The Mental Swing Attractors: What Does It Take to Be a Great Catcher? Plus, Swing Mechanics & Barrel Alignment

“All great teams have a great catcher,” begins Coach Lotief. “During my 17 years at UL, we basically had four catchers that literally caught every game for 15 years AND hit in the 3, 4 or 5 hole in the line-up. The “MIGHTY FOUR”: Joy Webre (2002-2005), Lana Bowers (2007-2010), Sarah Drahiem (2010-2013) and Lexi Elkins (2014-2016) —the best of the best.”

In this article, we are going to start and end with SWING MECHANICS and BARREL ALIGNMENT, and in the middle, we will define the CHARACTERISTICS OF GREAT CATCHERS.

Let’s start by watching the swing analysis (below) comparing Lana Bowers to Dan Uggla which was done in 2006.

We were already thinking about and measuring swing alignment, barrel path, matching the plane of the pitch, getting inside of the ball, etc. in 2006.

Secondly, all of our comparisons were being done side by side, slow motion, high speed video — most times using MLB players as our swing “models.”

Note: an article on “adjustments for riseballs” is coming soon!

POINTS TO LOOK FOR ON HITTER’S ALIGNMENT

The above analysis gives us great talking points when looking at our hitter’s alignment:

1. The trajectory & path of the swing is CRITICAL;
2. If a hitter’s timing is not exact, are they still able to create a “window” along the pitch path in order to be effective with different points of contact?;
3. staying on plane or on line with the barrel or parallel to the line as long as bat speed is maintained;
4. having a “hooking” or circular hand path that corresponds with rotation;
5. NO EMPHASIS ON THE FINISH OF THE SWING; more problems and issues are caused from a hitter trying to “roll over” to finish; FINISH IS THE WRONG FOCUS even though every TV commentator notices it;
6. the positioning & movement of the lead arm;
7. what the shoulders are doing — what movements & in which planes of motion;
8. where is the hitter’s posture at toe touch; which direction is the center of mass moving?; and
9. is the path of the barrel ALIGNED from launch through contact?

ALL GREAT TEAMS HAVE A GREAT CATCHER:

THE MIGHTY 4: JOY, LANA, SARAH, LEXI

During my 17 years at UL, we basically had four (4) catchers that literally caught every game for 15 years. Joy Webre (2002-2005), Lana Bowers (2007-2010), Sarah Drahiem (2010-2013) and Lexi Elkins (2014-2016).

Joy was the prototype of every catcher we recruited at UL. Believe it or not, she had never played catcher before committing to UL; she was a shortstop.

When we signed Joy, Alaina Addison was our All-American shortstop and had one more year of eligibility, so Joy agreed to covert from shortstop to catcher. That selfless attitude is one of the major attributes of any great catcher!

THE ATTRIBUTES OF GREAT CATCHERS

These are the attributes Joy possessed (& so did Lana, Sarah & Lexi), and what we wanted in all of our catchers — physically, mentally & competitively:

1. athletic, strong —5’10 or so, but nimble with great footwork and moved like a SS;
2. strong arm with a quick, great throwing motion – nobody was going to run on them;
3. great, power hitters with home run power who could bat in the middle of the line-up;
4. very smart & softball savvy in order to call the game & know the adjustments; be a leader to be able to set & call defensive alignments;
5. control & defend & neutralize the opponents speed: including the short game- bunt game, slap game, 1st & 3rd, hit & run, etc.
6. fierce competitors- hated to lose, fought for every inch on every pitch, blocked every ball in the dirt, & took a lot of pride in being the very best;
7. tough (physically & mentally) – back then we played back to back days of double headers in the heat of summer & they caught every pitch in every inning in every game and remained alert & enthusiastic EVERY PITCH;
8. selfLESS —worried about the pitchers more than themselves, and could manage and babysit the personalities & egos of a pitching staff;
9. great communicators — to be able to communicate to the coaching staff and be the buffer/intermediary between the personalities & dynamics of a game: the umpires, the pitcher, the opposing batter and our coaching staff; and
10. students of the game — every one of these catchers COACHED AT UL afterwards to teach the “next one” and to maintain the standard of excellence at the catching position; furthermore, each one has stayed involved in the game of softball as a Coach or administrator at the highest levels.