Special thanks to Bob Byrd, Thop and HR for editorial input.

The catcher is one of the busiest positions on the field.  It requires hustle, good catching techniques (skills), speed, a very good understanding of the game and a strong arm.


The goals of the catcher are:

1) Make the pitcher look good      

2) Provide a target for the pitcher (glove where the pitcher should pitch the ball)

3) Catch the pitched ball (keep a strike a strike)

4) Block bad pitches (nothing gets by)

5) Prevent base runners from stealing

6) Field the bunt

7) Cover the plate

8) Catch the foul ball


MAKE THE PITCHER LOOK GOOD

The catcher must be able to hold strikes. What does that mean, he must be able to receive the strike and hold it for the umpire. He must maintain good balance on possible strikes. He must be careful not to fall or lunge for the outside strike or risk having it called a ball due to the exaggerated motions. The catcher must maintain his balance when receiving pitches, he should calmly frame his pitches with a simple twist of the wrist and as Coach Bob Byrd says the catcher needs to hold the strike or “stick it”.

PROVIDING A GOOD TARGET FOR YOUR PITCHER
It is important that the catcher understand where he sets up the target (his glove) should be where he expects the ball to be thrown.  The perfect little league strike is about 12” to 15” over the plate on the corners.  You need to know where the umpire is setting up to call the pitch.  Most umpires will line up in the slot between the catcher and the batter, this means that the umpire can clearly call inside pitches as strikes or balls with good accuracy.  However, an outside pitch is more difficult to call, therefore when the catcher wants an outside pitch for a strike, he should slide his whole body to the outside edge of the plate and set the target (his glove) up as he normally does in the center of his body.  By moving your whole body to the target area you improve your chances for a strike to be called.  Why you ask, because the umpire can clearly see the play, if you just stick your glove out and catch the outside pitch the umpire may not be able to see just how far outside the pitch really was, and it looks like the pitch was not planned to be an outside strike but rather was a wild attempt at a center strike.  Lining up in front of the intended target area also improves the catcher’s chances of stopping a wild pitch on the outside.  I have seen some catchers set up for the outside pitch with their whole body completely outside of the catchers box area (which is against the rules), catch a ball in the center of their body (which is outside of the plate), and still have the pitch called a strike.  I believe this happens because some umpires line up on the catcher, not the plate, and when a catcher catches a ball in the center of their chest… it must be a strike.

CATCHING THE PITCHED BALL
Catching what the pitcher throws is what the catcher will do most of the time.  

The catch position, the catcher should move to a crouch position as he receives the ball with very good balance. The catching hand is placed behind the glove in a safe position to protect from foul tips. If no runners are on the hand can be placed behind the thigh or back. This seems like a simple job, but, it is not so simple. Not every pitch will be thrown directly to the target.  Different pitchers have very different styles and abilities, some pitchers throw smoke right to the target, some throw smoke near the target, some throw slower but right to glove, others put some in the dirt.  This means that the catcher has to know all of the pitchers that he might be catching for.  That is, he needs to understand what to expect and to be prepared.  If the catcher knows he is catching for a pitcher that puts balls in the dirt, he may want to practice his blocking drills before the inning starts.  If he is catching for the slower pitcher, he may want to practice coming up with the throw to second or even third to prevent the steal, and he will need to make sure that the 2nd and 3rd base are prepared to catch his throw and that the outfield is going to back up the throw.

BLOCKING THE PITCH THROWN IN THE DIRT
Blocking a pitch is the process of moving yourself in front of the pitch thrown in the dirt.  

The Block position has several variations I will speak to just 2:  

1) Throwing hand behind the glove:

The glove is placed between the thighs (5 hole) the non-glove hand is placed behind the glove. The catcher drops to his knees.  During the block the catcher does not try to catch the ball but rather keep it close and in front.  The catcher leans forward slightly, protecting his throat by dropping his chin, and hunches his shoulders forward.  The catcher should position himself so that the blocked ball will end up just in front of him. All balls in the dirt and somewhat close should be blocked, balls that thrown too far outside or inside to block can be picked (wild pitch).

