Catching DVD

Necc

Greenmonsters said:

iMlearning said:

I decided to buy his book today because I was bored at work. He definitely does not like the sway method for framing. I just started it also. For $10.00 on Kindle it was worth it.
I did like some things he mentioned about blocking. ..the mental approach etc...

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I haven't seen Xan's video, but sway is not good IMO and is not what NECC teaches. What some don't realize or don't execute successfully, yet is essential to NECC's approach, is that the catcher has to beat the ball to the spot so that the glove and body are NOT moving when the ball is received. If a catcher doesn't move to center the body for each pitch, they won't be in good position to execute a block when necessary.

I am looking forward to Xan's book on calling pitches and hope it isn't limited to baseball, but includes the fastpitch game. IMO, its like going from a 3-speed to a 10+ speed bike.

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I should have my NECC dvd back tomorrow. .. looking forward to watching it.

Greenmonsters said:

What some don't realize or don't execute successfully, yet is essential to NECC's approach, is that the catcher has to beat the ball to the spot so that the glove and body are NOT moving when the ball is received. If a catcher doesn't move to center the body for each pitch, they won't be in good position to execute a block when necessary.

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Xan, like NECC, also emphasizes beating the ball to the spot, but so far he emphasizes doing so with the glove, not the body. Maybe he goes into this in more detail later in the video.

One area that is very baseball specific when receiving is catching low pitches closer to the plate (extending to catch low pitches) while letting high pitches get deeper in the zone. I say baseball specific because of the mound and the fact that the pitches are coming down to the catcher.

Grogger31 said:

Xan, like NECC, also emphasizes beating the ball to the spot, but so far he emphasizes doing so with the glove, not the body. Maybe he goes into this in more detail later in the video....

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Hopefully, as I don't know how you can block effectively if the body isn't also moving - IMO, kind of like how you need to start your swing every pitch to ensure that you are not late!

Grogger31 said:

...One area that is very baseball specific when receiving is catching low pitches closer to the plate (extending to catch low pitches) while letting high pitches get deeper in the zone. I say baseball specific because of the mound and the fact that the pitches are coming down to the catcher.

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Not sure I'm getting this as I would say its just as specific to FP as BB and happens automatically as long as you're not catching with a straight/stiff arm and you never want a pitch to bounce so low pitches are caught as far forward as possible. And FWIW, every pitch IS dropping in FP (even a riseball) and the pitch trajectory difference between FP and BB actually is not very significant.

Greenmonsters said:

Hopefully, as I don't know how you can block effectively if the body isn't also moving - IMO, kind of like how you need to start your swing every pitch to ensure that you are not late!


Not sure I'm getting this as I would say its just as specific to FP as BB and happens automatically as long as you're not catching with a straight/stiff arm and you never want a pitch to bounce so low pitches are caught as far forward as possible. And FWIW, every pitch IS dropping in FP (even a riseball) and the pitch trajectory difference between FP and BB actually is not very significant.

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Looking at the book right now regarding receiving the ball... he wants the body as quiet as possible so you should be set up in the right position for an inside or outside pitch. He states that if the ball is off its mark, you don't want to sway very much-keep it under a foot. Otherwise, just beat the ball to the spot with your glove with as little movement as possible.

iMlearning said:

Looking at the book right now regarding receiving the ball... he wants the body as quiet as possible so you should be set up in the right position for an inside or outside pitch. He states that if the ball is off its mark, you don't want to sway very much-keep it under a foot. Otherwise, just beat the ball to the spot with your glove with as little movement as possible.

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Not sure I'm buying into that approach, but, regardless, if a pitcher is missing her spots so that a catcher has to move a foot or more, there are bigger problems to worry about!

Just a follow up on this DVD ...

DD and I finally finished it up this weekend. Overall, we both really enjoyed it. It covers a lot of areas that the NECC video doesn't (pop ups, passed balls, pitch outs, intentional walks, plays at home, etc.) , but that's not a knock on the NECC video at all. The NECC video covers the critical areas of catching (receiving, blocking, throwing) more thoroughly than Xan's DVD does.

One thing I liked about this video is that Xan is very clear about the areas where he thinks it's fine to leave the preference to the catcher (for example: throwing hand position and transfer position) ... and also about those where there is only one way to do it correctly. The one that jumped out was the positioning for plays at home.

So, while Xan's DVD and the NECC DVD are substantively different, there is nothing really contradictory about the two. I'm glad I purchased both.