White offers sports nutrition advice at baseball clinic

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Skills and strength and conditioning are important to the development of athletes, including baseball players.

But so is nutrition.

With that in mind, Tiffany White presented “Fueling Your Goals” at the first PRP Baseball Bridge The Gap Clinic in Noblesville, Ind., as a guest of Greg Vogt.

White, a registered dietitian, is a Sports Nutrition Fellow at Indianapolis-based St. Vincent Sports Performance as part of the Gatorade Sports Nutrition Immersion Program.

She holds an undergraduate degree in Kinesiology and a master’s degree in Nutrition from the University of Illinois-Chicago and has completed a coordinated program in Dietetics.

In 2018, she was an intern with the Northwestern University athletic program.

White focused her talk on supplements and gaining muscle through food.

She noted that safety is one of the biggest issues with supplements.

“It is a money-driven industry that targets vulnerable athletes,” says White. “A lot of supplement company claims are false and unproven.”

“They can put out pretty much whatever claim they want to on their products.”

 Supplements are labeled with “these statements have not been approved by the FDA” (U.S. Food and Drug Administration). They don’t have to prove these statements before putting their product on the market.

They’re not regulated like food or drugs.

Lack of research is the other issue.

“You’ll see a lot crazy ingredients and crazy names,” says White.

“There is a lot of confusion.”

In some cases, there can be negative side effects, especially for high school athletes with their growing bodies and changing hormones.

“Growth is not linear,” says White. “No two people grow in the same span. Everybody’s going to be a little bit different.

“I would connect that growth not being linear is related to why negative side effects may occur in young athletes, there is little research because adolescents grow at different rates and we do not know what effect these supplements will have on them during different periods of growth.

“Positive drug tests would be the next point.

Sometimes taking supplements results in positive drugs tests for banned substances.

“We don’t want to be disqualified from participation,” says White.

There are cases where money is wasted because the supplement is not effective.

“One of the ways we can mitigate this risk — not eliminate it — is third party testing,” says White, noting USP (United States Pharmacopiea), NSF (National Science Foundation) and Informed Sport/Informed Choice are groups that do this testing. “They test for potency and purity. If the company has taken that extra step, it just goes to show that they are trying to have credibility behind their supplements.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean that they work, but it does mean that they are safer than a supplement that has not been tested.”

White added that third party testing is not full-proof.

She gave the example of Olympic bronze medal swimmer Madisyn Cox, who tested positive for a banned substance while taking a multivitamin for seven years and was suspended from her sport.

“It was found that the multivitamin was made in the same facility where heart medication was made,” says White. “She thought she could trust this company. It wasn’t even a performance-enhancing supplement.

She passed 20 drug tests in seven years and then tested positive.”

Mixed martial artist Nate Diaz, who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and a vegetarian/vegan athlete, also took a multivitamin tainted by a banned substance.

His positive test led to a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) investigation and he was cleared to fight.

White cautioned that just because a product is labeled organic, plant-based or raw does not mean they above the risks of any other supplement.

“That risk is always there regardless of the words that precede that supplement,” says White.

Some popular supplements are protein powder, creatine and nitric oxide.

White pointed out the safety, efficacy and necessity of each.

She says protein powder is typically safe when taken in appropriate amounts (15-30g), an effective source of complete (protein) and can be used for convenience under time constraints.

“But (simply) increasing protein (intake) does not equal muscle growth,” says White.

She says creatine is typically safe when taken in appropriate amounts and its use should be under the guidance of a sports physician or sports dietitian. It has been shown to increase muscle size, strength and speed.

“Your body only makes only about 2 grams of creatine a day,” says White. “We don’t want to go into crazy amounts unguided.

“There’s no research to support the use of it for those under 18 (it might actually for unsafe for younger athletes.

“We don’t have a lot of information that shows what the effects are in the long term. If someone starts taking it in high school and then 10 years down the line they continue to take it, we don’t know what’s going to happen.”

White says creatine will not be useful if the athlete’s usual diet is poor “If you spend the majority of your time eating fried foods and candy and you’re not getting any fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean sources of protein on a regular basis it’s futile basically,” says White.

She says nitric oxide is generally safe, but may cause dizziness or changes in blood pressure and there are no studies in athletes under

18 (it may even be unsafe). It may increase endurance and/or enhance recovery.

“Nitric oxide expands your blood vessels and allows for more blood flow and oxygen delivery,” says White. “But more research is needed.”

Like with creatine, nitric oxide is not likely to help those with a poor diet.

