Having watched catchers at the college and pro levels, they tend to receive in all sorts of positions. Some drop knees, do the splits, one leg out or sit on the ground. My son is 6' 2" and will frequently drop a knee to clear space to receive a low left or right pitch. The coach insists that he always keep the shoulders and knees in the 'square' configuration and that good umpires look for this. Any input from you guys?

I am fine with my catchers dropping the knee to catch pitches. I teach the fundamentals, but from there I am ok with them adding their personal touch.

However, I allow them to do this as long as their fundamentals they have learned don't break down and as long as they get strike calls with the way they do it.

quote:

Originally posted by John Becker:
Having watched catchers at the college and pro levels, they tend to receive in all sorts of positions. Some drop knees, do the splits, one leg out or sit on the ground. My son is 6' 2" and will frequently drop a knee to clear space to receive a low left or right pitch. The coach insists that he always keep the shoulders and knees in the 'square' configuration and that good umpires look for this. Any input from you guys?

John,

I'm in agreement with your son's coach. I feel that a catcher should always stay square to the lpate if he is catching a strike. I feel and have heard from umpires all over the country that this makes their job much easier.

If you son has to make a move like this to receive the low pitch I suspect that his stance has his knees in front of his toes which will cause that problem.

How one recieves the ball mostly depends upon the count, and baserunner situation.

Some catchers will stick out a leg or sit on the ground to emphasize they want a low pitch, this is usually done with no baserunners and less then two strikes.

Anytime a catcher is unecessarly on his knee it lengthens his response time for situation that may arise.

I don't like catchers dropping to their knees to receive. IMO, it creates bad habits.

Neither do I redbird.

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Originally posted by redbird5:
I don't like catchers dropping to their knees to receive. IMO, it creates bad habits.

I guess I should explain that I don't encourage dropping both knees.

What I am talking about is dropping the just the left knee if the ball is on the outside (right) corner. Or dropping the left knee to get lower to catch the low ball down the middle.

I never believed in it either, but after seeing a clinic with Brent Mayne and also getting some information from a solid D1 college coach, I have changed my opinions on the matter.

I do not encourage sitting down, or anything resembling both knees on the ground. The only time I want both knees on the ground is when the catcher is blocking.

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Originally posted by CatchingCoach05:
What I am talking about is dropping the just the left knee if the ball is on the outside (right) corner. Or dropping the left knee to get lower to catch the low ball down the middle.

I don't like this either. I would rather my catcher sway to the ball away than drop to a knee. We run on catchers that drop to a knee when they receive.

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Originally posted by redbird5:

quote:

Originally posted by CatchingCoach05:
What I am talking about is dropping the just the left knee if the ball is on the outside (right) corner. Or dropping the left knee to get lower to catch the low ball down the middle.

I don't like this either. I would rather my catcher sway to the ball away than drop to a knee. We run on catchers that drop to a knee when they receive.

We sway as well. Our goal is keep strikes as strikes, so I give them the fundamentals, but will allow them to deviate from them a little.

One thing to note is the knee does not actually touch the ground. It is just lowered/dropped to catch the ball. Usually we do it with no runners on, but we will do it on occasion with runners on base as well if it means keeping the ball in the strike zone or making a borderline pitch look better. I noticed Florida State's catchers do this quite a bit when I watched them play last weekend.

Our catchers have not had any problems throwing to bases doing this approach as the knee does not hit the ground. We have one kid who even swears that it helps him to use his legs more when throwing to second. He says it is like a trigger for him by dropping/lowering the left knee.

If anything it might help us throw runners out as most runners might have the perception that they are dropping down to the ground and take off. I don't know. We have thrown out 62% of base stealers this year. Maybe we have good catchers or maybe the baserunners are just not good. Who knows, but we'll take it.

Would love to see some links to videos regarding some of the different styles and their pros and cons

i am 5 foot 10 and a sophmore in high school and i dont drop my knee i drop to my knees and keep your gloved hand back and not straight forwar cause it takes longer to manuver your hand to the ball.

As long as you dont take away strikes,its ok

But if a pitch is not in the dirt,you have no reason to drop to a knee,then it changes the plane of your glove. I used to drop to a knee to scoop balls with nobody on base.

As long as strikes are called and the ump can see the plate you should let your kids do whatever you want.