adjusting the locks provides the feel of the glove verses the glove being loose and their hands sliding inside the glove.

When I work a hitter out the first thing we do is throwing and go over glove positions when catching and I bounce a tennis ball to them first so they track the ball with their eyes.

Many of the parents and some coaches under hand the ball to them and they do a basket catch and any balls around the upper body, they tend to cringe and get out of the way! Gee I wonder why!

Once the get use to catching from the various bounces, I then throw a line drive to their face with the tennis ball to see their reaction. Based on their reaction I progress to a softball.

Once they understand how to position the glove depending on the ball, we then use a softball and throw to them.

Then we do ground ball foot work and the floor has a pattern on it.

I position them in front of a mirror and ask then to get into a position to field a ground ball. Usually they are lazy with their wrist and can not see the inside of the glove, so we point out to turn the thumb outward more and they see the pocket of the glove probably for the first time. When I say lazy with the wrist they see the thumb of the glove and not the inside of the glove.

We explain that catching a ball with two hands will not allow them to make that spectacular play! We have them stretch out the glove hand as far as they can and then try to put the other hand in the glove and they can not.

Then I show them my version of catching a ball with two hands and they throw a ball to me and I catch it on the back side of the glove using two hands thus trapping the ball against my glove with my free hand.

That usually makes the point.

Doctor Dot Richardson orthopedic surgeon, and Gold Medalist, told us at a NFCA clinic the SOB who came up with the alligator method of catching should spend a day with me in surgery repairing the social and index fingers. Don't these people realize the player must see the ball go into the glove?

Hope this helps

Howard

 

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I can tell you this was brought by college coaches during the recruiting QA at the Kent showcase camp over the winter. Should I say the "lack" of doing simple things such as catching with two hands.

Not only does it assure that the balls is secure (fly or grounder) but the transfer time from glove to throw is cut down. Also, improves the mechanics of the throw if taught properly. Put two girls together one that catches with one and the other with two (with the same proper footwork) and two hands will have a quicker release. It is not how hard you can throw the ball with your arm, but the quick time from glove to release and momentum of the feet/body. The catch/throw needs to be one motion. Those that have been to Kobata clinics hears this time and time again.

As stated above, baseball distances are far greater then softball, quickness is more important.

 

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The reason to use two hands is because theoretically you are not catching the ball with the glove, you are trapping the ball inside the glove, and trapping the ball with the glove and the free hand is more successful then trapping the ball with the glove hand alone. So, whenever feasible, use two hands, on things such as pop-ups, routine fly balls, line drives around the head and torso, and routine ground balls.

There are two ways to properly trap a ground ball in the glove with the glove hand and the free hand. One way is to attack the ground ball is with both palms of the glove hand and free hand pointed to the sky, and once the ball enters the glove the free hand turns over and covers the ball in the glove. The other way is to have the palm of the glove hand pointed to the sky and the free hand offset to the pinky side of the glove hand and fingertips pointed to the sky. Once the ball enters the glove the free hand slides horizontally over the glove then collapses onto the ball.

Len

 

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I have always worked with my girls with a tennis ball and NO glove. This is the easiest way to build instinct to use two hands where feasible and one when necessary without them having to think about it. If the player has to think about it, it is to late.

This also works well when trying to teach them to get position on a ball instead of reaching when not necessary.

 

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I don't care for 2 handed catching. It is not how you catch the ball on the field so it shouldn't be the way you catch in practice. Too many injuries to the fingers.

 

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Well stated brownsfan, I totally agree it is a must in softball and should be taught in baseball. Its basic defensive fundamentals to develop a good sound defensive player. :cap:

 

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I can tell you this was brought by college coaches during the recruiting QA at the Kent showcase camp over the winter. Should I say the "lack" of doing simple things such as catching with two hands.

Not only does it assure that the balls is secure (fly or grounder) but the transfer time from glove to throw is cut down. Also, improves the mechanics of the throw if taught properly. Put two girls together one that catches with one and the other with two (with the same proper footwork) and two hands will have a quicker release. It is not how hard you can throw the ball with your arm, but the quick time from glove to release and momentum of the feet/body. The catch/throw needs to be one motion. Those that have been to Kobata clinics hears this time and time again.

