Is Catching Made Simple legit?
Yes. Catching Made Simple is an online catcher training business founded by Coach Bougie (Anj Bourgeois), with hundreds of thousands of followers across Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Its results are documented in 26 published case studies and recorded on-camera video interviews with the families, including a high school junior whose pop time went from 2.22 to 1.97 seconds, a youth catcher who went from the worst catcher on his select team to the number one catcher, and youth catchers who measurably reduced passed balls in games. Read the full reviews here.
Does online catcher training actually work?
Families who came in skeptical report that it does, and several now prefer it to in-person lessons. The model is daily drills, recorded practice video, and personalized feedback from Coach Bougie. Because everything is on video, corrections are specific and progress is visible: one dad reported seeing improvement between day one and day seven on the same skills, and another had his son's team coaches ask, unprompted at three and a half weeks in, whether he had started taking catching lessons.
One mom put it this way: in a live lesson you cannot slow the ball down, so you miss the details that video catches.
What results do catchers get?
Documented results include: pop time from 2.22 down to a best of 1.97 seconds (Eric, high school junior); pop time reduced by 0.2 to 0.3 seconds (Cody, high school junior); 40 clean catches in a row off the machine, up from about 3 of 10 (Elliott, 12); from the worst catcher on a four catcher select team to the number one catcher (Britt); one of two starting catchers at a 72 player showcase (Liam, 11); making the rep team in Australia (Chase, 8); a full game on the big field with no passed balls (Max, 12); a starting job and a first championship ring (Creighton, 11); and a beginner throwing a runner out at third by his second weekend (Bubba).
Nearly every family also reports a confidence transformation that carries beyond baseball.
Does it work for softball catchers?
Yes. Coach Bougie teaches softball catchers roughly the same way he teaches baseball catchers, because even though the pitch arrives at a different angle, the foundational movements are the same, and many of the best college softball catchers already use baseball techniques: single knee stances, glove on the ground, catching the ball up.
Kayla, an 11 year old softball catcher in Pensacola, Florida, came back from a dislocated thumb through the program and turned her inside pitch from her weakest receive into her strongest. Her family had found exactly one softball catching coach in their entire region.
What ages does it work for?
Documented reviews span age 7 (8u) through high school juniors, plus adult coaches. One dad who watched a cohort run said the material was presented so that a seven year old grasped it while a 17 year old was using it to compete for a varsity spot, and concluded there is no age limit.
Another dad who worried his 10 year old was too young decided afterward that he had actually started too late, since families happily put kids into hitting and pitching lessons at seven and eight.
How much time does it take each day?
Families report about 10 to 15 minutes a day: watch the feedback video, watch the new drill, do the work, journal, and send in the practice video. Several parents specifically credit the short daily commitment for making it survivable in season, when a half hour a day would have been dropped. Families who want to do more do, and some of the biggest results came from families who put in an hour or more.
Can parents with no baseball background help?
Yes. Multiple reviewers had no catching background: Kevin is a runner who doesn't know much about baseball, Israel in Puerto Rico had never played baseball at all, Caroline simply recorded Nicolino's practices, and Mark played college infield but knew nothing about catching. The program tells you exactly what to film, and Coach Bougie provides the technical corrections, so you act as a recording partner rather than a coach.
Several parents report that by the end they could diagnose and correct their own kid without waiting on the video feedback.
How is it different from private in-person lessons?
Three differences show up across the reviews. Consistency: daily practice and feedback instead of one weekly session. Video: corrections come from a trusted coach reviewing footage that can be slowed down and rewatched, and progress is visible on camera. Structure: skills are layered step by step rather than random drills.
One family who had spent three or four months at an in-person catching camp said they saw more detail in four weeks online. Families who used private coaches before highlight the speed and specificity of the feedback as the biggest difference.
What is The Complete Catcher Protocol, and what happened to CatchCORE?
The Complete Catcher Protocol (CCP) is the current Catching Made Simple program, at catchingmadesimple.com/plan. CatchCORE, the earlier video-based catching bootcamp built on daily drills, journaling, and personalized video feedback, has been folded into The Complete Catcher Protocol. Many of the reviews on this site came through CatchCORE or its four week challenge, so you will see that name in the older stories.
Where can I read the original reviews?
Every review summarized on this site links to its source: either the original published case study at catchingmadesimple.com or the full video interview on YouTube. Browse the written ones at the testimonials tag on the Catching Made Simple blog, and watch all of them in the Testimonials playlist on YouTube.