2) Throwing hand outside the body:

This method is identical except the throwing hand is placed on outside edge of the thigh, the hand is slightly cupped and the palm faces the pitcher. The idea is to get the hand out of harms way #1, to make the block wider #2, and to reduce the unpredictable bounce created when the blocked ball strikes the round shape of the throwing arm. A further variation of this method is to put the glove hand on the outside of the thigh as well. Again the concept is to move the arm, which is round out the sides and thereby creating a flat surface to block with.

**Almost as important as making the block is “popping back up” to collect the blocked ball and to make the throw if a base runner takes off (as they often do when they see a ball pitched in the dirt).  It is very exciting to watch runners trying to steal on a pitch in the dirt only to find out that the catcher blocked the pitch and popped up quickly ready to throw them out, most of the time the coach frantically screams “get back, get back!!” (My son has done this many times in tournaments even as a small 9 year old).

PREVENTING BASE RUNNERS FROM STEALING
One of the biggest challenges the catcher has is to keep runners from stealing.  In some cases there is no way for a catcher to prevent a base runner form advancing, such as the case of a very wild pitch.  But in the case of a ball that is handled by the catcher he should be able to stop or prevent many steal attempts.  There are some skills the catcher needs to have in order to limit steals.

1)  The first skill is the ability to catch and block, he must be able to keep the ball in front of him.
2)  The second skill is the ability to “pop up” ready to fire the ball in one motion.  This motion is going from a blocking position or the normal catching position, straight to the cocked throw position.  A good way to practice this is to get in the block position, and then to hop up to the cocked position in one movement by spreading your arms away from your body quickly, never letting your hands or glove touch the ground.  This simple motion scares many base coaches into holding runners.
3)  A strong accurate throw to 2nd and 3rd.  This requires practice and skill.
4) Getting the ball back to the pitcher with a strong quick throw.  Getting the ball back to the pitcher quickly will help keep the game moving and will get the ball into the middle of the field.
5) With no runners on base, on a ground ball hit, the catcher should sprint to take up a position about 20’ to 30’ behind the first baseman in case of an overthrow.

FIELDING THE BUNT
Fielding the bunt requires all of the catcher’s skills to be successful.  The catcher reads or sees the batter prepare to bunt, the catcher then gets ready to “pop up” and move to the ball, if the pitch is a little high, the catcher can “pop up” before he catches the ball, otherwise he follows the ball all the way in, if the batter bunts the ball, the catcher must “pop up” and explode out to the ball.  The catcher should focus on fielding the ball before he looks for the target. The catcher has the best angle to throw and therefore, if the catcher gets to the ball at the same time as any other fielder, the catcher should be the one to make the play. Once the catcher fields the ball he should position himself to make a throw on the inside of the base line as not to hit the batter/runner.

COVERING HOME PLATE
There are a couple of very basic ways to describe covering home.

1)  Tag plays

2) Force plays

Tag plays require that the catcher set up about 1 foot inside the base line and about 1 foot up the 3rd base line.  This position gives the catcher the best position to make a play on a slide.  The catcher leaves his mask on for this play.  Once the catcher catches the ball, he uses both hands to hold the ball and slides his whole body to his left (3rd base line) and pushes himself in front the slide using his gear to protect himself from cleats and the runner’s helmet.  The catcher should not step in front of the slide unless he has the ball, and he should offer enough room for the runner slide around him to prevent unnecessary injuries*.  Never stand in the base line when you are waiting to catch the ball.  *NOTE: Most leagues have a “must slide” rule, however, if the catcher has gone so far up the 3rd base line as to prevent the runner from being able to slide into home, the runner may be excused from sliding in this case, so be careful not to move too far up the 3rd base line.  

CATCHING THE FOUL BALL
The catcher should always be ready to “pop up” and make a play on a foul ball.  For right handed batters the catcher will “pop up” and look to his right for the ball.  For left handed batters he looks up and to the left.  The ball is spotted, called for, pursued and caught.