Pitching Baseball
Top 3 Baseball Catchers’ Drills
Being a catcher in the game of baseball is one of the toughest jobs you can have on the baseball field. You need to have quick hands, quick feet, a strong arm, and good leadership skills to be successful. Many drills have been developed over the years to help develop these essential catcher skills. Continue reading to discover the top 3 catchers’ drills for baseball.
1. Blocking Drill
One of the most important skills that a catcher must master is blocking the baseball. Pitchers are not always going to be able to control their pitches, and a catcher must prevent the baseball from traveling to the backstop.
The purpose of this drill is to improve a catcher’s blocking skills to ensure that the baseball always stays in front of him.
To perform this drill, a coach should take a knee about 50 feet in front of the catcher with a bucket of baseballs. The catcher should take his normal catching position behind the plate. The coach should then begin firmly throwing baseballs to the catcher that bounce in front of him. Some of the balls should be to the left, some to the right, and some in the middle. The balls should also be thrown so that some have short-hops and some have longer more difficult hops. The catcher should practice dropping to his knees to block the ball, and he should also practice his horizontal movement to ensure his body is always in front of the baseball.
The coach should throw the baseballs in a fairly rapid succession until 20 baseballs have been thrown. The coach should count the number of balls blocked versus the number of balls that got past the catcher and record this number. This drill should be repeated throughout the season, and the catcher should always try to improve upon his best number.
2. Throwing Out a Runner Drill
Throwing out baserunners is a very important job for a catcher. He alone often has the responsibility of ensuring that runners do not advance freely on the bases.
The purpose of this drill is to improve the ability of a catcher to throw out stealing runners on the base paths.
To perform this drill, the catcher takes his normal position behind the plate, a coach or pitcher lines up about 50 feet in front of the catcher, and a middle infielder takes his receiving position at second base. The coach should throw the ball to the catcher, and the catcher should receive the baseball and use good footwork and handwork to quickly throw the ball accurately to second base. A second coach should use a stopwatch to record the amount of time that it takes for the ball to travel from the catcher’s glove to the infielder’s glove at second base. The quicker this time, the more likely that the catcher could throw out a baserunner. The catcher should repeat this drill and try to improve on his best time by improving release time and throwing velocity.
3. Framing Drill
Framing pitches is somewhat of an art, but it can be very beneficial for your pitcher if done correctly. Catchers must learn to frame close pitches, avoid framing balls well off the plate, and avoid over-framing .
The purpose of this drill is to improve a catcher’s ability to frame a close pitch.
For this drill, a coach should line up about 50 feet in front of the catcher. The catcher should take his normal catching position behind the plate. The coach should then proceed to throw balls near the corners of the plate. The catcher should work on properly framing close pitches. The catcher should also work on avoiding framing pitches well off the plate or framing for too long.
The coach should throw 20 baseballs and score the catcher +1 for every properly framed ball, -1 for every ball framed that was too far off the plate, and -1 if he over-frames. This drill should be repeated throughout the season, and the catcher should work to improve his score.
The above three drills cover some of the most important skills that a catcher must master. If learned, practiced, and measured, a catcher can have a significant advantage over his competitors.
About the Author
Dustin Peek is a former player that enjoys helping players of all ages improve their baseball skills. Do you want to learn more about the absolute best
catchers’ drills
? If so, visit the following website:
How to Pitch a Baseball : Full Wind Up for Baseball Pitching
|
|
Weddingstar Groom Pitching Baseball $15.00 For all of those baseball sports fans, this is the cake topper that truly hits home. Great on a cake or with mini apple pies. Baseball and apple pie – couldn’t be more appropriate! Hand painted porcelain…. |
|
|
Weddingstar Bride at Home Base Ready to Hit the Home Run $18.00 For all of those baseball sports fans, this is the cake topper that truly hits home. Great on a cake or with mini apple pies. Baseball and apple pie – couldn’t be more appropriate! Hand painted porcelain…. |
|
|
Groom Pitching Baseball $23.73 For all of those baseball sports fans, this is the cake topper that truly hits home. Great on a cake or with mini apple pies. Baseball and apple pie – couldn’t be more appropriate! Hand painted porcelain…. |
|
|
Rookie of the Year $3.43 Baseball movies seem like a sure thing, combining the drama of the game with positive values. So it’s too bad this pleasant film takes the field in the most superficial way. Henry, the worst player in Little League, suffers an injury that miraculously heals as the strongest pitching arm in the world. His life becomes a kid’s dream with a career in the Majors, but nothing really happens. His streng… |
|
|
Play Ball!: Basic Pitching. Authentic Little League baseball guide $2.96 The “Play Ball! Basic Pitching” DVD with Ray Romano and Reggie Smith is an authentic Little League� baseball guide that teaches basic pitching techniques, strategies, tips, practice drills, and safety. It’s hosted by Ray Romano from TV’s “Everybody Loves Raymond”…. |
|
|
Major League Baseball – MLB Superstars Show You Their Game $1.49 The must-have DVD revealing secrets from MLB’s top stars! Valuable tips and memorable exchanges from MLB’s biggest stars are exposed through the eyes of Jennie Finch, MLB’s This Week In Baseball correspondent and Olympic pitching great…. |
|
|
Baseball – Skills & Drills: The FUNdamentals of Pitching [VHS] $1.99 … |
|
|
The Rookie [Blu-ray] $15.82 Jim Morris, the real-life hero of The Rookie, has an inspirational story all but guaranteed to put a smile on anyone’s face. Happily, this G-rated Disney drama, based on Morris’s published memoir of the same title, is suitable for an all-ages audience. Blessed with an awesome fastball, Morris nursed dreams of pitching for Major League Baseball during his 20s; injuries and bad luck, however, forced… |
|
|
Pitching and Catching: Baseball Skills and Drills NTSC Video [VHS] $17.77 With the ABCA’s new Baseball Skills & Drills video series, you can learn how to organize better practices, gain a better understanding of what drills you need to develop fundamental baseball skills, and improve your chances at a winning season!Developed in conjunction with the American Baseball Coaches Associationâthe world’s leading baseball coaching organizationâthe Baseball Skills … |
|
|
Major League (Wild Thing Edition) $3.38 She’s beautiful, smart, goal-oriented, and she just inherited the Cleveland Indians. Unfortunately, she wants to move the franchise to Miami, and a losing season is her only ticket to Florida. So she signs the wildest gang of screwballs that ever spit tobacco. They’re handsome, but they’re hopeless! Her catcher (Tom Berenger) is a washed-up womanizer who struck out in life. Her ace pitcher (Charli… |