09/15/2012 - Pitching/Catching Accelerated Training Weekend (Commuter) (Ages 12-14) Freddie was coachable and put forth good effort. He had no problem taking to me or to the other catcher so he gets + marks for communication. Overall, he showed that he had the drive to play the position however, he's not quite there yet. Receiving: Did fine with slower pitching but really struggled watching the ball into the glove when the pitchers had a little more speed. Curveballs and change ups also gave him fits. Set-up and stance: Playable but he lacked in ability when moving left, right, and up. Used knee-savers and had a hard time getting his butt off of them. Footwork to throw was slow and lacked explosiveness. He showed arm strength but slung the ball because of a lack of lower body leg drive. Blocking: Average but struggled when pitching got faster. Had no problem getting his body in front of balls that were directly in front but had a tough time moving to balls to his left and right. Block and recover quickness was low also. Throwing: Continue to work on arm strength and ACCURACY. Using more of his legs to drive his throwing will put more distance and carry on his throws to the bag. Overall: Freddie should continue to focus on the fundamentals of being a catcher. Catching, Throwing and Blocking! Agility work to quicken his feet will do him well as well as playing more catch, with an emphasis on accuracy, will help his throwing.