As for food-based alternatives, White notes that protein powder can be replaced by the whey found in milk and other dairy products and that creatine is found in meat and that nitrates are naturally found in foods like beets and arugula.

One (valid) reason to take supplements is nutrient deficiency.

A sports physician or sport dietician can look at lab values to see if there is one. A blood test may show that an athlete is low on iron or Vitamin D.

“Iron is very important to oxygen delivery,” says White. “Vitamin D is important to bone health and a lot of other things.”

“A diet analysis could be done and (if) whole food groups are (being) eliminated because of allergies or something like celiac disease,” says White. “This can limit food options and lead to (need for) supplements. Overall, there are really not a lot of situations where we recommend supplementation.

“The bottom line: If you choose to take a supplement, before you do so think about those top three questions: Is is safe? Is it effective? Is it necessary?

(Sports Dietitians) like to push food first because it is the safest option and it’s the most-effective option.

“You’re going to get a lot more nutrients out of food altogether — vitamins, minerals coupled with protein, fiber and fats and all those things,” says White. “When you eat whole foods you’re going to get the whole benefit rather than singling out one specific nutrient (which may not even be effective).”

White presented five nutrition foundations — meal timing, balance your plate, hydrate, recover and plan.

“Athletes should eat every three or four hours,” says White of meal timing. “I know that sounds like a lot. When you get to the four-hour mark, you get a little distracted. You get hunger pangs and your stomach is probably growling at you.

“Depending on what you ate four hours ago, your energy levels are probably dropping off at this point. We want to try to minimize those highs and lows. We want to try to stabilize throughout the day.

“You want your three square meals a day — breakfast, lunch and dinner.

But you also want to get in 1-3 snacks depending on your goals.”

White says that athletes need 9-10 servings of fruits and vegetables a day to make sure they are getting adequate amounts of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants — all the things they need to function and recover.

Every plate should include carbohydrates (carbs), protein and color (fruits and vegetables).

When it comes to hydration, White says there’s nothing wrong with getting eight 8-ounce cups of water per day, but there’s not science behind that number.

Athletes are to drink half their body weight in fluid ounces a day. A 150-pound person will have a baseline of 75 daily ounces and add 20 ounces to that for each hour of training.

“You need to refuel your body within 30-60 minutes post-workout for optimal recovery and muscle building,” says White. “It helps to replenish glycogen storage (how your body stores carbohydrates).

“You should aim for a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio (30g carbs to 15g protein).

Carbs actually help your muscles to uptake that protein. You want to combine those two things together.”

In planning, athletes can pre-pack snacks and carry a water bottle.

White endorses three “Athlete Plates” — Easy/Light Day (less than one hour of training) with half fruits and vegetables, a quarter protein and a quarter carbs, Moderate Day (1-2 hours of training) with a third carbs, a third protein and a third fruits and vegetables and the Hard/Heavy Day (2-3 hours of training) with half carbs, a quarter protein and quarter fruits and vegetables.

“Please note that the athlete plates are adapted from plates designed by the Dietitians at the United States Olympic Committee,” says White. “Calories are not necessarily always something that we really want to focus on,” says White. “We want to consistently fuel.”

Most athletes are either recovering or getting ready for the next day and will not use the easy/light day plate. That means that home base is the Moderate Day plate.

As for the basics of gaining muscle through food, White noted that one pound of weight is equal to 3,500 calories and that adding 500 calories to a diet with add one pound per week.

Total calories are greater than increasing protein.

Again increasing protein does not equal muscle growth.

“Proper nutrition should be paired with training,” says White. “There should be an emphasis on recovery.”

Her top five tips:

1. Eat a meal or snack every three hours (three meals and 2-4 snacks per day).

2. Add liquid calories to meals and snacks (Milk, shakes, juice, Gatorade).

3. Choose foods that are calorically dense (trail mix, granola, dried fruit, nuts and seeds, sports bars, sports drinks, electrolyte drinks, protein shakes, 100-percent fruit juice, smoothies, milk/chocolate milk, nut butters, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, avocado/guacamole, other shakes such as Carnation Instant Breakfast, Ensure High Protein or Boost).

High Calorie Snack Ideas

1 Greek yogurt plus 1/2 Big Bur bar (420 calories).

1 Greek yogurt plus 1/2 cup granola plus 1/2 cup dried fruit (440 calories).

1 pack trail mix plus 1 medium banana plus 1 string cheese (480 calories).

