Baseball: Tips & Drills for Catchers

Catcher may be the most important defensive position in baseball. The catcher is the only player who is involved in handling the ball on every pitch. Throwing out potential base stealers and keeping runners from scoring by blocking the plate can instantly shut down a rally and demoralize the opposing team. Using drills that simulate live game situations will give your catchers plenty of defensive work without slowing the pace of your practice session.

  1. Speed Drill

    • In this drill, the coach uses a stopwatch to encourage the catcher and second baseman to speed up their parts of the play. Have one of your catchers set up in his normal position behind the plate. The backup catchers should wait in line several feet away from home plate to give the catcher enough room to stand up and throw. One of your pitchers or a coach will stand on the pitching mound and throw the ball to the catcher, then move out of the way as the catcher throws down to second base. Another player or coach will start a stopwatch when the pitch hits the catcher's mitt and stop the watch as soon as the second baseman mimics tagging the runner out.

    Pitch Blocking Drill

    • This drill allows the catcher to work solely on the fundamentals of blocking pitches that bounce in the dirt without having to keep track of any baserunners. Set a cone on each side of home plate to limit the area for the catcher to cover. Stand approximately 30 feet in front of home plate and intentionally bounce several pitches in the dirt in front of the catcher, making sure to keep your pitches between the two cones. As the catcher improves his blocking ability, you can widen the cones to make the drill more difficult. If you notice the catcher dropping to his knees before you throw the ball, mix in some regular pitches that do not hit the dirt.

    Fielding Drill

    • A good catcher must be able to field a bunt cleanly and quickly decide where to throw the ball. Set the catcher up behind home plate in full gear and your infielders at their normal positions in the field. Set a ball on the ground a few feet in front of the catcher to represent a bunt up the middle. Set another ball several feet away from the first base line and one a few feet from the third base line. Call out the ball you want the catcher to field and the base to which he should throw it. Mix up your calls so the catcher and infielders can alternate between throwing out the imaginary batter at first and trying to catch the lead runner advancing to the next base.