Tips for baseball by Tim

This is a sample TOTW.

There is a specific technique for fielding pop fouls behind the plate. A catcher requires the knowledge that 95% of the pop ups behind him act a certain way.

If a right hand hitter is at bat, a foul ball will be popped up to the catcher’s right side. Conversely, a left hand hitter will pop up to the catcher’s left side. With that understanding a catcher’s first move is to pull off his mask and immediately spin to this right (RH Hitter) and look up over his right shoulder for the ball.

He should pull off his mask by grasping at the bottom with his thumb underneath the chin and the fingers in front. He should pull up and out to remove the mask. He must hold the mask until he locates the ball. He then throws the mask out of the way to prevent tripping over it.

He throws it in the opposite direction of the ball. A pop foul behind the plate indicates the hitter’s swing was late and the ball will have backspin on it. The catcher should always keep his back to the infield as he prepares to catch the ball. The ball will come to him.

If the catcher faces the infield, the ball will be moving away from him. Because of this backspin a catcher should never give up on the ball. Many times a pop up that looks out of play will come back into play.

The catcher should catch the ball with 2 hands with his fingers pointing up and his glove over his head. This allows him to sight the ball into the glove and gage the movement.

This is a sample from Past Tips.

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