1 cup granola plus 1 cup milk plus 1 medium banana (550 calories).

1 PBJ sandwich plus 1 cup chocolate milk (550 calories).

1 Big Sur bar (600 calories).

1 Ensure/Boost shake plus 1 pack Snacking Nuts (630 calories).

4. Use sports drinks during training (Gatorade, Powerade etc.) 5. Eat a protein rich snack before bed (cereal with milk, cottage cheese and fruit, greek yogurt and granola).

White says training plus proper nutrition leads to increased muscle mass.

Tiffany White, a registered dietitian, is a Sports Nutrition Fellow at Indianapolis-based St. Vincent Sports Performance as part of the Gatorade Sports Nutrition Immersion Program. She spoke at the first PRP Baseball Bridge The Gap Clinic in Noblesville, Ind., as a guest of Greg Vogt. (Northwestern University Photo)

 

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Taylor’s Gould shares hitting approach

By STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Kyle Gould has enjoyed plenty of diamond success at Taylor University in Upland, Ind.

In 15 seasons as NAIA-affiliated Trojans head baseball coach, Gould has seen his teams go 515-291. The makes him the all-time wins leader in program history. His 2018 team won a school-record 44 games. There have been seven Crossroads League championships on Gould’s watch and several of his players have earned all-conference honors.

Gould spoke about his approach with hitters during the first PRP Baseball Bridge The Gap Clinic at Noblesville as a guest of Greg Vogt.

A three-sport athlete in high school, Gould never had a private hitting or pitching lesson in his life. When he structures practices many of his influences come from the coaches he had in sports other than baseball.

“I’ve never approached the game from an overly-mechanical way,” says Gould. “It’s always been through how we develop these skills externally — things I learned playing football and basketball.

“I have this desire to learn, challenge what I’ve learned and challenge what I’ve been taught and maybe look for a better way to do things.”

Gould, a 2002 Taylor graduate, says what his players do in practice has to be shaped by what they want to do in games.

Outlining game-time expectations, Gould wants Taylor hitter to:

• Get a good pitch to hit.

• Get on time with the fastball.

• Handle the breaking ball.

• Hit the ball hard.

• Be tough with two strikes.

• Be situational.

What does Taylor train this in practice?:

• They are challenged to control the strike zone.

“We’re always praised for taking balls and we always want to have that conversation,” says Gould. “We want that communication (between coaches and players and players and players).

“We want to give them feedback.”

• The speed and angle of the pitches they see is varied.

“Rarely do I throw the ball from 25 feet at 35 mph belt-high, they hit it and we tell them how great they are,” says Gould. In our program — with everything we do — everything and everyone is good and bad not good or bad.

“Because if this, we’ll use a ton of BP variations. I could probably give you 50.”

• Hitters track and/or hit spin everyday.

Taylor pitching coach Justin Barber had his arms tossing breaking pitches while hitters are taking a look.

“We spin a lot of breaking balls off the mound,” says Gould. “I want our hitters in the box, tracking spin and identifying very early ball or strikeout, getting feedback from the catcher. We hit off machines, but we’re identifying breaking balls everyday.

“When I played, we never talked about hitting the breaking ball. If hitting the baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports then hitting the breaking ball is the hardest thing of the hardest thing. We need to be able practice.

“The more you do it, the more it takes the fear out of it. The ball eventually has to pass through the strike zone and it’s learning how to track that.”

• Hitters develop and track exit velocity.

“We get great feedback from HitTrax,” says Gould. “The players love it. It makes them competitive with others. Hopefully, it makes them more competitive with themselves.

• Hitters develop A and B swings and use them daily.

“A B swing is what I used to call two-strike approach,” says Gould. “When I say two-strike approach to our hitters, they took that very passively. They took that to mean don’t strike out. So we changed it to B swing. It gets the point across.

“With B swing there are three things: Choke up on the bat, do not get a hand load and the front toe stays on the ground.”

In 2019, 46 percent of Taylor’s at-bats had two strikes in them.

“If that’s going to happen 46 percent of the time and we’re not practicing that, right?,” says Gould. “Forty to 60 percent of our swings in practice will be B swing approach.

“The most important swings we take are either plus in the count or way behind in the count. I want to make sure that guy’s faced a slider with a B swing.”

• Hitters work on relevant situational hitting.

Gould says the 230-pound 4-hole hitter pounding ground balls to shortstop to him. Neither is the 135-pound 15-year-old trying to drive a runner in with a fly ball.

