Nice instruction for catchers of all ages on the concept of selling a pitch or "framing."

 

 

He is 100% correct on the catcher moving the glove to try to sell it. When an umpire sees that it tells him that the catcher thought it was a ball and is trying to move it to a strike.

I would never actually move my glove, but if I thought it was close, I would definitely freeze it for a few seconds.

Thumb in the zone and get around it.

That made me miss playing baseball.

I see way too many young catchers trying to steal strikes by "pulling" pitches. And that drives me crazy. If everyone in the stands can see you move the glove, pretty good chance the ump can too. And pulling the glove hard, especially on obvious balls is a great way to make an ump dislike you, and tighten up the zone. Glove pulling is a lot like flopping in basketball. This video does a pretty good job of explaining proper framing. Catching the ball with the thumb under and within the frame of your body gets the job done. Proper set up behind the plate and a pitcher that can hit spots consistently is a big part of the equation as well. Good framing technique also produces that loud "pop" that makes your pitcher sound like he is throwing harder than he is. The one thing that this video doesn't mention is the "sway"...that is moving your body slightly on pitches that are just outside the frame of your body.