I had plenty of great coaches in my career. One of my favorite coaches was Tony Pena. It was when I was with the New York Yankees. Tony was showy. He was exciting. He is one of the best catchers to ever play this game. He's regularly remembered for one of his one catchers stance. He'd have a means of being on the ground, leg out to the side on a knee. And when he would set up like this, you questioned how he'd even get up.
I remember a game at Shea stadium. 4 hours and twenty five minutes. I have no clue what the score was. My legs hurt so bad by the end of it. It is because I spent too much of the game in my throwing blocking stance with runners on base. That stance is rather different from our comfort position where were all the way down.
Lets speak about that. Our comfort position were down nice and low but when we've got a runner on first, 2nd or third base, or two strikes on the hitter, we have to be up out of this position. Here's what it's going to look like. My rear end is now up off my calves. My right foot is still set about instep back behind my left. We continue to can show a low target.
Here is one of the differences. Our bare hand, still closed around are thumb, is behind our glove. It doesn't need to be right up against it. It just has to be on the same line. So from here we can drop down and block a ball. From this same position we want to be ready to come out and make a throw to second. This stance will take a touch more toll on your legs. So hopefully you do not spend far too much of your game in this stance.
Hopefully you have fast games so you can spend the whole time in your comfort position. But if not, make sure you get yourself a good base, feet are spread out, continue giving a low target. Put that bare hand behind and give yourself the best opportunity to make a throw, to dam the ball. Use this tip the next time your behind the dish.
I remember a game at Shea stadium. 4 hours and twenty five minutes. I have no clue what the score was. My legs hurt so bad by the end of it. It is because I spent too much of the game in my throwing blocking stance with runners on base. That stance is rather different from our comfort position where were all the way down.
Lets speak about that. Our comfort position were down nice and low but when we've got a runner on first, 2nd or third base, or two strikes on the hitter, we have to be up out of this position. Here's what it's going to look like. My rear end is now up off my calves. My right foot is still set about instep back behind my left. We continue to can show a low target.
Here is one of the differences. Our bare hand, still closed around are thumb, is behind our glove. It doesn't need to be right up against it. It just has to be on the same line. So from here we can drop down and block a ball. From this same position we want to be ready to come out and make a throw to second. This stance will take a touch more toll on your legs. So hopefully you do not spend far too much of your game in this stance.
Hopefully you have fast games so you can spend the whole time in your comfort position. But if not, make sure you get yourself a good base, feet are spread out, continue giving a low target. Put that bare hand behind and give yourself the best opportunity to make a throw, to dam the ball. Use this tip the next time your behind the dish.
About the Author:
Darin Simon is a previous catcher who now coaches baseball. He uses catching instruction from video tutorials. He posts these videos on his website so his team can look back at the catching drills.
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