Today on the show we discuss catching with Ron Davini.
“The most important thing I teach my catchers is fundamentals” Davini says. “I break down catching into multiple steps, I don’t move on to step two until step one is perfected”.
Davini says the “Transfer throw” is also very important for throwing runners out. It is not “catch, transfer, then throw. Instead, it’s catch and then transfer throw”. He then continues, “it should look similar to middle infielders transfer”.
As the title says Davini says, “See ball, React ball, don’t think ball”. He goes on to say: “I don’t want people to misunderstand that, you should always be thinking, but the moment the pitcher releases the ball you must only react to it”.
On the next topic he dives into blocking. He says, “The worst thing I’ve seen a coach do is take a machine, put it at 90 mph, and tell the catcher to block the ball, that will only make the catcher scared of the baseball”.
He says “I work on blocking by first throwing balls straight down, then sliding and blocking side to side. I also will throw balls in the dirt during BP”.
The final topic they talk about is footwork and arm slot. “Your elbow should move through a holster as if you had a gun. Then you must throw through the base, not to the base. Your feet should only move in a linear motion, just like a pitcher”.
Throughout the whole interview, Davini stresses that coaches must be teachers first and then coaches. He says, “A coach should value how his players act as men, and not value wins and losses – only the development, in and out, of baseball”.
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