Playing Catch to Win the Game

Arguably the most overlooked, underrated, and neglected part of any practice or pre-game warmup is the 10 to 15 minutes players spend having a catch, warming up, getting loose. More often than not, this fundamental exercise is done with minimal to no supervision and seen as more of a formalitly than as a part of preperation and practice.

The way I was brought up in baseball, from age 6 to 21, it was always the same old thing; "Here's a bucket of balls. Pick one out, grab a partner, and head out to the outfield to start throwing." The coaches ( or parents when your 6-12 ) would hang out and talk by the bench while the kids played catch, or for some of them, played "miss". I would say, on average, it was about 3 to 5 throws in that we would lose interest in the idea of doing things correctly and start goofing around. Goofing around would usually include seeing who had the best knuckleball, try to make a jumping throw, see how high you could throw the ball, and/or my personal favorite; the side arm on the run throw. So in essence, we would spend about 12 minutes of our 15 minutes warming up developing bad habits and making bad throws. Don't get me wrong, it was a blast from a kids having fun standpoint, but as far as development and preperation, it was a complete waste of time.

It wasn't until college and my first throw and catch session in professional baseball that I learned what a true warm-up toss was all about. The "bucket of balls" was still there, the "grab a partner" was still there, and the "stroll to the outfield" was still all there. The difference was structure. The coaches would walk around and small talk with all the players giving us the subtle feeling that we were constantly being watched, but in a relaxed atmosphere. The very first day we were told how the throw and catch was going to happen from there on out. Make 5 throws from 15ft away, back up 10ft, make 5 more throws, back up 10ft, make 5 more throws, back up 10ft, make 3 throws, back up 10 feet, make 3 more throws, back up 10ft and continue the process until you are at max distance ( if playing long toss, if not playing long toss end process at comfortable distance ) and finish with 3 throws at that distance then stop. At this point, you will have made a limited, but reasonable amount of throws and have a set distance from which to work from and build off of in the distance. I can't tell you how many times I've watched kids warming up throw 15-30 throws from 20 feet away, where as with this structured throw and catch we've just thrown 15-30 throws to max distance and are ready to practice or play...so many wasted throws !!!

The point of this blogpost is to highlight what I believe is one of the most important parts of any pregame warm-up or practice, which is greatly overlooked and mistreated. At the youth and amatuer level, how many plays are determined by an accurate or inaccurate throw? How many games are won or lost, for that matter, by an accurate or inaccurate throw? And yet, that part of the practice or pre-game warmup is usually the most un-supervised, un-focused, and un-structured part of the program.

So in closing, if you are a coach or a player. Do the right thing and take it upon yourself to try to bring a little supervision ( even if it's just walking around talking to the kids while they are throwing ) bring a little focus, and bring a little structure ( even if it's just counting the amount of throws they make each warmup session )each and everytime a throw and catch is involved. Think about it, every play involves a throw and catch in baseball. The team who is best prepared to make a good throw and make a good catch is going to win the game. Practice and professional preperation begins with a bucket of balls, a partner, and a good throw and catch in the outfield. Warm weather is just around the corner, so get out there or get in there and play ball !!!