Back home in California
August 31, 2008
Made it home yesterday late afternoon…dealing with a wicked case of jet lag and three kids who don’t have it and just want to play with dad. Let’s go back to some images from the Euro academy and explore some more mistakes. This time it deals with the play at the plate. It seems that catchers are forever out of position on this play and always have to dive back to make the tag. In this sequence, pay special attention to where the catcher is in relation to home plate. Right from frame one, he has wandered up and is about 5 or 6 steps in front of home plate. By the second photo you can start to see the throw from the outfielder and by the third image, the catcher has secured the ball and is going for
the runner. The last couple of frames shows the receiver kind of diving back and making a tag to the runners face. On a positive note, the guy was out and the catcher did keep his mask safely on. On a negative note, right from the get go he is out of position and made the play a heck of a lot harder than it had
to be. So, the solution to all of this is to stay back. It seems to be a tough thing for the catcher to do amongst all the chaos and energy of this play. He needs to stay about 6 or 7 feet behind home plate and move into the play as it develops… at least until the outfielder has let go of the ball. Staying back gives increases the range and arc of your vision (especially important for a ball down the right field line) allowing you to know if there will be a play at the plate or a different base. It also allows you to block the plate if need be. The key is to have an anchor. Like I said, after the ball is hit resist the urge to immediately move forward and stay where you are. Once the outfielder has secured the ball and is getting ready to throw, move up to the dish and put your left foot, toes pointed towards third base, in the middle of home plate. This is your anchor. All things being equal (average runner, average arm in the outfield) if the outfielder is getting ready to release the ball and the runner is around third base, there is going to be a play. Check out the book for more details and explanation. Hope this helps. Till next time, keep your eye on the ball.