As stated above, baseball distances are far greater then softball, quickness is more important.

Define catching the ball with two hands and then remember who we are teaching and what you just said.

Keeping the other hand close to the glove is not catching the ball with two hands.

The concept by shown kids is actually trapping the ball in the glove and this is where they get into trouble and break fingers.

I had this discussion with Howard K myself at a clinic we did and made the observation you are trying to teach advanced throwing mechanics when their gloves are not adjusted properly and they have no clue as to balance while doing the foot work.

I received an email from him three weeks later that he has started going over balance first and it is making a difference in his teaching.

You can not catch grounders on the run with two hands while bending over to get the ball quickly with two hands no more than you could a fly ball going over your head with two hands.

The concept with teaching females in my opinion is see it, feel it and fix it.

Two many times we simply tell them verses show them what we are saying.

Doug Lenos was recently at the house and liked the foot work pattern we have on the garage floor. So he took it to the field and made several patterns using the paint that washes away with water and laid out several patterns to teach the proper foot work. By creating several stations he claims it got the point across faster and the team got through it quicker by all of them working the drill at the same time.

Quick time in my mind is situational throwing and fielding as if starting a double play for instance. This would be hand back as if shooting a bow and drawing the string back verses power as from a catcher or outfielder hitting the cut off and coming out of the glove ball hand down and elbow up and ball circles up and over.

Deb Hartwig showed this at a clinic by clicks of the mouse at 1/60 of a second and took three tenths of a second off the glove to glove time on a catcher using RVP side by side comparison of the same catcher using different techniques.

Howard

 

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These responses have been great. I really appreciate the information everyone posted.

I realize catching a nice pop fly with two hands is helpful, but I think often there isn't much time for both hands to catch the ball. If running to a pop fly whether in the outfield or in the infield/foul territory, the player cannot run to it if they are holding out both hands.

In the last few years I've seen more and more girls who have been taught the two hand method, but were never taught to squeeze the glove shut. They use their bare hand to trap the ball in their glove instead. And I've notice that many try to catch the ball in their palm and not the pocket which makes the ball pop out. I've also had many try to get a grounder by putting the glove down in front of them, palm facing up and their ungloved hand about it palm facing the ball. Too many times the ball has bounced and smacked their bare hand instead.

I teach keeping the bare hand close and bringing both hands together quickly to get the throw made. What prompted all of this is yesterday I saw a line drive hit to an infielder and she reached forward with both hands (glove was also turned the wrong way too - face up) and she stopped the ball with her bare hand. Surprised she didn't break it.

 

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I was going to basically say what Hitter said, which is to define catching with two hands. It seems most everyone is on the same page about what to do. If you tell a 12-year-old to catch with two hands, she is probably going to get her throwing hand hit by the ball and wind up with a broken finger.

To literally catch with two hands would mean both the glove and the throwing hand are catching the ball, which would of course be insane. At that point, might as well play with no glove, as it would be safer. Those who can catch the ball with the glove and make the transfer look seamless are the ones we want. Way too many girls have their throwing hand down by their side when catching the ball. It's mainly timing and just takes a lot of practice. And as Hitter mentioned, it's also about knowing how to position your glove.

A good player taking a relay throw will look like she might be catching the ball two-handed, but it will really be a one-handed catch into an open glove (that never closes) with the throwing hand coming in almost simultaneously to retrieve and throw the ball.

 

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Define catching the ball with two hands...

Doug Lenos was recently at the house and liked the foot work pattern we have on the garage floor. So he took it to the field and made several patterns using the paint that washes away with water and laid out several patterns to teach the proper foot work. By creating several stations he claims it got the point across faster and the team got through it quicker by all of them working the drill at the same time.

Howard

I knew that was coming (see bold)... my 11u DD, Bekah, used the trap method last fall and almost broke a finger, cost her 3 weeks. Working with Howard C and Howard K, I am convinced that the loss of range and flexibility that the girls experience when they try to '2 hand' everything is not worth the trade-off of injury and 'stolen' outs we are getting by freeing them to use a more athletic approach to fielding. We have them keep the free hand close on a ball right at them or a pop-up, otherwise we have them get into an athletic stance and as HK says - no pauses, don't be slow!

