CATCHING SCHOOL

Next Catching School Start Date: September 13th

In our approach, we aim to provide every resource a catcher needs to excel — catching skill, hitting, and athletic performance, developed together rather than in isolation.

Catching Skill  — Receiving, blocking, throwing, and fielding the position, taught from the fundamentals through modern-day stances and framing techniques as a player advances. We also work through the thinking side of the position: game IQ, pitch calling, and game management, including how to handle a pitching staff and work with umpires.

Hitting — Hitting training is included in every Catching School session, from building bat speed and a repeatable swing to developing a mental approach at the plate and an understanding of situational hitting. Catchers carry a heavy defensive workload, and we make sure their bat develops right alongside their glove.

SAPS (Speed, Agility, Power & Strength) — Additional catcher-specific athletic training available within the program, addressing the mobility, strength, and explosiveness the position demands. Developing physicality alongside skill can be a significant piece of a catcher reaching their full potential.

Days & Times

Dependent on group placement and time of year.

Age Groups

We work with primarily catchers aged 10+, depending on our coach availability.

Session Length

Roughly 90 minutes.

Group Size | Semi-Private

4–6 catchers at most.

Cost

Session packages are available, with per-session pricing ranging from $85–$115 depending on the package selected. Larger packages offer the best per-session rate. All new athletes begin with an Introductory Session to establish placement before enrolling in a package.

Hybrid Option (Optional)

For both distant and local families, we offer a remote service for accountability, drill practice, and strength & conditioning specific to the catching position.

Dan Flanick has spent nearly a decade and a half working full-time in coaching, with experience spanning youth through professional athletes in athletic performance, and youth through collegiate athletes in baseball.

His background includes coaching at Division I programs in Athletic Performance departments, including Cornell University and Baylor University, alongside his current role as Associate Head Coach and Catching Coach at Cayuga Community College.

Dan holds a Master's in Sport Pedagogy and a Bachelor's in Exercise Science, and brings expertise specifically in catching, hitting, and strength & conditioning.

Catching School is designed, instructed, and progressed based on his background in beginner-through-advanced baseball skill, scientifically rooted principles of motor learning, human physiology, coaching psychology, and long-term, healthy childhood and athletic development.

Dan's own path through the game hasn't been a straight line. He played one year of college baseball on a Division II scholarship before stepping away — a decision shaped by burnout and a difficult season of life. That experience is exactly why Catching School, and Baseball School CNY as a whole, are built the way they are: rooted in healthy development and healthy coaching, working to ensure that kids' passion for the game is fueled for the long haul.

Background & Experience

• Nearly 15 years of full-time coaching experience
• Trained & coached youth through professional athletes in athletic performance
• Coached at Division I schools in Athletic Performance departments, including Cornell and Baylor University
• Trained & coached youth through collegiate athletes in baseball
• Associate Head Coach, Cayuga Community College
• Catching Coach, Cayuga Community College
• Former collegiate catcher
• Founder & Director of Player Development, Baseball School CNY
• Founder & Co-Owner, SkanStrength
• M.S. in Sport Pedagogy, Baylor University
• B.S. in Exercise Science, Ithaca College