One drill that the Trojans do in the cage with HitTrax going is for the hitter to face a tough pitch and Gould will ask them to do something with it that they’re good at. Some might be asked to hit-and-run, others to elevate the pitch.

“We just hammer the two or three things we need them to do to be successful and to help us score runs,” says Gould.

What about the training environment?

“It’s what matters the most,” says Gould. “The best thing you can do is surround players with other players who want to develop and compete.

“It’s a common phrase: We’re the average of the five people we spend the most time with. For players, most pitchers are the average of the people they play catch with everyday. Most hitters are the average of the guys they go hit with.”

Gould says he believes strongly in progressions not rotations.

“We want to think about going smaller to bigger, slower to faster,” says Gould. “We want to really have a plan on how we progress.”

Ninety percent or more swings are done with an external focus.

“If we’re going to do mechanical work, it’s going to be outside of our drill work. It’s going to be one-on-one. Very rarely, do I pull a guy out.

“I may say go hit five line drives to right-center field and let’s see what happens.”

One thing that Gould is careful about is the less mechanical cues he gives to the players, the more they give to each other.

“They don’t know what they’re doing much less what someone else is doing,” says Gould. “That’s a big thing for us.”

Players at Taylor hit in intentionally selected groups of three.

“I don’t like groups of two. I think it’s too quick,” says Gould. “I don’t like groups of four. You can lose them pretty quick.”

Groups may consist of power hitters, speed guys, older players with younger players or the batting order in thirds.

“It is incredibly intentional,” says Gould. “We’ll tell them if they can not hit with them and not give great effort and attention, I’m going to move you (into another group).”

Gould prefers 1-5 swings per round.

“It is a personal pet peeve of mine,” says Gould. “Guys come in and take 10-12 swings and rotate.

“That is not how the swing is. You don’t have that much time to adjust.”

Something is recorded everyday.

“Development is measured against self,” says Gould. “We only want you comparing your numbers to your numbers.

“Guys are very different. If they start comparing themselves to each other, we’re going to have problems.”

Practices include something competitive everyday.

“If we’re doing those groups right, they’re competing against guys it makes sense to compete with,” says Gould.

In their daily schedule, hitters do up to six things in this order:

• MediBalls.

“We’re trying to active the muscles we use to hit,” says Gould. “We’re trying to train good movements.”

• Tee work.

“The only thing that we use it for is contact points,” says Gould. “HitTrax gives us some very good data on where we should be contacting the ball.

“We want them to understand where they hit the ball the hardest. We can sit a tee there and get them comfortable hitting it there.”

• Front toss.

The feeder tosses it flat from 17 feet and is done for things like internal rotation. Plyo balls are often used. This drill is done on most days.

Overhand Batting Practice

Forty to 50 percent of swings come during this part of practice.

• Machine work.

It’s done everyday, including breaking balls.

• Competition.

What Taylor manipulates in practice:

• Bats

Overload, regular and underload are used in different position.

• Balls.

Baseball, plyo balls, tennis balls, wiffle balls, basketballs and more are used.

• Distrance.

A three-plate drill that Gould favors has his hitters changing between various distances from the machine, which can be set to delivery various pitches and velocities.

• Pitches.

Breaking balls and fastballs can be delivered from live arms or machines.

• Person.

Technology used by Taylor:

• Hack Attack machines.

• HitTrax.

• Radar gun with display board.

• Overload/Underload bats.

• Driveline PlyoCare balls.

• Blast Motion.

Kyle Gould, a 2002 Taylor University graduate, is entering his 16th season as head baseball coach at his alma mater in 2020. He is also the school’s athletic director. (Steve Krah Photo)

 

UIndy’s Ready talks about principles of catching

BY STEVE KRAH

http://www.IndianaRBI.com

Al Ready was a catcher at the University of Indianapolis and now he instruct receivers as the NCAA Division II Greyhounds head coach.

Ready shared elements of playing the position at the first PRP Baseball Bridge The Gap Clinic in Noblesville hosted by Greg Vogt.

Ready says catcher is the most under-coached position in baseball.

“It’s probably the most important position on the field next to the pitcher,” says Ready. “However, in a practice setting, a lot of times there’s not enough time to work with those guys.

“Their responsibilities in practice tend to be in the bullpen or whatever.”

One area of catching that Ready sees as something of a lost art is “umpire management” aka building a positive relationship with the officials.

“It’s a job you should be teaching your catchers to do,” says Ready. “The umpires are human beings. There’s a lot of screaming and hollering at the umpire and I’m as guilty as anybody.

