Catching Drills

Catching instructor Joe Wilkins puts his catchers through some receiving drills.

Catching Instructor Joe Wilkins takes his baseball catchers through blocking drills.

Catching Instructor Joe Wilkins takes his catchers through a throwing progression sequence.

Purpose:
To work on catchers positioning and ball blocking
Equipment:
Catcher’s gear
Procedure:
* Catcher at home plate in crouch position.
* Coach call location of pitch
* Catcher moves to position where ball was called.
Key Points:
* The coach will check their form to make sure the catcher is in a good position.

Purpose:
To work on reaction time for pop ups and increase alertness
Equipment:
Bucket of Baseballs, catcher’s gear, Field
Procedure:
* Catcher at home plate in crouch position.
* Coach is 5 feet in front of catcher with a ball in each hand.
* With a flick of the wrist, one ball is thrown directly at the catcher’s mask.
* At the same [...]

Purpose:
To improve the ability of a catcher to react quickly to pop flies.
Equipment:
Baseball
Procedure:
* The catcher assumes the crouched position while a partner, standing directly behind the catcher, throws the ball high into the air, imitating a pop fly.
* The catcher turns his or her back to the field, locates the ball, discards the mask, and [...]

Purpose:
To work on pitched balls that are low in the dirt.
Equipment:
Tennis ball (or another type of softer ball), catcher’s gear
Procedure:
* Using a tennis ball, the coach stands 10 feet from the catcher and throws short hops in the dirt to simulate pitches.
Key Points:
* Have catchers catch the ball with their body instead of blocking it [...]

Purpose:
To work on fielding bunts on either side of the plate.
Equipment:
Bucket of Baseballs, catcher’s gear, Field
Procedure:
* Catcher at home plate in crouch position.
* Coach is behind the catcher and simulates bunt by rolling ball down first or third baselines or directly in front of catcher.
* Catcher moves out of position and “scoops” ball into glove [...]

Purpose:
To improve baseball catchers’ performance on dropped third strikes.
Equipment:
Bucket of Baseballs, catcher’s gear, Field
Procedure:
* Catcher at home plate in crouch position.
* Coach behind catcher
* Coach will roll ball behind catcher and yell BALL.
* Catcher must go into blocking position then come up quickly, locate the ball, and throw to first base.
Key Points:
* The first baseman [...]