Blocking Problem

Do you have any game film? That will help more than watching your videos because that's where you're messing up.  Couple of observations

1.  You have heavy feet - I would suggest getting a jump rope and learn to do all the boxing shuffles.  Get on a good dot program to work more agility with your feet.  Not sure if you want to do this one but I feel that it helped me tremendously was play offensive line for football.  All the drills we did for footwork on moving people in tight spaces made me more agile.

Reason why I'm saying this is in your lesson video when the instructor has you block and recover in the first part you are slow getting up.  Plus you take more steps than necessary to get there - in the first ball after you got up it took you four steps just to get to the ball when it was right there. In the second ball it took 5 steps and you were closer.  In the Baseball Factory video (it popped up on the next video) in your hitting portion you are stomping your front foot instead of being soft.  That could possibly cause your head to bounce which is going to hurt you hitting but I think that shows heavy feet.  Also, the ground balls at first you take a lot of steps.  I think overall the extra steps are showing a possible lack of balance from 

2.  You play too big - especially in the BF video you're almost standing up when you're blocking and then throwing.  You're not going to get very many strikes because you're blocking the umps view.  Even working on the framing in both videos you're too big.  

You need to work two positions - one with runners on and one with nobody on.  WIth nobody on you want to be as small as possible.  This requires a lot of stretching and it's harder to block pitches side to side but nobody on not a huge deal.  With runners on you still have to be small but more up on your toes while bent at the waist.  In the BF video you're showing your entire chest to the pitcher when you should be showing him your head and shoulders (hope that makes sense).  Once again this all ties into having good feet.

3.  I'm not sure what you're getting out of that lesson to be honest.  You're working on blocking and it's either coming in the air and you're blocking / catching it or it's a ground ball at you.  That's not helping you.  Most - if not all - the pitches you "block" are actually caught in your mitt.  Blocking means it comes up and into your chest and you control it by forcing it down.  If you're big you're going to have a hard time controlling it.  

Just a few thoughts but my biggest piece of advice that will probably help your original question and you overall is to help your feet out.

coach2709 posted:

Do you have any game film? That will help more than watching your videos because that's where you're messing up.  Couple of observations

1.  You have heavy feet - I would suggest getting a jump rope and learn to do all the boxing shuffles.  Get on a good dot program to work more agility with your feet.  Not sure if you want to do this one but I feel that it helped me tremendously was play offensive line for football.  All the drills we did for footwork on moving people in tight spaces made me more agile.

Reason why I'm saying this is in your lesson video when the instructor has you block and recover in the first part you are slow getting up.  Plus you take more steps than necessary to get there - in the first ball after you got up it took you four steps just to get to the ball when it was right there. In the second ball it took 5 steps and you were closer.  In the Baseball Factory video (it popped up on the next video) in your hitting portion you are stomping your front foot instead of being soft.  That could possibly cause your head to bounce which is going to hurt you hitting but I think that shows heavy feet.  Also, the ground balls at first you take a lot of steps.  I think overall the extra steps are showing a possible lack of balance from 

2.  You play too big - especially in the BF video you're almost standing up when you're blocking and then throwing.  You're not going to get very many strikes because you're blocking the umps view.  Even working on the framing in both videos you're too big.  

You need to work two positions - one with runners on and one with nobody on.  WIth nobody on you want to be as small as possible.  This requires a lot of stretching and it's harder to block pitches side to side but nobody on not a huge deal.  With runners on you still have to be small but more up on your toes while bent at the waist.  In the BF video you're showing your entire chest to the pitcher when you should be showing him your head and shoulders (hope that makes sense).  Once again this all ties into having good feet.

3.  I'm not sure what you're getting out of that lesson to be honest.  You're working on blocking and it's either coming in the air and you're blocking / catching it or it's a ground ball at you.  That's not helping you.  Most - if not all - the pitches you "block" are actually caught in your mitt.  Blocking means it comes up and into your chest and you control it by forcing it down.  If you're big you're going to have a hard time controlling it.  

Just a few thoughts but my biggest piece of advice that will probably help your original question and you overall is to help your feet out.

Thank you, I will work on my feet. Don't pay attention to the BF video that was taken a year ago, I ha begotten better. I will try to get game video soon and more video of me catching. When you say to not show the pic ther my chest and just show head and shoulders, what do you mean by that? And I did notice that in the lesson the balls weren't hiring my chest, I will get more video of me catching sometime soon hopefully once high school is over. Thanks for the rely and advice. 

