What to Do If Your Catcher Wants To Try a One Knee Setup

What to Do If Your Catcher Wants to Try a One Knee Setup

"If it works in the big leagues, then it works." - CJ Gillman 

The catching position has changed quite a bit than even just a few years ago. There are plenty of catchers that want to emulate the top catchers in the game. But what would happen if the catcher you are coaching wants to try a one knee setup? Would you let your athlete try it out or would you automatically shut it down? These are big questions to answer, but to help you prepare for this situation and give quality coaching to your players I will go over the benefits and warnings of having your catcher in a one knee setup. 

First thing's first, a one knee setup may not be best option for every catcher. What the coach should do is allow for the catchers to have the freedom to try out different stances and in order for the athlete to find the stance that works best. The questions that the catcher must keep in mind is, can the athlete receive, block, and throw the best out of this position? Therefore, a catcher may be wanting to try out a one knee setup but finds out that a traditional setup will help the athlete receive, block, and throw the best out of of all of the options tried out. It it better to have your players inquisitive and learn rather than shut them down immediately. If you shut them down, then there may be a wall that is built up between you and the athlete. 

The most important aspect of catching is receiving. The reason why receiving is the most important quality of the catching game is because the catcher receives pitches the most in this position.The one knee setup is designed to give a catcher who struggles with receiving in the traditional stance the opportunity to steal more stri-balls than he did in the traditional setup. The most important pitch to receive is the low strike. The one knee setup allows for the catcher to get lower in the strike zone in order to receive receive the low strike better and make quicker decisions on whether to receive the pitch or block it. Just look at the above picture of Mitch Garver. Look at how much lower his eyesight is in the one knee setup in comparison to the traditional setup.

The other benefits of a one knee setup are a better view of the strike zone for the umpire, improved comfort for catchers with tight hips, and an easier route to stealing the low strike because the catcher's eyesight is lower in this setup. All of these attributes are crucial for success of the pitcher, and ultimately benefits the team. If an umpire has a better view of the strike zone, then odds are the umpire will call balls and strikes better. Umpires may even give you more strikes because the umpire will respect that the catcher has gone out of his way to give the umpire a good look at the strike zone. 

One bit of warning though, at the amateur level I would caution the catcher to catch in a one knee setup if he lacks a lot of experience and practice in this position. For catchers to improve at catching in a one knee setup, the catcher needs a lot of practice at becoming comfortable in this position. Therefore, if a catcher is just learning the one knee setup it will be best for the catcher to catch in a traditional stance with runners on base. Ideally there will come a time where most catchers can catch in a one knee setup with runners on, but since this is a relatively new idea in the amateur level, use the one knee setup with no one on until the catcher can prove that he can receive, hold runners on, block, and throw runners out in the one knee setup consistently. 

The one knee setup is an exciting option for catchers. With that being said though, this approach may not be the best option for all catchers. As coaches it is our job to help the catchers find the best position possible for them to receive, block, and throw to the best of their abilities. Whether that is a one knee setup or a traditional setup, it is up to us to provide help and the freedom for our catchers to find out the solution to this situation and to be open minded about it. In summation, be the kind of coach that will allow your players to learn from failure and grow in adversity. You never know, this opportunity to learn and grow may change the career of one of your players forever.