Let’s get this out of the way right away: I’m not trying to tell you not to catch for your daughters. That time behind the plate as your daughter is learning to pitch is some of the best time you’ll ever spend with her.

No, I’m talking about the position you’re in as you take your place behind the plate. This advice is based on a phenomenon I’ve noticed over the years, but particularly recently, and especially with younger pitchers just learning control.

Parents who catch for their daughters are colloquially referred to as “bucket dads” or “bucket moms” because of their habit of sitting on a bucket to catch. The term is sometimes used self effacingly when giving advice (“I’m just a bucket dad but I think…”) or as a derogatory term (“if we could just get all the bucket moms to keep quiet…”).

But it turns out, that position on the bucket might just be the best thing for pitchers who are struggling with throwing high.

Over the winter I had a few parents who decided not to use the bucket. But rather than squatting down behind the plate (which can be a challenge for some), they decided to just bend at the waist.

I began to notice that those pitchers were tending to throw high. So, I started asking the parents to either sit on a bucket or squat and whaddya know? All of a sudden pitches that were going high started coming in hot in the strike zone instead.

It makes sense. When a parent (or any catcher) is standing up, the target or focal point of the pitcher’s eyes tend to stay up with it. The eyes are critical to throwing at a target (especially the dominant eye), so if the eyes are being drawn upward due to the catcher’s posture the pitcher will tend to throw high – even if the glove is hanging down.

By squatting or sitting, the pitcher’s eyes are drawn into the strike zone, making it easier for her to throw strikes.

If you have a pitcher who can’t quite seem to bring the ball down or hit low locations while you’re standing up, grab a bucket and give this trick a try. It just might help her build better habits that translate into better results in a game.

My good friend Jay Bolden and I have started a new podcast called “From the Coach’s Mouth” where we interview coaches from all areas and levels of fastpitch softball as well as others who may not be fastpitch people but have lots of interesting ideas to contribute.

You can find it here on Spotify, as well as on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, Stitcher, iHeart Radio, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you’re searching, be sure to put the name in quotes, i.e., “From the Coach’s Mouth” so it goes directly to it.

Give it a listen and let us know what you think. And be sure to hit the Like button and subscribe to Life in the Fastpitch Lane for more content like this.