All drills should be practiced out of our primary and secondary stances. Balls should be thrown to all parts of the strike zone. In all of our drills we want to be able to control the ball. After the ball touches your mitt, let your mitt dictate how much the ball moves, and do not let the ball dictate how much your mitt moves! All of these receiving drills are great, but we get our best work in during bullpens! Do not think of bullpens as the pitchers practice and you are just there to help out, think of it as your time to get better at receiving and blocking!

Chapter 1 - Tennis Balls Bare Handed
(Rounds of 10)

The first drill is to teach the catcher exactly where to catch the ball in their hands. The ball should be caught between the thumb and the index finger; too many times, I see catchers doing this drill and catching the ball in their palm. If the catcher had his mitt on and caught the ball in his palm the ball would more than likely get dropped. We want to teach our catchers to consistently catch the ball in the pocket of the mitt. A lot of people do this drill incorrectly and catchers form bad habits of receiving the ball in the wrong part of the mitt. This drill should be used to build repetition of catching the ball in the correct part of the hand, and not to build "soft hands."

Chapter 2 - Receiving Baseballs from a Short Distance
(Rounds of 10)

The purpose of this drill is to practice our receiving mechanics. The ball should not be thrown very hard making it an easy drill. Similar to hitting the ball off a tee, drills do not always have to be difficult, tricky, or complex they just need to work on a very specific goal. Our goal with this drill to to receive the ball correctly by having very little extra body movement, and to "beat the ball to the spot."

Chapter 3 - Receiving Baseballs from a Longer Distance
(Rounds of 10)

This drill is very similar to the last one, but should be much more challenging. The coach/partner is now standing and further back, making this drill closer to a game situation. This ball should be thrown with much more velocity and should challenge the catcher to "beat the ball to the spot" and remain "quiet" with his body.

Chapter 4 - Receiving Baseballs from a Machine at a Higher Velocity
(Rounds of 5-10)

This drill is even more difficult than the last, and requires the catcher to remain relaxed and quick. Here, we shoot the balls out of the machine at a very high velocity (possibly faster than game speed). While the pitch is generally thrown in the same location out of a machine, the catcher can shift his body left or right to simulate an inside or outside pitch. The speed of the pitch should be determined by the skill level of the catchers. This drill should be extremely challenging.

Chapter 5 - Quick Hands Drill
(Rounds of 20 - 40, Depending on Skill Level)

In this drill we do not expect the catcher to catch and drop all of the balls. We are working on hand speed and want the catcher to get his mitt to as many balls as possible. The catcher shouldn't be expected to catch ALL of the balls thrown. Like other challenging drills, the more that a catcher practices this drill, the better he will become.