Looking for a little advice on catching fundamentals specifically.

One of our kids catches for our team and is a pretty good glove. Problem is he keeps dinging his thumb so I am suspecting his technique is opening him up to this recurring injury.

Anyone have any suggestions? Can you tell me what a catcher usually does that creates this problem for him?

Thanks much.

Have him keep his throwing hand behind his calf or directly behind the glove. Never have him put his hand behind his body. That exposes his throwing shoulder badly.

Sounds like he is blinking or flinching!

Is it his glove hand thumb or throwing hand?

What age?

Can you post a video?

JGRaider was a catcher in pro ball.

Dinging which thumb? Throwing hand or glove hand? Throwing hand is easy, hand behind the back, just above his butt. Glove hand, his glove is probably too small.

Cheap glove???

Maybe

He needs to find a sponge to put in his glove.

Assuming it is his glove hand.
And he might need to change his catching style,teach him to use the pocket more.

my boys just turned 5, we been trying to do a little t-ball in the back yard....one of the twins is a lefty, and as hard as i try I cannot figure out how to help him with holding the bat. My left hand or right handed brain just cant make it work. Might have to call in the left handed Grandpa....

It's likely the glove. My son was having the same problem using the crappy 'team mitt'. The cheap team mitt wasn't broken in properly and didn't have the center crease in the correct location so it would not close evenly. I bought him his own and we broke it in. No more catcher's thumb.

if he's lefteye dominant, switch him over to righthanded for baseball..... I put my youngest in a righthand glove in T-ball and he continued to play middle infield thru college. If he's got the arm and mentallity to pitch, leave him alone.

he acts like he wants to bat as a right hander, but everything else is all left hand....

I coach little league. My son catches and is nursing a swollen hurt thumb. He is small, and therefore his catchers mitt is a little smaller as well. Less padding,and one of our pitchers is bringing the heat,hence the sore thumb. If they can catch the balls in the pocket,it will help the most. That takes practice and concentration. Also, tape his thumb with athletic tape, and have him wear his batting glove inside the mitt. Hopefully, you have a couple of kids that can split the duties.That will help too.

A catcher's mitt has to fit properly. Too big and sloppy will let a ball on the thumb move the digit a lot and injure it. A mitt too small offers too little protection and can also result in wrist injuries.

It's tough in junior leagues to find a proper catcher's mitt, since one size needs to fit all.

Glove hand. I believe it might have something to do with how he is rotating the glove to catch certain pitches that is compromising his thumb.

As I stated earlier, he is a really good glove. Does a better job catching more than anyone else and he couldn't be doing that if he was flinching.

I taught him to put his throwing hand down behind his calf/ankle.

Not a cheap glove. It is a pretty good glove that the other boys have started using because it is pretty good quality glove. Far better than the team mitt which is well broken in but old and HEAVY.

I adjusted the thumb keeper-strap to try and get his thumb away from the edge of the mitt.

We have been working on using the pocket more, but I think the pitches that get him are pitches to his left where he is rotating his glove hand with his thumb up to catch those inside (on right-handed batters)pitches??? But I am not sure.

I will be taping him from now on, whether he will be catching or not, just to protect the thumb and be prepared in case he is called upon to catch.

The advice regarding some added padding should help, but if his catching thumb is coming up hurt he is taking too much impact regularly on that side of the mitt. If he has good hand-eye coord, looking the ball into the crease will help. Has he learned to turn the wrist/mitt some degrees sideways to get pitches further off the plate - rather than trying too much to keep the mitt upright? This can help in using the crease and avoiding impact on mitt edges.

Catching is hard work - takes concentration on the pitch into glove (if it gets there) and then quick reaction to any play - and some bright/energetic kids may start reacting to B before A is done, The good catcher (as with all positions) calculates the situation and possibilities for the next play well before the pitch and is ready to react, but the catcher has to deal with one additional factor before he can react. Focus is a friend,

Great Post

Comes with the territory. My older son has several disfigured digits from catching, and has broken a couple of other catchers' fingers while pitching.

I'd recommend to quit catching those pitches "palm up", and focus on him having soft hands, giving with the pitch a little bit. The higher level you go, the umps will automatically think a ball caught palm up is low, and you'll seldom get a strike call. I also am not a proponent of really "sticking/framing' pitches with a rock hard reception of the ball. Soft hands is the key, IMO. The more "silent" a catcher/receiver can be, the better.

Did not catch myself, but youngest son did a lot of it. I would hazard a guess that he might be dropping his fingers forward a little, so that the ball when entering the mitt is channeled down towards the thumb. Keep the face of the mitt a little more vertical to prevent this, and still keep the soft hands as JGR said. Pitchers love soft-handed catchers.

Take this for what you paid for it... My son's travel team organization had catcher's clinics this year put on by a guy that made it to AAA as a catcher. He emphasized how to position your body to stay safe and make your equipment work better for you.

What you describe he called "rainbowing" and coached them not to do that when possible. Soft hands, like JG stated, and always receive the ball with the thumb pointing down. To get to that inside pitch, you slide the whole arm that way, keeping the thumb down. Which leads into the set up of the arm. He taught that the elbow should be in front of the knee, but not on it. That allows you to reach either way for the ball and still being able to catch it with the thumb down. As the pitch is released, he wanted them to relax their hand by letting it tilt down a little.

Hope that was understandable.

