What's up softball players i'm coach Dan Blewett in today's video let's talk about
when should a catcher go out and visit the circle to talk with their pitcher
all right if you're new here i'm coach Dan Blewett i'm a former pro baseball player & softball and
baseball academy owner on my channel i do tons of videos about overhand throwing instruction
the mental game pitching strength training arm care all that stuff so if you're new
definitely subscribe check out the description from some of my courses other video resources
and all that good stuff so first thing let's get started here when a catcher should visit the mound
number one when you see bad body language about their performance so a picture just gave up a hit
if they just got they just walked another batter and they start to visibly slump their shoulders
and it's obvious that they're very in their head a little bit rattled frustrated whatever
that's typically a good time to go out and visit the mound now obviously you can't do this
four times a game so you have to kind of pick your battles and hopefully your pitcher doesn't
have that much bad body language where it's a constant problem but if it's a player who's pretty
stoic and their body language is typically pretty good and just like in the fifth inning in a tough
spot you see them you know their shoulders fall that's a good time to call timeout go out there
give them a pep talk whatever it is and get them back on track all right the next reason to
go visit the mound is if there's a consistent missed pattern so say your picture is missing
everywhere arm side just arm side arm side arms i wore she's missing up up up up up like three balls
in a row for the last couple batters it's been like 2031 where it's a consistent miss pattern
again it could be up down and out whatever if you see something that's consistent that's a good
time to go out there talk through it a little bit especially as a catcher if you know a little bit
about mechanics and the best cat the best catchers typically do they're sort of like you know the
in-game pitching coach if you know a little bit about what they're doing wrong and what might help
then you can go out there chat through that but if you start to see a consistent missed pattern
it's a good time to go do a mound visit all right the next reason to maybe have a mountain visit is
a tempo change so this could be the pitcher starts rushing a lot whether it just looks like
she's mentally sped up and she's just starting to like go through her motions a little bit too quick
because maybe she's angry or she's frustrated or whatever or she's physically speeding up her
delivery or she's slowing down her delivery any tempo change is cause for concern for you as a
catcher and if you spot that like hey looks like she's working a little bit too fast when players
get nervous and they get frustrated they tend to move kind of extra fast so if you see a tempo
change go out there calm them down see what's going on that's a good time for a mound visit all
right the next good time for a mountain visit is if it's just a really long inning and especially
if it's really hot if they've thrown 25 pitches and you still only have one out or two outs
you know it's a good time just to break up the inning break up bad momentum so say she's giving
up three singles in a row or a walk and two singles just go out there break up the other
team's momentum a little bit if they're just constantly sending the next batter up to tee off
just put a pause into the whole thing and give them a physical break especially if it's
a really hot day and they just need that give them a break all right the next reason to visit
would be strategy so if there's something that you need to make sure that they remember because say
this batter is a you know pretty tough out and she's already hit two doubles so far in this
game so you want to go back out there and remind her that hey this hitter hits drop balls really
well or this hitter waits on changeups really well so we're going to attack her this way
have strategy visits that's a valuable reason to go out there and just don't always assume that
they're you're on the same page if it's really really critical like it's three to one in the
fifth inning and this hitter could really put the game out of reach or whatever tie the game
go out there and be hey just remember this hitter's got really quick hands we're going
to work away or this hitter's got a powerful but slow bat so we're going to work in whatever it is
go out there have a quick reminder just so you're on the same page and your pitcher will appreciate
that too that you're thoughtful and staying engaged because you can't do it all just one of
you you're a team so if you have that strategy moment where you need to make sure that you're
on the same page go out there and have that quick visit all right and the last one is just to boost
their focus or boost their confidence the more you're in tune with your pitchers needs and their
emotions and how they run if they run hot or if they run cold meaning when they they don't do
well they start to get really angry or if they run cold they start to get really disappointed
and sad on the mound you need to be in control of your pitcher's emotions as best you can so if you
need to go out there and just give them a boost or just give them a little extra confidence or
if you just feel like hey i want to go out there i feel like something's off with her
go do it it doesn't have to be some any of the other reasons that are a little more specific
it can just be like look i just feel like she's a little bit off i want to go out there give her a
quick pep talk or whatever it is the last thing i'll mention though is that some pitchers don't
like visits some pitchers do like visit it just depends and you what you don't want to do is break
a pitcher's rhythm if she's going really well and you're just like chatty kathy don't necessarily
do that so for me when i was a pitcher um it really pissed me off if a catcher came out and
didn't have something very specific to tell me like don't come out here and talk to me about
the if you need to say like hey make sure we throw this or this sign that sign
that's fine if it was strategic if it was like an objective thing but i didn't need catchers coming
out to like give me aurora i would just send them back as quickly as they came so make sure you know
what your personality of your picture is and don't do anything to piss them off so if you're just
going out there is going to make them angrier because you're disrupting their flow or they
don't want to talk to you when they're mad which is often the case you know just take that into
consideration it's not about you as a catcher you should do everything you can to massage
the situation and make it better if you can but you can also make it worse so just tread lightly
sometimes and that goes back to knowing your p your pitcher's personalities and what you should
and should say in the heat of competition because competition brings out the best
and sometimes the worst in everyone so hopefully today's video was helpful you know this is part
of your softball iq it's important to stay on top of the game as a catcher you really are in a lot
of ways the general of the field along with the pitcher and the the shortstop more than anyone so
you know use these tips and be really perceptive the more you know your pictures and get to talk
with them and catch them in the in the bullpen uh in practice all that stuff the better your
relationship is going to be and the more you're going to help them stay right during a game all
right thanks again for watching again i'm coach Dan Blewett be sure to check out the description
below if you need more help on your softball game and i will see you here in the next video
you