Yeah you can tell you got better in the second video compared to the first video.  One thing I forgot to put that I did see in the BF video is you need to get on top of the throw more.  You have a slight drop / sidearm throw.

As for the pitcher seeing your chest I tried to find some pictures but Google hates me.  Imagine this - in the runners on position you want your butt up higher.  Think of sitting on a short stool with the edge of your butt but your bent at the waist.  This allows the ump to still see the zone better although you're in a more athletic position to move around and block.  With nobody on your but can be much lower but this will bring your top more upright.  When I was catching in college I was so flexible that the inside part of my thighs could touch the ground.  I couldn't block things to my side but the umpire had a perfect view of the zone.  Hope that helps 

coach2709 posted:

Yeah you can tell you got better in the second video compared to the first video.  One thing I forgot to put that I did see in the BF video is you need to get on top of the throw more.  You have a slight drop / sidearm throw.

As for the pitcher seeing your chest I tried to find some pictures but Google hates me.  Imagine this - in the runners on position you want your butt up higher.  Think of sitting on a short stool with the edge of your butt but your bent at the waist.  This allows the ump to still see the zone better although you're in a more athletic position to move around and block.  With nobody on your but can be much lower but this will bring your top more upright.  When I was catching in college I was so flexible that the inside part of my thighs could touch the ground.  I couldn't block things to my side but the umpire had a perfect view of the zone.  Hope that helps 

Okay, thank you. I did now change to having two stances, I always did have them, just in the BF visor I hadn't caught in months, I was playing first on varsity my sophomore year, and my throws to second have gotten better, you'll see when I get more video 

Agree with coach... you need to work on quick, quick, quick.  We work our catchers with rapid fire blocking so they are drop blocking (leaving the ball where the chest protector blocked it to) then quickly pouncing back into ready position for another rep.  We'll hold a broom on top of their helmet during drop so they can feel if they have any/too much lift.  This rapid fire drill also helps speed them up with retrieving the ball after blocking.  I, too, believe the slow feet contribute to the upward motion before dropping. 

When you retrieve the ball, you are bending straight over at the waist instead of attacking the ball, getting next to it so as to be in position to make a strong throw with the correct momentum, bending athletically with the knees and maintaining a balanced, ready-to-throw posture.

It's sort of a bad angle but, like coach said, I also don't see enough difference between your position 1 and position 2 (no runners, runners).  With your back side up a bit more in position 2, it will actually make it easier for you to drop without lifting first.

In another video that shows up after this one, a coach is working you at a field with houses in the background.  He has you hold in a blocking position and doesn't correct that your back is almost parallel to the ground instead of closer to a 45 degree angle.  You want your chest protector to block the ball slightly downward.  You don't want to be hunched over so much that your chest protector is practically facing the ground.

Keep up the hard work.  I'll be the straight forward jerk here... you are not being pushed hard enough to be quicker and more athletic with all of your movements.  You look plenty athletic that I would be demanding more out of you.

Totally agree with Cabbage on everything but him talking about attacking the ball and being athletic when picking it up reminded me of something.  What I teach my guys is to do everything he said is to put their nose over the ball.  This will force the athletic stance and keep you from taking shortcuts by trying to reach for the ball.  Something I tell all my fielders is quick - slow - quick which means quick to the ball - slow to field it - quick to get rid of it.  Only way to do this is to be athletic and work on your feet.  

cabbagedad posted:

Agree with coach... you need to work on quick, quick, quick.  We work our catchers with rapid fire blocking so they are drop blocking (leaving the ball where the chest protector blocked it to) then quickly pouncing back into ready position for another rep.  We'll hold a broom on top of their helmet during drop so they can feel if they have any/too much lift.  This rapid fire drill also helps speed them up with retrieving the ball after blocking.  I, too, believe the slow feet contribute to the upward motion before dropping. 

When you retrieve the ball, you are bending straight over at the waist instead of attacking the ball, getting next to it so as to be in position to make a strong throw with the correct momentum, bending athletically with the knees and maintaining a balanced, ready-to-throw posture.

It's sort of a bad angle but, like coach said, I also don't see enough difference between your position 1 and position 2 (no runners, runners).  With your back side up a bit more in position 2, it will actually make it easier for you to drop without lifting first.

In another video that shows up after this one, a coach is working you at a field with houses in the background.  He has you hold in a blocking position and doesn't correct that your back is almost parallel to the ground instead of closer to a 45 degree angle.  You want your chest protector to block the ball slightly downward.  You don't want to be hunched over so much that your chest protector is practically facing the ground.