I am not talking about a palm up catch of a low pitch. What I am referencing is catching a ball inside on a right handed batter. Taking your hand from your receiving position with your thumb at about 4 oclock. And moving your glove hand to your left and reaching outside your body to catch a ball way inside. When you do that, the thumb rotates to around 10 oclock. I wonder if catching these inside pitches is opening him up to the recurring injury?

Good stuff there from JGRaider, There Ya Go and pointer. Nice.

Our youngest is the exact same way. Everything left handed.....until he picks up a bat. Then right is his natural feel. If yours feels comfortable that way, let him do it.

baseball was not one of the sports I ever really enjoyed....not sure why but i played enough to get a feel for it. Both of my boys seem to enjoy it, t-ball starts at 6 I believe in Moorhead, so will get them into it then. But it is fun to play in the yard with them.

Catching a ball no matter what position you are playing is like the face of a clock....
At 6 o'clock fingers down palm up, as you rotate the glove to the left fingers at 3 o'clock palm to you
At 12 o'clock fingers are up palm down, etc etc....
Got to have soft hands and absorb the pitch, even in the infield, let the ball come into your body.

We never had t-ball. I played Pee Wee, Little League and Babe Ruth. Was asked to play legion but didn't have steady transportation to the town that had it. Our boys showed interest in baseball a little late and realized quickly it wasn't their cup of tea. From than on it was football, football, football for them.

Heading in today to one of the outfits that provide training/coaching for $. Guy that runs it is/was a catcher. Hoping he can hone in on what is going on here and help correct the technique.

Exact opposite with talented grandson - throws right, bats left. Strong/accurate arm - can hit the low/inside breaking ball well and drives a fastball. So, an infielder who bats left for good average and clutch proficiency. He started pitching and that experience made him an even better hitter - but now the bat doesn't come into play so often. Interesting game.

How old is your Grandson? Next question is how big/tall does he project to be based on his parents stature?

Reason I ask, after ten years of coaching Travel Ball I can tell you that colleges and scouts are infatuated with size in baseball now. When I played in the '80s, NL teams were all about speed (which explained my quick exit from the Reds Org). Size was fine, but all the teams played mainly on turf and they wanted Ricky Henderson and Vince Coleman. Size was secondary. Now, they all want Albert Pujols, Mike Trout, Bryce Harper at every position. Colleges to. They want "good looking athletes", Hrrumpf!

The only position for a player under 6' to get a serious look is either as a super speedy OF or 2b, and I like to point out that the starting 2b is the team's #2 SS. If you grandson projects as a plus pitcher, but doesn't have speed/size, go with pitching. Trouble there is they all want the 6'2+ pitcher too and its all about the radar gun.

I had the chance to chat with Tom Glavine recently about his son Peyton who is a LHP 6' 180 lbs. Throws 87-88 and has been an outstanding HS pitcher. Pro scouts really aren't giving him a sniff despite that is the same profile his HOF Dad had as a 2nd Round draft pick. TG says scouts tell him that his son "doesn't fit the typical profile we are scouting" meaning he doesn't throw 92+mph. Glassine says he reply alway is "he gets hitters out, what's the goal here?"

That's good stuff Jeff, and spot on. Also, there is nothing more valuable than a left handed hitting catcher.

Hatari and JG- I like hearing, what you are saying!! My oldest son throws R, hits L, and really likes to catch. And he's far from small (5', 120#) and he won't turn 10 until next month. Playinig 9u, this is his first year of kid pitch, so he's getting to do some of that too. To date, he's leading the pitchers in strikeouts and hit batters. I think the two are a bit related...

I remember hearing Tommy John on the radio once saying that radar guns were the worst thing that had ever happened to pitchers. I've long said that the best pitching coach is the opposition's hitters....they'll let you know what works! They might be the best scouts, too, if anyone paid attention to them. But, it's all about the radar.

If you coach catchers, or have a kid who catches, the video series from this outfit is money well spent. I have spoken with many people who have sent kids to their camps and the camps are very highly recommended. But the video series is great too. It contains all the little details about catching that you wouldn't know unless you caught yourself at a pretty high level, from framing, blocking to footwork and throwing mechanics. I have the dvd but unfortunately loaned it out and might never get it back.

The Catching Camp

Interesting info, and I don't doubt any of it. Thanks. I have enjoyed watching him grow up and get good as a ballplayer, and he has been fairly casual about it all. Very nice young man - quite low key and not a brag in his constitution. He is right at 6 ft. and maybe 185 now and never has had an illusion about baseball after college and his travel teams - not a career goal - but I can see him playing with good adult teams for a long time. On pitching and radar, he does not break 90 - never has - but has excellent control, studies little things about hitters and works smart. Sometimes I think he lets a runner get on base so he can work that situation a bit - but it's difficult to score on him. It's interesting that a scout today would not be interested in a young pitcher like that. Just the way the game goes over time.

On velocity - when Curt Schilling pitched at our college I visited some practice sessions, and stood in a few times when he was throwing. That fellow was sudden. Got wood on the ball at times, but could not do much - it was hard to get around and zero on his stuff. He was high on the gun and a fun young guy.

Got the kid in for a half hour catching workout tonight. The coach thinks the problem is with the boy receiving those inside pitches (on right-handed batters). He said the boy is probably taking his glove inside and his elbow back, catching the ball right beside him. Suggested a better, wider stance to allow him to lean over to better receive the ball and to reach forward more and receive the ball a bit earlier so he can better handle that ball. We will see.
Thanks for the help guys.