Catching: Proper Footwork Starts with the Feet

Posted on June 2, 2008 - Filed Under Catching | Leave a Comment

Nearly every catching instructor you speak to, and every published book and article on catching, will point out that footwork is the key to success for a backstop.
However, most of these sources either don’t elaborate on how your feet should be, or they offer information that does more harm than good.
For […]

Read More..>>

Treating Jammed Fingers

Posted on April 2, 2007 - Filed Under Catching | Leave a Comment

If you are a catcher, and have been catching for any significant length of time, then you know all about jammed fingers. A jammed, or sprained, finger is often the result of your bare hand being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Similarly, if you are a baseball player that plays “hard”, […]

Read More..>>

Book Review: The Ripken Way

Posted on March 2, 2007 - Filed Under Book Reviews, General, Catching | Leave a Comment

There are dozens of books on the “basics” of baseball playing, but few are authored by someone with the cachet of Cal Ripken, Jr. After reading it from cover to cover (twice), I also have to state that few other books on the fundamentals are as clear, correct, and, most importantly, applicable to nearly […]

Read More..>>

Catching: How to Frame

Posted on December 26, 2006 - Filed Under Catching, Pitching | Leave a Comment

Nearly every young catcher I meet is either proud to show me how well he can frame a pitch, or he wants to know how to do it.
So here I will teach all about framing, for the masses who do not have the pleasure to learn from me. However, you may be unhappy with what […]

Read More..>>

Catcher’s Gloves: Recommended

Posted on June 21, 2006 - Filed Under Equipment, Catching | Leave a Comment

Through the years, Ive used catchers gloves from Wilson, Rawlings, Spalding, Mizuno, and most recently, Akadema. As a youngster, and through high school, I used a glove with a double break; one break on each side of the wrist pad. It was a clumsy, heavy design, and in college switched to single-break gloves. The […]

Read More..>>