56 years old and still catching, and always learning. Wil's tips are the best because they WORK! Thanks for keeping me in the game Wil! I may not be as fast as i used to be, but the proper techniques and mechanics (particula footwork) that Wil teaches keeps me competitivly quick.
You know me... love all the catching videos, well really all your videos. Could you and Wil do a video on catchers pre-game routine? Of maybe stretching, arm work, throwing, pitcher prep...stuff like that.
Nice info....this is exactly what i tell my softball catcher that doesnt have great arm strength is to pretend they're throwing to a person between the pitcher amd 2nd base. Itll be a quicker throw if they one hop it rather than rainbow it.
This is my favorite catching skills video on youtube. Will breaks down pop time in such simple pieces from preparing for the catch to transferring the ball to footwork. A plus Will!
Thanks bro! I’ve got more coming real soon! In fact, just uploaded the first of many today! Check it: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wWIXNYXWmcU.html
Thanks so much John, Wil Nieves is the Man! He simplified the pop and throw to the nth power! Stance, footwork, glovework, ball grip, landmarks, etc. Gonna work with my Son on all of these points you so unselfishly shared with us. So Grateful.
Great Information. I forwarded it to my son (14) & I hear him calling out everything you said about your stance, & footwork when I get in the house. Thanks
Hola Madden cómo estás amigo? Excellent video hermano. I used to be a catcher and this is one of the best if not the best I've seen about catching. I love the tips about not putting your hand behind the glove. It's what I was taught coming up in the Dominican and it took for the ball to hit my knuckles, a couple of times, almost breaking them for me to learn. Nieves is 100% right: your brain is not wired for your throwing hand to follow the glove, so you risk having to knock the door with your elbow rather than with your knuckles if that ball hits them dead on - when you separate them. Excelente vídeo.
I am a youth baseball player in 13u, I won the state championship when I was 11, I am a catcher. This video really helped me, thank you so much keep it up
Had him as a coach for a couple of months, hes amazing with words and taught more about the mental approach to being a catcher, presentation and receiving is #1. Great Guy!
Coach I have a question. First: what is the hardest area in the strike zone is hard to hit? Coach can you make a video on how to lead your team in a difficult situations. Thank you. Arigatou.
The hardest spot is different for everyone but a pitcher who can disrupt timing and balance of batters makes a lot of spots hard to hit. Motivation and guidance from a leader.
Your awesome bro big I played for Toronto for 10 years I would remind your students to keep your but up a little even with knee and come out low or even more effective is a drop step that I did , japen adopt the step but you must have a great arm.. I must say you were a great clutch hitter , Sandy Martinez
great vid, I sent you an email about a practice. I have a 10 year old son that is fairly new to baseball but has gravitated to being a catcher and very passionate about it. I am no pro player and only played baseball a few years in high school 20 years ago and i was never a catcher. Everything i teach him is from videos like yours. Your a little bit away but I would be willing to travel a few times a month to get him that amazing training. Not sure if you work with kids that young but if you do please respond.
Hi DJ, I hope you were able to get a hold of Wil. How’s your son doing? Still catching? I’ve got a ton of new catching videos coming real soon so be on the look out. Here’s the first of many! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wWIXNYXWmcU.html
I found a drill that has worked make them get on knees and get tennis ball and just throw them ground balls with that once they get good use two for a speed type drill we did it for two weeks then progressed on to normal to hard grounders. Has made a huge difference. As we know this game is all about confidence. But make sure the head is following ball to the glove.
Great instruction! My 10 yr old is a catcher,we’re definitely going to be applying these drills to our current drills. Looking forward to seeing more catchers drills
Amazing, thanks for making this it is very interesting. I played catcher in American Legion until I was 20 or 21 back in the late 60's and I 'don't recall them teaching any of this. However, I kind of figured it myself how to make the move to 2nd, similar to what he showed, but defiantly without the details. But the thing that puzzled me was how to make the throw to 3rd with a right handed batter.
Love the video. I have a channel for my son who is being trained by Mike Lebo a former MLB catcher from the 80's. Check it out and see what you think. Please comment and let me know what you think.
Excellent job explaining the fundamentals, men, in a simple and concise format. I'm going to search, but how about a video on pop fouls. When to take the mask off, where to look first. I was always told to look to 1 to 2 o'clock first for a right handed batter... Not sure if that's wrong or an "old" school theory. Thanks again! By the way - I'm showing this to my softball catchers. Just saying, you're missing out on 50% of your audience by not saying baseball and softball catcher pop time. :)
I’ve got some new videos with 2 different pro catchers I’m about to start uploading and we talk about this in some of them so stay tuned! Here’s the first of many more to come this month! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wWIXNYXWmcU.html
This was a great streamline on more than basic tips, I would say. Have an 11U catcher, we both watched it and was all good delivery and easy to understand, love the "T" and sugguestions about getting out to long toss & base work 2x's a week, along with band work. Thanks! Wil was awesome.
