The Benefits of Using Resistance While Training Receiving Skill
Receiving the baseball well requires a combination of strength, timing, glove speed, and the ability to consistently control the ball. How an individual catcher accomplishes those things may look different, but the goal remains the same: catch the baseball cleanly and help your pitcher earn strikes.
Resistance can be a useful tool for developing those traits. It isn't a requirement for becoming a good receiver, and it shouldn't dictate how your glove moves. Used appropriately, though, resistance can challenge the movements you already use and provide immediate feedback on how efficiently you're moving.
Here are a few of the reasons we like incorporating resistance into receiving work.
BUILD STRENGTH
At its simplest, resisted receiving work challenges your ability to control the glove.
The catcher needs to be strong enough to catch the baseball cleanly and control what happens when the ball hits the mitt. Adding resistance increases the demand on the hand, wrist, forearm, and shoulder throughout the movement.
The goal isn't to overpower the baseball. It's to develop enough strength to maintain control of the glove through the catch and into presentation.
MAINTAIN CONNECTION
We use "connection" to describe the relationship between the glove, arm, and body when receiving the baseball.
Generally, we don't want to get excessively extended and reach for the baseball, nor do we want to receive it so deep that we lose space to work with. Somewhere between those extremes is a position that allows the catcher to remain strong and move the glove effectively.
You can feel this yourself. Put on your glove, fully extend your arm, and have someone apply pressure against it. Then try again with some bend in the elbow. You'll likely find that you have considerably more strength and control in the second position.
Resistance can provide additional feedback for where your glove and arm are in space. It can also make it easier to feel when you're reaching, getting disconnected, or making more movement than you intended.
Where that ideal position is won't be exactly the same for every catcher. The goal is to find the positions that allow you to remain strong and move well.
BUILD REPEATABLE GLOVE ACTIONS
Consistency doesn't mean making the exact same move on every pitch. The baseball doesn't show up in the same place every time, and different locations require different solutions.
What can remain consistent is the timing, rhythm, intent, and efficiency of the movement.
Resistance exaggerates inefficiencies. Extra movement becomes harder. Getting started late becomes harder. Taking an indirect path to the baseball becomes harder.
That's part of its value.
When we train with resistance, we're looking for efficient movement from point A to point B while maintaining the timing and rhythm that allow the glove to arrive where it needs to be. Over time, the goal is to develop glove actions that are adaptable to pitch location without becoming unpredictable.
CHALLENGE GLOVE SPEED
Glove speed matters, but simply moving the glove faster isn't necessarily the goal.
The glove needs to get where it needs to go on time.
Whether you're a catcher who moves the baseball more or prefers quieter presentations, the ability to move the glove efficiently and control it through the catch has long been a trait of good receivers.
Resistance adds load to those movements. When that resistance is removed, the catcher can work on maintaining the same intent, timing, and speed with the glove.
Again, the goal isn't movement for the sake of movement. It's having enough speed and control to execute the move the pitch requires.
A TOOL, NOT THE ANSWER
Do you need resistance training to become a successful receiving catcher? No.
Can it be a valuable tool for developing strength, feeling connection, challenging movement efficiency, and refining your glove actions? Absolutely.
That's ultimately why we built the CRT Belt. We wanted a simple way to incorporate resistance into receiving work without needing a fence, machine, weight, or other fixed anchor point.
The resistance is there to challenge what you do—not tell you exactly how you should do it.
Fine tune what makes you, you.
Keep the Game Simple.