Keep up the hard work.  I'll be the straight forward jerk here... you are not being pushed hard enough to be quicker and more athletic with all of your movements.  You look plenty athletic that I would be demanding more out of you.

Thank you, I have worked out and lifted in the winter so I have gotten Better, will get more footage soon 

cabbagedad posted:

Agree with coach... you need to work on quick, quick, quick.  We work our catchers with rapid fire blocking so they are drop blocking (leaving the ball where the chest protector blocked it to) then quickly pouncing back into ready position for another rep.  We'll hold a broom on top of their helmet during drop so they can feel if they have any/too much lift.  This rapid fire drill also helps speed them up with retrieving the ball after blocking.  I, too, believe the slow feet contribute to the upward motion before dropping. 

When you retrieve the ball, you are bending straight over at the waist instead of attacking the ball, getting next to it so as to be in position to make a strong throw with the correct momentum, bending athletically with the knees and maintaining a balanced, ready-to-throw posture.

It's sort of a bad angle but, like coach said, I also don't see enough difference between your position 1 and position 2 (no runners, runners).  With your back side up a bit more in position 2, it will actually make it easier for you to drop without lifting first.

In another video that shows up after this one, a coach is working you at a field with houses in the background.  He has you hold in a blocking position and doesn't correct that your back is almost parallel to the ground instead of closer to a 45 degree angle.  You want your chest protector to block the ball slightly downward.  You don't want to be hunched over so much that your chest protector is practically facing the ground.

Keep up the hard work.  I'll be the straight forward jerk here... you are not being pushed hard enough to be quicker and more athletic with all of your movements.  You look plenty athletic that I would be demanding more out of you.

Thanks for the advice, check out this most recent video that I just uploaded: https://youtu.be/Vuhg5M0bSQg

coach2709 posted:

Totally agree with Cabbage on everything but him talking about attacking the ball and being athletic when picking it up reminded me of something.  What I teach my guys is to do everything he said is to put their nose over the ball.  This will force the athletic stance and keep you from taking shortcuts by trying to reach for the ball.  Something I tell all my fielders is quick - slow - quick which means quick to the ball - slow to field it - quick to get rid of it.  Only way to do this is to be athletic and work on your feet.  

Check out the video I just uploaded: https://youtu.be/Vuhg5M0bSQg

You look MUCH better in that video than the other ones.  I especially like the adjustment you made with your trigger in moving to a more gentle landing / heel lift versus the stomp.  Hard to tell but I think you have some power and I like the swing because it looks like you generate some good bat speed.  One thing I did notice is that on 1 or 2 swings you hands go too far back on your trigger.  Imagine pulling the string back on a bow and arrow and your hands doing that before you commit to the swing.  Against higher velocity guys that will probably hurt you but it might have been just those few times.

Behind the plate you looked better as well.  The only thing I see I would fix is on some of the pitches your upper body raises when you catch the ball.  That can block the umpire from seeing the pitch.  As the pitch arrives you want to get as small as possible.  Now going back to the other thread in the main forum your raising up may be because you don't know what pitch is coming.  This is why your pitcher needs to be on the same page as you so you can do the best possible job for him.  I've let my pitchers call their own game before.  They shake the catcher off until they get what they want.  You can do that here if your pitcher wants to throw his own game.

coach2709 posted:

You look MUCH better in that video than the other ones.  I especially like the adjustment you made with your trigger in moving to a more gentle landing / heel lift versus the stomp.  Hard to tell but I think you have some power and I like the swing because it looks like you generate some good bat speed.  One thing I did notice is that on 1 or 2 swings you hands go too far back on your trigger.  Imagine pulling the string back on a bow and arrow and your hands doing that before you commit to the swing.  Against higher velocity guys that will probably hurt you but it might have been just those few times.

Behind the plate you looked better as well.  The only thing I see I would fix is on some of the pitches your upper body raises when you catch the ball.  That can block the umpire from seeing the pitch.  As the pitch arrives you want to get as small as possible.  Now going back to the other thread in the main forum your raising up may be because you don't know what pitch is coming.  This is why your pitcher needs to be on the same page as you so you can do the best possible job for him.  I've let my pitchers call their own game before.  They shake the catcher off until they get what they want.  You can do that here if your pitcher wants to throw his own game.

Thank you! I am starting my summer season soon, so I will get video then. And as for my swing, I understand what you mean by my hands going too far back, I believe that occurs sometimes because when I was taught by my uncle about my load, he had me over-emphasize my load so I would feel it, I just have to make that adjustment. And I do it for some power, last summer I had a homerun (the only one on the team to hit one).