PABaseball posted:Catching lessons aren't really something you need to do year round. Just train in the winter and meet to clean it up when necessary.You really don't need to click with someone. You just need to improve. There aren't a ton of different philosophies on how to get better defensively. Most guys who know what they're doing will be preaching the same material.
I don't disagree with you here PA but I think the trouble is in the bolded above. No, there aren't a ton of philosophies but there are a few that differ dramatically e.g. "gain ground, no step, jab step, knee down, knee up, let it get deep, stick it out front, hand in fist behind mitt, hand in seam of hip, et al., ad nauseam." I follow 12 or 13 different catching guys on twitter and the debates on a few things seem never ending. There are a lot of universally agreed upon things but if a young kid gets with a dude that doesn't know how to property evaluate the needs based on body type, athleticism, arm motion, personality, mental acuity, etc., it can be difficult to undo. My son eventually got to a point where he could identify the things he wanted to take from a session, or piece of advice from someone, and what conflicted with what worked for him he would just flush, but not all kids are able to do that or have reached a level of maturity to be expected to be able to do that. Most of us parents of catchers know it is a severely neglected position up until college or maybe beyond. Ok, off my soap box now! I'm just passionate about decent dedicated instruction for this critical position rather than just being a ball shagger.
If I had to recommend any to pay attention to, they would be: Jerry Weinstein, Tom Griffin, Ryan Sienko, Tanner Swanson, and Kevin Schnall for my short list. I'm sure I'm missing someone but these guys always have quality content and methods communicated.