Pocket Awareness: A Brief Thread #catchingtwitter

It’s incredibly important we have great pocket awareness when it comes to receiving but it is also huge for our transfers and throws. At @newlevel360 we often talk about your glove having a set of eyes and that they need to see the ball as long as possible for a clean catch.

This idea extends to infield as well and outfield to a degree. Each catcher has their own glove load that helps them get to where they need to be; some keep it simple, some like to show the pocket to the ground and then roll the glove open when going to catch.

While the load might change, what the elite receivers have in common is making sure they get pocket on plane with the pitch when making a catch. If you’re a C who likes to take the pocket to the ground for their load, try to make revealing the pocket to the ball your first move.

Get the pocket open early in your move so you can let those eyes see the ball!

Above we have some older footage of @cagehardy28 as well as some footage of some top MLB receivers Mitch Garver, JT Realmuto and Omar Narvaez. Here you’ll notice different loads but pocket seeing the ball early in each catch.

If you’re having trouble finding the pocket try working a couple rounds with the eyes of the glove looking back at the pitcher the whole time and don’t let them stray from the ball.

Once you’ve become more comfortable finding the pocket you can work back to your normal load with pocket presence in mind!