Blocking in the Middle ()
Blocking
When blocking a pitch, whether to the left, right, or down the middle you should and up in the same body vision with the ball centered. The only change is the angle that is created to keep ball bouncing back towards home plate. Pretend there is an imaginary arc around the backside of home plate that the catcher needs to keep his knees on.
Technique- kick legs out and drop knees to the ground, they should be about shoulder width apart maybe a little wider
- hands go from target to making circular motion out and ending up plugging the hole between the legs, with throwing hand behind the glove
- arms kept tight to the side of the body (not allowing any possible holes)
- upper body has a slight lean forward and has concave shape in order to keep ball bouncing back towards the ground
- head stays down on ball (this helps protect neck helps see where the ball ends up)
- when ball hits chest breathe out to help soften the blow (if breath is held the body will tense up making the ball bounce off harder and travel further away
- try to get as big as possible without leaving holes for the ball to get by
- must push-kick-slide all in one motion and create angle back to home plate
- knees should be on the imaginary arc around home plate (this creates angle so the ball goes back towards home plate)
- if the ball is on the ground around homeplate the base runner will be more likely to stay on the base he occupies
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