How to Catch a Baseball

Learning to catch a baseball is not a skill that comes easily to all new players. Little League coaches often have the task of teaching young players the fundamental skills necessary to catch a baseball, but parents can assist the coaches by encouraging daily practice time. The best news is that you can practice catching right in your own backyard. Read on to learn how to catch a baseball.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Baseballs
• Cones
• Baseball Gloves

Be Prepared for Any Throw

1. Watch the motion of the baseball while it is in flight. Try to guess the path it might take. You will need to move your feet to follow the ball.
2. Adjust your direction to receive the throw and position your glove out in front of the ball.
3. Keep a visual on the ball at all times. If you find yourself losing sight of the ball through the sun, wear sunglasses to reduce glare.
4. Hold your glove open and be ready. Keep your free hand out in front of you. Bring your free hand on top of the glove and close your hand over the ball the second it hits the palm of the glove.
5. Go to the ball instead of waiting for it to drop into your glove. Standing in one spot and sticking your glove out hoping for the catch will likely result in a dropped ball.

Make Practice Time Fun

6. Make the mundane exercises more fun by turning them into a friendly competition. Engage your players and they will become focused on the task at hand.
7. Offer a small reward such as candy or gum to the players to get their enthusiasm up and increase participation levels.
8. Use your creativity to turn any exercise into a game. For instance, you can make a throwing target to perform accuracy exercises.

Increase Arm Strength by Throwing the Long Toss

9. Set cones out in a line on the ground five yards apart. Instruct the players to pair up and form two lines.
10. Have the players throw back and forth to each other. If the ball is caught by the pair, they advance to the next cone.
11. Watch the ball. If the ball hits the ground, the pair must return to the original cone and start over.
12. Remind the kids to throw harder as the distance between the players becomes greater.

Tips & Warnings

• Have players warm up their arms before beginning drills. Arm rotations and low velocity catches are good ways to warm up.