“As the catcher, you have the ability to control some of that. You want to put yourself in a position where calls that could go one way or another are going to go your way.”

Ready encourages his catchers to talk with the umpires, making joke around with them a little bit.

“You’ll get some guys who are a little hesitant to talk and some that will want to talk your ear off,” says Ready. “The ones that don’t like to talk, it was a goal of mine to get the guy to laugh or talk to me a little more consistently throughout the game.

“When you do those types of things, the game becomes more fun.”

Ready addressed the sequence of events that happen before the pitcher releases the baseball.

With no runners on and no outs, the catcher assumes a relaxed position.

Before giving the signal to the pitcher, Ready says the catcher should look at the base coaches who may try to creep in toward the lines to pick up the sign.

“You also want to take a look at the hitter to make sure he’s not peaking back,” says Ready. “Now you’re ready to give your signal.”

Ready says only three people should be able to see the signal which is given high with the glove in front to shield it: pitcher, shortstop and second baseman.

“After the first inning, I check with my first baseman,” says Ready. “If he can see them, the runner can see them.”

Ready says the timing of the catcher’s shift is important.

If the pitcher is in the wind-up, about the time he breaks his hands is when the catcher shifts. Depending on which direction he intends to go, he turns in his right or left knee and slides over.

“You don’t want to bounce,” says Ready. “With bouncing, the hitter can sense which side of the plate you’re moving on.

“You want to be quiet. You want to be smooth. You don’t want to give up that location.”

Ready has his catchers use two stances — primary and secondary.

Primary is with no runners on base. The catcher gets low and presents a nice target to the pitcher.

“If there’s a ball in the dirt, I’m still going to try my best to block it because I want to keep it off the umpire,” says Ready. “I want to work hard for him because he’s going to work hard for me.

“But if it gets past me, it’s not the end of the world with nobody on-base.”

Secondary is with runners. The catcher’s posterior is a little higher and his thumb is cupped behind the glove. He is ready to block the ball and to throw it.

“Anytime you do a drill progression, you should work your catchers in the primary stance and the second stance,” says Ready. “That’s very important.”

Ready likes his receivers to present a low target.

“I also want to be consistent with not dropping my glove on the pitch,” says Ready. “Even with the guys in the big leagues, it’s gotten bad. A lot of those catchers are very talented. They can do a lot of things physically.

“But a lot of them are way too far back. They reach out. They set up differently on different pitches.”

Ready says the disadvantage of dropping the glove comes when the pitch is up and the catcher has to cover a lot of distance to catch the ball.

The idea is to make a target and leave it there.

“What if it’s a border line pitch and I’m going try to frame it?,” says Ready. “That’s going to look maybe not as good as if (I was moving the glove a short distance).

“The less distance you have to cover, the best it’s going to look on border line pitches.”

An absolute for Ready when it comes to catching is throwing.

“If you can’t throw, you can’t catch,” says Ready. “You can be the best receiver, block and be able to call a great game. You can do all of those things.

“But if somebody gets on-base, they’re going to run. They’re going to steal second. They’re going to steal third.”

Being careful not to interfere with the hitter or be struck by the follow-through of the swing, Ready wants his catchers to get underneath the hitter to decrease the distance the ball has to travel from the pitcher.

“The pitcher is going to like that look,” says Ready. “Sometimes (the catcher) might be back two feet.

“There’s a lot of benefits with being closer to the hitter. You’re going to get more pitches down called strikes because you can stick them.

“If you are far back and you reach out to catch a low pitch and as soon as you catch it — no matter how strong you are — it’s almost impossible to keep it right there. It will go down.”

When sticking pitches, Ready looks for catchers to have a little flexion in their left arm.

“You’re going to get that call more times than not,” says Ready.

Recalling a fall game against a junior college where there were six 1-1 counts on both sides during the game where the next pitch was low, Ready says UIndy catchers got all called for strikes while the opponent’s receiver, who was too far away from the plate, got all called for balls.

“Going from 1-1 to 1-2 can be the difference in the ball game right there,” says Ready. “Let’s say there are two outs (with a runner on second) and it’s 1-1 and you didn’t get that pitch (making it 2-1). Let’s say the next swing — boom! — it’s a double. The next guy hits a little bleeder. The run scores. The next guy jacks one. That’s three runs.

“You probably could’ve been out of the inning if you could’ve gotten that (1-1) pitch (called a strike).”

