How to Teach a Catcher to Block

I have been amazed by the number of students, 14yrs of age and older that have come for instruction without the most basic skills of blocking. Even as old as 17 yrs old, catchers still trying to “catch” the ball rather then block it.

I have a number of emails in the past few weeks asking for an explanation on how we teach blocking at our camps. Thought I would post for others to see and comment. It’s long, so sit down and be comfortable.

First two premises that we share with players.

1. The purpose of blocking is NOT to catch the ball with their glove. While some balls may very well go directly into their gloves their goal should be to use the glove to block the ball from going between their legs. Any balls that would be higher then that should be allowed to hit them and bounce forward.

2.The technique we teach first is for fastballs or any pitch thrown that travels relatively straight back after hitting the ground. This block involves technique that keeps the block very deep in the catchers box instead of blocking forward. We want to block in a way that sucks the energy out of a pitch and causes it to drop directly in front of the catcher. Rather then blocking forward into a pitch and adding energy to the ball. Thus causing it to bounce much ****her away from the catcher. I will describe the specific techniques in the text to follow.


We begin the instruction by teaching the correct blocking position first. We will teach how to get into this position after we are sure the player knows what position he is trying to end up in after he executes the move.

We draw a line on the ground. Or already having a line taped on the floor. We have them get down on their knees, knees up to the line and get into the blocking position. They spread their knees apart so the glove can be set between their knees, pocket facing the pitcher. The throwing hand is behind the glove being protected. I like the throwing hand in a fist with the thumb inside the fist. The glove and throwing hand should be pulled back as deep between the legs as possible. The tip of the glove should just be touching the ground. Do not squash the glove into the ground.
It is at this point I really stress that the glove must stay between the legs and is no longer used to
catch the ball.

The legs are positioned in such a way the player is sitting on his calves. His feet should be almost touching behind him. This will keep any ball the does manage to get between the legs from going on through. Many players position their calves outside their legs and sit down between their legs. This has their legs in what I call the “W” sit position. While this position allows the legs to be wider and cover more ground it is much slower to get up from and traps the player on the ground.

The upper body is leaning so the chin is out over the glove and knees. Back is rounded. Arms have an elbow bend that makes the arms flare out to the side. Many players keep their arms straight when they block. This causes much more wear and tear on the forearms then necessary. With the arms flared, the chest protector will take more of the hits. The chin is down, but the eyes are up to watch the ball.

We then teach what to do when the ball hits them. When the ball hits a few things all happen at once. We exhale hard, suck in the abs, and roll the shoulders in. All of these are designed to further cushion the impact and pull the energy out of the pitch. Our goal is to have the ball stay between us and the back of the plate. Once the player is able to get up and down and return to this position we begin the drills. The first drill is a No-Flinch drill.

In this drill the player assumes the blocking position but looks up and straight at the coach who is kneeling 3-4ft in front of them. The coach then throws balls directly at the facemask of the player. The player must take the hit without any flinching other then eye blink. For players who turn their heads or flinch backwards this drill should be a regular event until they have learned to relax and take the hit without flinching.

The next drill is called Sit-n-Hit. In this drill the player assumes the blocking position and the coach get 8-10 feet in front of them and throws balls directly at the ground in front of them. Varying the impact point to have some hit low on the catcher and some to bounce hi and hit the chest protector. Again we are using this drill to get the player used to getting hit and not flinching.

Many of the poor blocks I see are a result of the player blending correct blocking movements with ill-timed survival flinches. Get rid of the flinches and the effectiveness of the blocks improve.

After these drills we teach how to get from our receiving position to this blocking position. We have the player get in their receiving position with runners on base, their toes on the line on the ground. The move to the ground is explosive. The first thing that moves is the throwing hand then the glove. The throwing hand moves downward and back first to ensure that it will end up behind the glove. The glove follows right after. I have a number of pictures where the glove is on the ground blocking the opening between the legs and the knees haven’t hit the ground yet.

Right after the hands move the legs will also move. I teach a method where the player will have their knees replace their feet. Their feet will explode backwards and come together behind them. Their knees will end up right on the line where their toes were. Remember our goal is to not add energy to the ball. This is why we block deep, staying back. If we fall forward onto our knees we will be adding energy to the ball when it hits us and cause a longer bounce away from us.

I have the players practice this block with me throwing an invisible ball to them. After they make the block they need to hold their position and make any corrections to their position needed. They do not get up until the position is correct. Then they get back up into their receiving position and repeat. Once they can do this correctly I begin to throw real balls at them slowly getting them used to taking the hit, and more importantly NOT trying to catch the ball.

Once this skill is correct I begin to work up with the pitches coming in faster and letting the pitch be a little to the sides. Since they are set up with their toes pointed up the lines it is very easy for them to block slightly to either side by shifting weight over that foot.

Boy, I had no idea this would be this long…..hope it helps and fosters some good discussion. This is an explanation for the kids that are just learning to block. There are many more things that are introduced as the skill progresses. But this is the first step to get the young catchers to move from trying to catch everything to blocking those pitches that will not be catchable.

Kid with a 90MPH fastball......Potential

Kid with a 90MPH fastball and a great catcher....Results