Tanner Swanson- MiLB Catching Coordinator, Minnesota Twins

This episode is brought to you by baseballcloud and OnBaseU. iTunes  Stitcher Google Spotify Summary In this episode of Ahead of the Curve, I talk with Tanner Swanson, minor league Catching Coordinator with the Minnesota Twins. He shares about his journey of coaching and teaching and how that has led him to this point in his career. He shares incredible insight into the importance and mechanics of solid catching techniques, and brings a wealth of insight to the catching position. Episode Highlights: Tanner grew up playing baseball in a small town and had positive experiences and connections with coaches. Gained an interest in teaching and coaching in college. Shares about how catching has shaped his career, and how he got to spend focused time on teaching the catching program at the University of Washington. Tanner talks about the parallel of the catching position and middle linebacker, as opposed to the quarterback analogy typical used. Tanner shares about the importance of framing metrics in the catching position. There's more complexity to stances than just 2 stances. Tanner shares some insight into a variety of positions for different situations, and how varying setups and hand positions affect outcomes. A deep dive into receiving position Important to understand the pitcher's mix and qualities   Discussion on varieties of extension styles and manipulations   3 keys to high level throws Importance “on the field” communication for catchers. Discuss next phase of motion technology   3 Key Points:     When you step back and look at anything from a distance, it allows you to question and see things from a different perspective.    Developing a versatile, well-rounded skill set needs to be the foundation.    We need more voices to come forward and push the catching position forward.   Tweetable Quotes: “Coaching is teaching, and they parallel each other.” – Tanner Swanson “Good ideas, inspiration, and creativity are drawn from asking the right questions.” – Tanner Swanson “A catcher has to be very instinctive, very reactive, and has to have really advanced perceptive skills to be able to read, react, and respond to a lot of different variables in a really short amount of time.” – Tanner Swanson “It's important to start prioritizing your training economy based on what actually happens in competition” – Tanner Swanson “Not a single catcher in baseball is a better pitch framer from a big, active secondary stance.” – Tanner Swanson "The key to the strike zone is down, being able to dominate the bottom of the strike zone is critical." - Tanner Swanson "Down is better than up, right is better than left." - Travis Swanson "We should be promoting what we want pitchers to do, not what we want them to avoid. - Tanner Swanson Resources Mentioned: "Dare to Lead" - Brene Brown "The One Thing" - Gary Keller "The Culture Code" - Daniel Coyle D1 Catching Website Tanner Swanson Email Tanner Swanson Twitter D1 Catching Twitter Website and Social Media sites for the show  www.aotcpodcast.com Twitter @aotc_podcast Facebook Ahead of the Curve Coaches Facebook group Instagram aotc_podcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices