crowding the plate

[BretMan]

It is rare for me to ever say anything to a catcher about her positioning. This past weekend I did. Had a catcher who liked to play up close to the plate. I could adjust to that by working a little higher.

But she had a habit of then raising up out of her stance about halfway, just as the pitcher was getting ready to pitch, and totally blocking my view of the plate. When she did that, I had two choices: Either make a quick "on the fly" adjustment to see the plate, or guess a little bit on the pitch location. "Guessing" isn't always as bad as it sounds, because it will at least be an educated guess. I know where I'm set up in relation to the plate...and the plate doesn't move!

My preference is to be in one spot and still while a pitch is delivered and for that one spot to be one where I can see the whole plate.

When this catcher made some comments about inside pitches, I told her that she could set up wherever she wanted to and that I wasn't telling her where to set up or how to play her position. But I did let her know that standing up like that and totally blocking my view wasn't helping her own cause one little bit. She quit doing it after that.