When he was a player, Ready learned how to be close to the plate and not get hit by a back-swing and he shares it with his catchers.

“Only three things can happen. Either the hitter swings, checks or he takes,” says Ready. “Two of them you have to frame. You have to stick. You have to make it look good. That’s the take and check swing. There is no risk of getting hit by a back-swing on a take or a check swing.

“You don’t frame pitches that guys swing at.”

When there’s a swing, catchers catch the ball and get out of the way.

When it comes to framing, Ready wants his catchers to frame only border line pitches.

“Anything else, we catch it and throw it back,” says Ready.

Ready says many catchers these days get as wide as possible and uses slight of hand to receive the ball.

“It use to be ‘skinny sway,’” says Ready. “The skinnier you make yourself, the further off the plate you can go.

“We use both and test out the umpire. The strike zone is what the umpire says it is. It’s going to change from day to day. It’s your job (as a catcher) to figure out what it is. If it’s expanded, you should exploit it. There’s no question about it.”

When it comes to stopping pitches in the dirt, Ready teaches his catchers to block and recover.

“Get the ball back in your hand as quick as you can,” says Ready. “All you want is a chance to make a play.”

Catchers must anticipate where the ball is going to go if it hits the ground and be ready to move in that direction without giving away location.

When blocking, Ready asks his catchers to drop to their knees to plug up the 5-hole.

The catcher rotates around a small imaginary arc.

“If I’m straight, it’s like Pong,” says Ready. “The ball is going to come in this way and ricochet that way.

“I want to be turned just slightly.”

Another key: Be a pillow and blow your air out. In other words, the catcher should not be rigid when the ball strikes his body.

“The ball can hit you and its going to deaden,” says Ready. “Then you can reach out and grab it.”

When it comes to throwing, footwork is important.

“Know the limitations of your catchers before teaching them footwork,” says Ready. “It all depends on how good the guy’s arm is.

“If his arm is not good, he’s going to have to gain some momentum (with a jab step) to get the ball down to second base.”

Ready teaches his catchers to have the thumb tucked behind and transfer the ball from the glove to the throwing hand out in front of their bodies.

“If I don’t get a perfect grip on it, I can adjust it in my hand as I get it back here to throw,” says Ready. “Getting a perfect four-seam grip on the ball is a bad expectation.

“It’s a quickness. You get it and get rid of it. You have to have arm strength and put it on the base.”

Ready says bullpens are not just for pitchers. They present a good opportunity for catchers to work on blocking, framing, shifting, footwork, signal-calling etc.

“In (the Great Lakes Valley Conference), I can tell you this, if you roll with the same set of signals with a runner on second year in and year out, you get what you deserve,” says Ready. “You should have multiple sets of signals.

“You should have a verbal where you can switch them on the fly where you don’t have to waste a trip (to the mound).”

Ready went over blocking, receiving and throwing drills he uses as part of a 45-minute progression in developing catchers at UIndy:

• Face Off. Catchers are paired up. They catch the ball and throw it back.

• Rapid Fire. A coach feeds balls to a catcher who receives them bare-handed one after the other. This helps with hand-eye coordination and reaction time.

“Training at a high rate of speed is how you slow the game down,” says Ready.

• Weighted Ball. They are delivered underhand with catchers receiving them with or without their glove.

“It will help your catchers stick the ball and not take it out of the position where they caught it,” says Ready.

• Receiving. Catchers field throws from various positions.

• 3-Ball Blocking. Catchers will get into a secondary stance and then go down to where the coach points. There is a slow and deliberate round followed by a fast one.

• Hands Down/Chin Down. It helps with catchers who like to flinch on blocking balls. A pitching machine will deliver the ball in the same spot each time.

• Block and Recover.

• Cheat. A version of block and recover where the catcher gets the ball in their hand as quickly as possible.

• Machine Receiving. The catcher starts from 60 feet, 6 inches away and sees how close they can get to the machine with each pitch. It becomes a competitive thing among teammates.

• Long Toss. Ready likes his catchers to do this in some form everyday.

• One-Knee Throwing.

• Hands Transfer.

“The transfer is key,” says Ready. “If you want to get people out, you’ve got to be able to transfer the ball.”

• Coach In The Middle. Done at the distance home to second base (127 1/2 feet) and at 150 feet with a coach in the middle, catchers deliver throws to a moving target. It also helps build up arm strength.

Al Ready, a former University of Indianapolis catcher, is now the head baseball coach at UIndy. (University of Indianapolis Photo)