Keep Your Catchers Injury Free
I got a question from my good friend Stacie Mahoe from http://www.allaboutfastpitch.com asking me about preventing knee injuries for catchers.
I thought this is information you would like to get.
Yes, catchers have a greater risk of developing knee issues just because catching puts more stress on the knees than any other position.
What can you do to prevent this?
1) Use the Knee Savers. These are support padding that you attach to your shin pads and that gives you good support when squatting down. It takes away close to 85% of the stress when resting before you get into your catching position.
Some people think it makes your catcher lazy. To me, you can't play with knee safey. However, I don't buy the lazyness thing. A good coach will know how to properly train their catcher and if the catcher is hard-working, this is a non-issue.
Now, it is not mandatory to wear them but it can really help to prevent a lot of the stress placed on the knees.
2) Do Hindu Squats - old, silly-looking, martial art exercise that many personal trainers would tell you "It's bad for the kneess" exercise because the heels are coming off the ground but guess what.. every catcher has their heels coming off the ground.
It is actually a great muscular endurance exercise for catchers. I would do 50-100/day several days a week.
After that, you catcher will have the best conditioned legs of any catcher in your league.
Check this exercise:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPSVpo4mzNI
3) I would get also get them to do single-leg squats for strength and stability. They are killers but boy do they work.
Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu-6ywxbu1A
4) Make sure you teach proper catching techniques; especially the basic catching position. You want to make sure that their weight is well-distributed. Teach them good fundamentals and you will take a lot of the stress away.
From experience, most softball players with knee problems are not catchers but former/current gymnasts, basketball or soccer players.
Make your catchers injury-proof.
Who loves ya? ;-)
Marc
"Your Personal Softball Peak Performance Coach"
I thought this is information you would like to get.
Yes, catchers have a greater risk of developing knee issues just because catching puts more stress on the knees than any other position.
What can you do to prevent this?
1) Use the Knee Savers. These are support padding that you attach to your shin pads and that gives you good support when squatting down. It takes away close to 85% of the stress when resting before you get into your catching position.
Some people think it makes your catcher lazy. To me, you can't play with knee safey. However, I don't buy the lazyness thing. A good coach will know how to properly train their catcher and if the catcher is hard-working, this is a non-issue.
Now, it is not mandatory to wear them but it can really help to prevent a lot of the stress placed on the knees.
2) Do Hindu Squats - old, silly-looking, martial art exercise that many personal trainers would tell you "It's bad for the kneess" exercise because the heels are coming off the ground but guess what.. every catcher has their heels coming off the ground.
It is actually a great muscular endurance exercise for catchers. I would do 50-100/day several days a week.
After that, you catcher will have the best conditioned legs of any catcher in your league.
Check this exercise:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPSVpo4mzNI
3) I would get also get them to do single-leg squats for strength and stability. They are killers but boy do they work.
Check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu-6ywxbu1A
4) Make sure you teach proper catching techniques; especially the basic catching position. You want to make sure that their weight is well-distributed. Teach them good fundamentals and you will take a lot of the stress away.
From experience, most softball players with knee problems are not catchers but former/current gymnasts, basketball or soccer players.
Make your catchers injury-proof.
Who loves ya? ;-)
Marc
"Your Personal Softball Peak Performance Coach"
Labels: catching, fastpitch softball, softball performance, softball training
posted by Stacie | 11:24 AM
4 Comments:
I hope your dont get this twice but will send again. I coach the catchers at Garrett High School and my father is the head coach. Almost every catcher that I have coached over the last 8 years continues to have injuries to the first knuckle on their catching thumb. Our number one pitcher throws between 59 and 63 mph, and number 2 throws 55-59. Do you have any advice or know of some kind of equipment I could buy to prevent this type of injury? Thanks for the squat advice, will use, Scott Bishop
you can buy a a football player glove so there thumbs don't kick back, or get the louisville sting reduction glove. also, if he isn't catching the ball properly it might hurt his thumb alot, its all about staying sqaure to the ball and making sure the thumb and index make a 90 degree angle. but seriously check into the gloves
I also think that they're prone to injuries. It's important for them to do these necessary things so they can avoid, if not, reduce the risk of having injuries.
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Aside from preventing knee injuries, catchers should still use equipment to prevent other injuries. These include catcher's mitt, helmet, face mask, throat guard, long-model chest protector, protective supporter, and shin guards.
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