Katchet KatchMax Board – Extreme Deflection Catching Add-On

The catches you drop are the ones you had to move for.

Standing still and taking a sharp chance is a skill most club fielders already have. What costs teams matches is the ball that goes wide, short, or at an awkward angle — the one where you have to move your feet, commit, and dive. You cannot rehearse that if the ball keeps arriving in front of you.

The KatchMax is the deflector that makes a Katchet board unpredictable enough to force it. It meshes into the grooves of your existing Katchet and adds a second, sharper angle, throwing the ball further off line — up to genuinely extreme deviation. The catcher stops reaching and starts moving.

Please note: the KatchMax is an add-on. For catching drills it sits on top of a Katchet board, which is sold separately. On its own it can still be laid flat on the ground for ground-fielding work.

Bulletproof Benefits

• Extra deflection on top of the Katchet: a second angled surface sends the ball wider and later than the base board alone, so catchers have to move rather than reach.
• Trains footwork, not just hands: the wider deviation forces a step, a turn or a dive before the catch — which is where most club chances are actually lost.
• Lay it flat for ground fielding: used on its own, flat on the ground, it becomes a feeder for inner-circle pick-ups and sliding stops.
• Slim and space-saving: designed to stack with the Katchet, so the pair travels and stores as one kit rather than two bulky boards.
• Keepers and close-in fielders: the extreme angles replicate the deflections a wicketkeeper gets off a thick edge or a pad.

Specifications

• Type: Catching deflector add-on / ground-fielding board
• Fits: Sits into the grooves of the Katchet board (sold separately)
• Standalone use: Yes, laid flat for ground fielding
• Ball types: Soft, incrediball or leather
• Use: Indoor and outdoor
• Sold as: Single board

Katchet or KatchMax — Which Do You Need?

Buy the Katchet Board first. It is the base unit, it works on its own, and it covers slip catching, close-in reflex work and high balls. Add the KatchMax when your group has outgrown the base angles and you want wider, wilder deviation — or when you want a flat board for ground fielding. Together they give you a fielding kit that covers everything from a crouched slip catch to a diving save in the ring.

Three Drills for the KatchMax

• Diving catch: mount it on the Katchet and feed hard. The wider deflection pushes the ball beyond comfortable reach, so the catcher has to commit and go.
• Reaction keeping: catcher in keeping gloves at 2–3 m. The extreme angles mimic the deflection off a thick edge, which is the hardest ball a keeper takes.
• Ground fielding: lay it flat and throw down onto it. The ball skids off low and unpredictably for pick-up and sliding-stop practice in the inner circle.

Why Varied Deflection Matters

Fielding drills fail when the ball becomes predictable. Once a catcher can anticipate where it will go, they stop reading flight and start pre-moving — which is the exact habit that drops real catches. Adding a second deflection angle keeps the feed outside the range the catcher can guess, so the eyes and feet keep doing the work. That is the whole reason the KatchMax exists: not more catches, but less predictable ones.

Who It's For

Clubs and coaches who already own a Katchet and want to extend what it does, wicketkeepers drilling deflections off the edge, junior and school programmes building footwork alongside hands, and fielding groups who want ground-fielding and catching practice from one piece of kit.