BTW: It was not washable paint - opps! But it worked great, the girls could follow the pattern and learn the proper footwork.. I'm sure the 'paint' mowed out!

 

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Catch the ball however you can, but if you have time use two hands.

 

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If I were to use two hands, should my bare hand be doing as much work to stop the ball as my glove hand? That would seem to me to be the definition of catching with two hands, similar to how one might catch a ball with both hands without wearing a glove.

 

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I was going to basically say what Hitter said, which is to define catching with two hands. It seems most everyone is on the same page about what to do. If you tell a 12-year-old to catch with two hands, she is probably going to get her throwing hand hit by the ball and wind up with a broken finger.

To literally catch with two hands would mean both the glove and the throwing hand are catching the ball, which would of course be insane. At that point, might as well play with no glove, as it would be safer. Those who can catch the ball with the glove and make the transfer look seamless are the ones we want. Way too many girls have their throwing hand down by their side when catching the ball. It's mainly timing and just takes a lot of practice. And as Hitter mentioned, it's also about knowing how to position your glove.

A good player taking a relay throw will look like she might be catching the ball two-handed, but it will really be a one-handed catch into an open glove (that never closes) with the throwing hand coming in almost simultaneously to retrieve and throw the ball.

Joe knows Howard K's methods better than anyone I know and preaches it!

My neighbors uncle played in the Negro League and taught our Son to catch the ball with the back of his glove on a transfer to make it look fancy and WOW the crowd as he put it as that is how they drew people in by how they played and it was showman ship.

He taught him glove control by teaching him to roll the ball with the back of his glove and then snatching it up.

When he played with JTM they use to just get in a circle and toss the ball just with the glove and not the hand to just to have fun.

Howard

 

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When he played with JTM they use to just get in a circle and toss the ball just with the glove and not the hand to just to have fun.

Howard

We do this every day before practice officially starts. The girls love it. Occasionally the hand gets in there for help on the toss, as we are mainly having fun and trying to show off, but the players don't realize how much all of the glove work is helping them.

 

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I was going to basically say what Hitter said, which is to define catching with two hands. It seems most everyone is on the same page about what to do. If you tell a 12-year-old to catch with two hands, she is probably going to get her throwing hand hit by the ball and wind up with a broken finger.

To literally catch with two hands would mean both the glove and the throwing hand are catching the ball, which would of course be insane. At that point, might as well play with no glove, as it would be safer. Those who can catch the ball with the glove and make the transfer look seamless are the ones we want. Way too many girls have their throwing hand down by their side when catching the ball. It's mainly timing and just takes a lot of practice. And as Hitter mentioned, it's also about knowing how to position your glove.

A good player taking a relay throw will look like she might be catching the ball two-handed, but it will really be a one-handed catch into an open glove (that never closes) with the throwing hand coming in almost simultaneously to retrieve and throw the ball.

That's exactly why a coach shoud say "trap" instead of "catch". On a transfer, you are indeed trapping the ball in the glove to secure a good grip on the ball. On a ball like a pop-up, the free hand should help close the upper third of the thumb of the glove after the ball enters the glove, therefore trapping it in the glove and preventing the ball from popping back out.

Len

 

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i must say the alligator method if you get broken finger you are not doing it right.i teach keep hand a little offset so you have clear vision and palm facing ball so if you do it properly you at worst get hit in bottom side of hand.i understand it is easy to make a mistake and let your hand down and stubb finger but there are alot of ways of getting hurt in fastpitch if you dont do things properly.i have alaways believed especially on grounders need your free hand close somewhere.surgeons and doctors are strong references but they are human and each have different opinions.you can find a doctor to say this or that is bad for you and find another to say it might be good for you who knows.what i know is my fielders need to field ball and deliver throw in a very timely manner.90 ft bases and 60 ft bases are alot different it has nothing to do with who is better athletes.there are girls especially slappers who get to first in 2.? seconds doesnt leave alot of time to play.the whole sport of fastpitch softball has dangers involved no way to eliminate them all.if someone has a better way to field a ground ball i am not arrogant i would like to hear it.i find things every year that i do that i rethink and opt for different route if i can see the reasoning or results supporting it.but some how some way throwing hand has to be somewhere near glove