Beat rhe ball and work around it...or under it if low...so ya already on the way back into the zone when its caught! Then just STICK it and it will be presented to ump in the strike zone! And YES just STICK the corner pitches cause str8 to the ball and tryn jerk it back to the zone dont fool anybody! Helps to sway so ya arm is not outside of ya body on the corner pitches also!
Do you have any tips for retrieving balls more quickly that are blocked but bounce off the chin guards or body out a few feet? Blocking the balls has become easier for one of my catchers, but there is difficulty in retrieving balls quickly that are blocked so runners still steal and advance on blocked balls frequently. Any suggestions? Thanks for the great tips! Love all of your videos!
If they reading "dirtball" and take off before catcher can even block it than its 90% chance they got 2nd base! Upper level catchers are taught if see runner stealing to make decision to even backhand ball in dirt cause if already running and they block they have NO CHANCE! HARD to teach most highschool kids that cause they be lucky to be even blocking the first two years! Runners USED TO read and wait for "daylight" between the catcher and ball before going so knocking it down near ya did make difference...but if they turn and run once the relized its in dirt...THATS pat on back to good base running! Still work on recovering and tryn "kill" ball closer (by letting air out lungs as ball his protector) and hope they get a late read!
Can we stress the importance of defense as a catcher so we avoid any more players who blow games by missing balls in the dirt like FUCKING GARY SANCHEZ.
Quick feet...BUT quicker hands is what i tell my freshman son that catches Varsity! He gains more ground that he should tryn buy his hands time! His arm lets him still be 2.07s but he works on his exchange and not use that "groundgain" and still have 80+mph down to 2nd then by Junior year he deff be under 2s for pop time! Yeah...he only 5'9" and 135 and jt started in weight room (arm issues back November for going to hard to soon) so hope he gets bigger and quicker!
Excellent! Baseball players must press the glove to the throwing ear. Also, yes! Directly over the mound, get the visual release point depending on the spin of the baseball out of your hand.
Yeah I would love to go train with you guys but I live in Puerto Rico but I would love to know if I can send recent videos and yal could help me out a bit cuz I really think I have a nice arm but throwing to second I feel like I got a fungo for an arm. So please let me know👍🏾
thanks John! Great vids, love how youy guys break it down. I also like how you bring in specific position players like Nick for infield, and Wil for catching.
Thanks Matt! I gotta bring in the big dogs! Not only are those guys knowledgeable but they can share their knowledge in a great way. I am grateful for them both and am glad for people like you who understand the value and use it! 🙌
I’m a 10 year old catcher I play in 12 u and I can make a throw to 3rd on my knees and my coach always says if I wanted to go pro with catching I probrably could
This is a great video. I'm sorry I saw it this late. For anyone doubting the importance of a catcher - as Wil pointed out, these days it's not where you put the fat slow kid...we won our LL championship game yesterday. It was our catcher that kept a runner on 3rd, bottom last inning with 2 outs. We were up 1 run. He shut the door on a steal home several times until the pitcher put the batter away. The kid was solid and athletic; able to block wild pitches and chase the runner back to 3rd several times.
I was a catcher in HS and college but that was 20 years ago and now I am coaching. So good to hear on new and improved techniques and some easy finer points to learn. Will be passing these along to my kids! Thanks much!
Hey John. Last year I was throwing about 80, I was also 25 lbs heavier, I lost 25 lbs and didnt throw for like 6 months, but have been working out alot. I got clocked today at 69mph top speed, this was my 2nd throwing session. Should I be worried or is this normal? It may be because I lost a lot of weight, but most of my strength is still here from the gym which is odd, anyways thanks for your great videos.
YouGoPro Yea I believe so. To be honest my nutrition hasn't been 100%, but its a lot better now, I wasn't getting enough protein for strength gains. But every week I do box squats and deadlifts, ohp bench, and I run once a week and do sprints at the end of the run. Last year I had bicep tendonitis and it was pretty bad so maybe my arm is just messed up and my body doesnt want me to throw like I used to.
Outstanding presentation! I can see much success ahead for the Wil Nieves Academy: this guy knows how to get his point across! I didn't even know it was called "pop time"; I got hung up on "can of corn. " Well-addressed topic by a well-chosen instructor. You're threatening to displace my preferred channel for baseball instruction: take that from an old sandlot second baseman who never turned a double play!
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