Receiving and Framing

Foundation · Free lesson

about 45–60 minutes

Catching Lesson 2: Receiving and Framing

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Level: Foundation (HS and up) · Time: about 45–60 minutes · Need: a catcher’s mitt, balls, tennis balls, a partner or pitching machine

Goal: Catch the ball cleanly and present strikes so the umpire gets a good look at them.
Why it matters: Catchers handle more pitches than any player on the field. Clean receiving keeps strikes as strikes, keeps runners from moving up and builds your pitcher’s trust.

1. Watch first (about 20 min total)

Video	Channel	Length	Why we chose it
Top 5 Receiving Drills For Catchers (BEST FRAMING DRILLS)	Catching Made Simple (Coach Bougie)	3:41	Five receiving drills you can start today.
[3 SIMPLE FRAMING DRILLS FOR CATCHERS...that even MLB catchers do! [Baseball Catching Drills]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwo1k2i-tSE)	YouGoProBaseball	7:12	Three simple framing drills used at higher levels.
[Patrick Bailey’s Gold Glove Warmup Routine \	How to Train: Presented by UCSF Health](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWg6yZnoBTI)	San Francisco Giants	9:32	An MLB Gold Glove catcher walks through his warm-up routine.

2. Do this: drills, sets and reps

Drill	How	Sets × reps	Cue
A. Short-toss receiving	Partner tosses from 15–20 feet to all parts of the zone. Catch with a relaxed glove and hold it.	3 × 15 reps	“Soft hand, quiet body.”
B. Stick-it holds	Catch and hold the glove still for 2 seconds. No jerking the glove back toward the middle.	3 × 10 reps	“Stick it.”
C. Edge-ball series	Partner throws to the edges of the zone. Beat the ball to the spot and catch the outside half of the ball.	3 × 10 per edge	“Beat it there.”
D. Tennis-ball bare-hand	No glove. Take the mitt off. Catch tennis balls with your bare glove hand to train soft hands.	2 × 20 reps	“Give with the ball.”

3. Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake	What you see	Fix
Stabbing at the ball	Glove pops forward, ball drops	Relax the glove. Let the ball come to you.
Yanking pitches into the zone	Umpire sees the glove move	Catch it where it is and stick it.
Moving the head	Late or missed catches	Keep your head still and track the ball into the glove.
Glove too low before the pitch	Late on high pitches	Start the glove relaxed but ready, near the middle of the zone.

4. How to measure progress

Clean catches: Out of 30 tosses to all zones, count clean catches you stick. Goal: 27 of 30.
Edge catches: Out of 20 edge tosses, how many stay still in the glove? Goal: 16 of 20.
Film check: Does the glove jerk after the catch? Goal: no jerks on 10 straight.
Move on to Lesson 3 when: you hit 27 of 30 in two sessions.

5. At-home version

Tennis balls off a wall, catching from your stance.
Hand-eye work: catch small balls tossed by a partner.
Watch 2 innings of a game and pay attention only to the catcher’s glove.

Challenge: Stick 10 edge pitches in a row with no glove movement.

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