i believe and teach that your direction should always be a straight line to your target. so i am against any side movement (aka replacing or "L" footwork)... your arm can reach a pretty good distance out to each side without taking your body there... to do this you have to let the ball get deep - and you all know how i feel about that ( )

its a popular technique taught, sooooooooo how do all of you think about footwork??

The key is that there is no "bad" way among the three most espoused methods (gaining ground, replacement, "hula hoop" or whatever name you want to give it). My personal preference is, and always has been, gaining ground. I am a firm believer that you want to have momentum going towards your target. Replacement has your momentum going sideways, and hula hoop gives you no momentum at all. Bottom line, though, is --- if it works for you, just do it !!!!!!

I like to think of it as a mini, mini, mini, mini, mini crowhop... except without the hop.. feet move quicker when they are closer to the ground

that's not a bad analogy. One of the drills I have my guys do during our individual defense period is what I call a line drill. I take them to the outfield foul line (or I just use the warning track) and they set up with their toes about 6" behind the line. With hands behind their backs, we just work on coming out of the chute and I tell them that their right foot should end up parallel to, and on the other side of, the line. We're just working on how quickly they can get there WITHOUT STANDING UP! Then we bring the hands into it.

i like to have 2 people standing in each batters box to force the catcher to move in a straight line towards their target, so their first movement is straight and not to the side

Do you teach them to avoid stepping on the plate or is that not really an issue?

when they are young, in order to use their legs properly, they can clear the plate........ as they are older they can shorten it up while still using their legs and allow the front foot to plant right at the base of the plate

I would hazard a guess that with proper mechanics stepping on the plate should generally not be an issue.

you can slip on the plate if its wet or if you where plastic spikes.... i say avoid the plate all togeather

quote:

Originally posted by catchaprospect:
when they are young, in order to use their legs properly, they can clear the plate........ as they are older they can shorten it up while still using their legs and allow the front foot to plant right at the base of the plate

Please clarify for me coach, are you saying that your instruction to younger players would have their footwork carry them in front of the plate?

the younger kids i teach to fire out( low and go ).. so they gain ground and learn to drive with their legs....... same goes for older kids, just fine tuned.

A catchers footwork before the follow through should take place behind the plate. When you drive your left foot it will be approx. 10-12 inches in front the squat. That leaves plenty of room, and the plate not being an issue.