35 Competitive Drills to Build a Complete Catcher

with Shonda Stanton,
Indiana University Head Coach;
2023 ATEC/NFCA Midwest Region Staff of the Year;
2023 was Indiana's first 40+ win season since 1994;
Marshall University Head Coach from 1999 to 2017;
winningest coach in Marshall softball history;
2x Conference Champions;
2017 Conference USA Regular Season Champions;
2017 Conference USA Coach of the Year;
2017 Conference USA Staff of the Year;
2013 Conference USA Tournament Champions;
4x Conference champions;
Akron Racers (National Pro Fastpitch League) Head Coach in 2007, 2008;
IUPUI Head Coach from 1998 to 1999;
Ashland University GA from 1997 to 1998;
1998 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) Coaching Staff of the Year;
played professionally in Women's ASA Fastpitch Summerball for Chet Smith Lady All-Stars and Buckeye Slammers;
1994 Class B National Champions;
played college softball at UNC Greensboro

Although pitchers often get most of the attention, the skill of catching is central to the success of any team. Give your catchers the attention they deserve!

Catchers have a wide variety of skills they must master to be successful, including receiving, blocking, and throwing out runners. In this video, Coach Stanton gives you drills to mold your athletes into complete catchers.

Coach Stanton includes 35 drills that isolate certain aspects of a complete catcher or serve as a progression into game-like situations. Her focus ranges from conditioning to blocking, and receiving to transferring. Drills progress from those performed by catchers only to drills and progressions that include all of the infield. All of these drills can be performed without having to spend big money on fancy gadgets, as everything can be done with basic equipment.

Warm-up and Receiving Drills

Get ready for practice or a game with 12 drills to physically prepare catchers and help get them mentally focused. Become a pitcher's best friend by mastering six receiving drills that will help any catcher get more called strikes. In one particular drill, "Receiving Off the Wall," the catchers stand facing a wall and have to react to the bounce of the ball off the wall and frame it. Limiting a catcher's reaction time and making them react quickly to the bounce will help make catching a pitch from 43 feet away seem easy!

Blocking Drills

Give your pitcher the confidence to throw a pitch in the dirt by mastering 13 blocking drills. These drills will help your catcher be explosive and quick to get down to the ground, while getting their body in the correct position to redirect the ball right in front of them to prevent runners from advancing.

Throwing Drills

From footwork to glove work, Stanton shows you how to throw out runners with ease. Catchers can improve how many runners they throw out by improving their release times. Stanton shares nine throwing drills, which incorporate everything from correct footwork to getting the ball out of the glove faster in the release.

Stanton not only provides you with the tools to build complete catchers, but also models how to coach athletes to hold themselves accountable and expect more of themself at practice. You will learn a variety of drills to improve catcher performance in all facets of the position and avoid utilizing them solely as ball flippers in practice.

80 minutes. 2017.