Good job...so hard to teach a 11 year old of mine! He smallest on team and only 4 foor 8 and 90 pounds! But he catches a kid that's throwing (clocked and spin rotation checked) that's maxing out at 70 mph from only 46 feet! His coaches are getting on to him on fastballs that miss there spot from mid and in to in left head hitters box...I KNOW that in cases like that then ya just HOPE to get leather on it but also he still gets yelled out (even though only had one game all year that wasn't 10 run rule)! One thing I try to tell him is yes those can't be blocked cause it's less reaction time than mlb has when Chapman throws fastballs in dirt but that I would like him to drop with the ones that are between knees that are in dirt and to stop back handing them! I fear the velocity from him and even the number two pitcher that stays in uppen 60s has caused him to get the bad habit of back handing...but in turn he actually does jam up job at it with ones that are outside of his right knee (ones that I say ya suppose to backhand when fast all misses that far out) Working hard now on tryn get him to see the release out pitchers hand to be able to get the knees downs and Mitt in fifth hole with fireballs! Hope this video does get him understanding it more in what does need be blocked!
It’s takes time to make progress with blocking. Just keep getting after in practice and the more comfortable he gets the better his reactions will be. Thanks for watching
He now catching middle school as 6th grader and since my last message it has clicked and he said its cause he noticing the release point as if he is hitter! Tks alot and find your vids ON POINT!!! Edit to add: Also the mound is now 54 feet and higher with taller kids pitching so the downward angle can be seen better!
Hi. There are different techniques of going on the knees. One says that you should replace feet with your knees (someone said, imagine you have strings ties to your feet and someone behind you pulls them towards backstop). It's like jump on knees. The second one tells that you should slide forward with your hips and just let the knees land on ground. What's your opinion?
both are correct, it just depends on the pitch and the timing of our block. If I'm late on a block, replacing my feet with my knees gives me more time and space. If I'm on time my feet will stay where they are and my knees go straight to the ground. Check out our Blocking Drills video and you can see a drill that shows the difference. Thanks for the comment!
