Brent Mayne

Tale of 2 blocks

Here are a couple examples of blocking techniques that I saw this past week.  One worked, one didn’t. First let’s briefly analyze the one that worked and find out why. 

.                           The first thing to notice in this sequence is (of course) the posture. Look how perpendicular the back is… especially when compared to the catcher in the sequence below. Next, pay attention to how efficient this receiver is with his knees. They go from point A to point B without any wasted movement.  From his squat, they go directly to the ground. Because he’s so quick, he even has time to get a little bit of an angle on the breaking ball in the dirt, thus squaring his chest to the direction of the bounce. His glove is covering the five hole pretty well. Maybe most importantly, all of this movement has stopped by the time he and the ball connect. This allows him to turn into a human pillow and ensures that the ricochet is minimal (last frame, ball ends up right at home plate).

Now let’s take a look at the block that was ineffective…

                       First thing I don’t dig about this sequence is the receiver’s squat. His back is parallel to the ground and in a position that doesn’t look athletic. In the second frame you can see by the downward movement of his hands that he’s recognized in plenty of time that the ball is going to be in the dirt. The compromised position of his body negates all of his good early recognition though, as you can see in the third and fourth frames. In order for him to get his knees down, he needs to waste precious moments by unweighting his parallel back off of his legs. This up-to-go-down movement is inefficient and ultimately results in a ricochet that just about goes into the dugout. He should be completely down and movement free by the fourth frame or the fifth at the latest.  As it is, he doesn’t get into the proper blocking form until the seventh frame. This is way too late as he and the ball connected at frame five.

Just remember, to be a consistent blocker of balls in the dirt, you need a good setup, good anticipation, you need to be efficient and quick with your movements, and all forward movement outside of exhaling and “receiving” the bounce (turning into a human pillow) should be done by the time you and the ball meet. Good luck soldier.