Can someone give me the fastest way of blocking balls to the side? How to slide over to the side with as least movement as possible, taking the lowest amount of time? Thanks...

practice, practice, practice. Start with a balanced stance so you can shift either way. It depends on how far to the side it is, if its a really bad pitch, minimal movement is secondary to just stopping the ball. But, for your average pitch, I think that repetition is the key to smoothness, minimal movement and success.

heres one to help...


setup cones about 30 feet apart from eachother. start on one end and slide as far as possible, get up and repeat until you reach the cone, then repeat going the other direction. the better you get at sliding on your shin guards, the less "slides" you'll have to take to reach the cones. this helps when you have a problem of "hopping" to the ball and will also help create better range... think stay low and go

we use it as a competition between catchers...fewest slides,fastest times...

quote:

Originally posted by Catch43:
Can someone give me the fastest way of blocking balls to the side? How to slide over to the side with as least movement as possible, taking the lowest amount of time? Thanks...

To be sure that you travel no further then necesarry be sure to send your hands to the ball first. Lead with your hands to the ball, send your body to your hands.

Your hands will establish your new midline and your body will wrap itself around your hands.

This technique is more precise then sending the legs first and having the hands come in later.