I have been playing baseball since I was I think 5 years old. I was always one of the best players on the team as I could hit the ball and typically play my position better than others.
Growing up, I played a lot of second base because I was always one of the shorter players.
In later middle school years I tried catching. I never went to any other position since. I was hooked!
Why I love catching so much :
- I was in every play. Catching every pitch and controlling the game with the pitcher was a riveting experience.
- Calling the pitches and having baseball knowledge was a very fun and challenging skill.
- Seeing so many pitches in a game, I was always better at hitting because I was use to seeing the ball. The catcher I believe, should always be the best hitter on the field.
- I loved being the coach on the field. I was the one who was yelling at players to cut the ball off, throw to another base, etc. I was the eyes on the field to everything.
- To be honest, catching made baseball fun.
Hitting skills that I learned in my college days playing at CSU were :
- The grip actually matters a lot more than I thought. Rolling over on the ball to hit further was done when I had better grip.
- Trying to drive down on the ball by seeing the top of the ball, really helped me hit dingers.
- Knowing the situation and being a team player helped me start every game (also blocking the ball and not being scared of the ball also helped).
- Loading, timing and power was a magical sequence that even surprised me most of the time when the pitcher was throwing over 90mph and then throw a breaking ball at 70 that I timed perfectly. This was ONLY done through reps in practice.
- Don't loop, drive the ball.
When I think of more things to share, I will post, but I wanted to create a platform for baseball experts to share their experiences with others.
