Really good breakdown from Padres Catching Coordinator (Brian Whatley (DNA Catching)) of “why” we don’t round the ball back towards the plate in blocking.

This is a good point. I got this wrong for many years and lessons. Part of my reasoning for angling back towards the play was knowing where the ball was after the block so you could recover with more confidence but the runners visual makes sense. Also what I got wrong was that most lateral blocks are on breaking balls so if you go to your arm side on a RHP curveball you’re actually angling your body the wrong direction compared to the rebound spin of the breaking ball.

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@dnacatching I get the reasoning. And pretty much agree. However the “angling” of the body on some way out of the zone is purely to keep the ball in front and not bouncing towards the dugout.

@dnacatching Might need to have a discussion on angles & where the ball kicks if you don’t turn your body. Yes, in a vacuum where each ball goes the same distance, what he says is true. But have a C set up outside at both angles & have the same RHP’s pitch hit them, one will bounce further.

@coachgerman32 @dnacatching Great stuff coach! Thanks for sharing

@dnacatching Good stuff