Catching stances

[sanderson47]

I'm noticing a lot of catchers using a one knee down stance at a collegiate level. I never caught in a stance like this, so I have zero idea if it is beneficial and in what situations. The only thing i have noticed with the girls using it at the playing level I'm helping with is they are slooow behind the plate. I realize this could just be them and not the stance though. Does anyone have insight/ resources so that I can learn more about this? I obviously want to help the girls learn the appropriate things. Hopefully, my knowledge isn't too out of date, haha. Thanks!

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[stox]

My daughter is starting to learn how to catch, and from what I've seen/read, the largest benefit of OKD stance is the framing benefits (ump is denied knee up position for referencing where the strike zone is).

You're probably slower getting up from OKD than a traditional stance. Some MLB catchers can get away with OKD all the time because they're athletic enough to make plays from that stance and having access to the framing benefits makes it worth doing all the time.

This is just my layperson's understanding from reading/watching up on some "modern" catching instruction on OKD stance.

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[BRsoftballDad]

My DD is a catcher and she does not like OKD because she is not able to burst out of the box as fast on bunts and foul balls. We tried it early on and she didn't like it so we moved on. Personally, I see more pass balls and wild pitches getting to the backstop with it but this is mostly in travel and high school ball. So I don't have any stats to back it up. However, balls in the dirt that would normally get blocked are getting to the back stop and getting marked down as wild pitches. My DD's stances is low enough that she can get below the ball and come up with the frame but that's her. Not everyone can do that. Just my $.02

 

[LEsoftballdad]

It's also more common in softball because catchers can make the 84'10" throw from their knees whereas the throw in MLB is so much longer. It takes a special arm to make that throw in baseball.

 

[Lightning]

Ronnie Ali Catchers Academy on Instagram has done videos explaining why he teaches 1KD to his catchers. I've seen several of his catchers at work and they definitely get the low strike calls and I know he teaches his players how to be mobile in this stance.

At the same time, I've seen my share of girls (high school age) who try this position who are slow to respond to wild pitches, or plays close to the plate, or base stealers. I'm not knowledgeable enough about catching to know if that's a weakness in their specific training or a weakness in the catching style.