Coach Brandon Martorano is a prospect catcher in the SF Giants organization and he shares a great drill he performs to practice tag plays at home plate.

When the catcher sets up to make a tag out at home plate, the positioning will vary depending on where the ball is hit. Make sure that the mask stays on when we make the tag out. We should position our heels on the front corner of the plate for a straight away throw from CF. Try to get a good read on the throw, read the hops, the angle and get your chest lined up to the throw.

As a catcher, we have to let the runner have a "sliding lane" before the ball is in our glove. Once the ball is in our glove, we can then position our body to block home plate. After we catch the ball, we want to lean and drive to the left towards the runner sliding into the plate. Remember to hold the ball in our bare hand in the glove. At times, we may have to use a 1 hand swipe tag technique but at the younger ages we prefer to use 2 hands. Once we apply the tag, sell it to the umpire and get ready for the next play with less than 2 outs!

Let us help you DOMINATE your baseball coaching experience with the best youth baseball training videos, performance drills and detailed instructional explanations. If you are new to coaching baseball or a seasoned baseball coach, this is the place for you.

Learn how to develop stronger and more confident catchers.