[AtlUmpSteve]

Originally Posted by Manny A

I do have a question about the modified GD, however. When I worked baseball, the GD was introduced in camps and clinics I attended, and required us to square up in the slot but higher and further back than you would for the heel-toe stance. What actually is different under the "modified" version? I've been told it was just that the feet are back to being heel-toe instead of square, but is there more to it?

Also, don't you have to adjust the width of your feet to adjust to the top of each batter's strike zone? It seems counterintuitive to have to spread your feet wider for those shorter batters; your using different widths for different batters. I prefer to always have my feet the same width apart, and then just sit down lower for those shorter players.

It so happens I wrote something on another (local) board today explaining why we work the mechanics we do (he was particularly blaming the slot for inconsistent outside corner calls). Some of it answers your primary question about the modified GD as it should apply in softball, and why it HAS TO BE different than baseball to be effective.

As to the second, if you WANT to be locked and set with eyes at the top, spreading wider is the best way to adjust to different batter heights. Sitting differently is equally counter-intuitive, and it relies on muscles to stay set and locked, whereas the locked body set of the GD takes the strain OFF the muscles.

Originally Posted by ATLUMPSTEVE

The "old school" way of standing behind the catcher is better described as a baseball set, rather than softball. And even MLB and all their schools now teach/preach the slot, because the umpire CAN see the ball in the zone better. Here's why.

Look at where batters stand in baseball. The vast majority stand in the very back of the batter's box. Put the catcher even farther back, the umpire behind him. In most cases, the umpire is now 6', or even more, behind the plate. Why is that significant? Because, no matter what else you may have heard, the strike zone is defined by the ball when it crosses the plate, not when it passes the batter, no matter where the batter stands. Nor by where the catcher catches it. The umpire is to visualize the batter standing directly even with the plate to determine the height (both top and bottom) of the strike zone for that batter.

Can an umpire 6' behind the plate see over a catcher and see the ball over the plate? Yes, although the umpire cannot set the head/eyes at the top of the zone, he must look down from over the catcher, and judge both the top and bottom of the zone at a place somewhere up there. And if the catcher pops up, the umpire sees NOTHING. It's not so easy.

Now think where batters stand in softball. The vast majority (at least in upper level ball) stand in the very front of the box. That helps them get the ball before a last break, helps keep the batted ball fair. Smart catchers move up, too; it's a great target for the pitcher to hit a glove that is 1' behind the plate, and it helps the catcher grab that drop before it bounces. Now apply geometry and tell me where an umpire sets to SEE the ball when it actually passes the plate that the catcher's body is right behind? To be behind the catcher and see the plate, the umpire would have to stand straight up and look straight down. Poor position to judge height, leaves the umpire as a target to hit by pitches and foul balls, and if the catcher pops; well, that's an automatic ball.

The strike zone is a rectangle, with four sides; if you could limit the judgment to just two of those dimensions, wouldn't an umpire be more consistent? So, if an umpire can set his eyes on the top of each batter's zone, and also with his nose on the inside corner, two of the parameters are locked, and only two remaining are judgments. If eyes are at the top of the zone, the bottom of the zone is actually CLOSER than if looking down over the top, so the umpire should be more consistent on the bottom as well. If the umpire sets his nose on the edge of the batter's box on the inside, with his eyes at the top of the zone, and moves forward so that his head is almost next to the catcher, the umpire can lock in the top, lock in the inside edge, be close to the bottom, see the ball all the away across the plate and all the way into the catcher's glove. If the catcher pops up, who cares? The umpire still sees PAST the catcher, across the plate, across and thru the zone.

So what about the outside corner? Yes, it's judgment; but it's exactly where it has been all my career!! The inside "river" is 6" wide, the plate is 17" wide, the outside "river" is 6" wide. Same spot every day and night. And the umpire sees the ball across the plate, and the good catcher stick that spot on the edge (and the poorly taught catcher DRAG that ball back, saying to EVERYONE "that's a ball, I know I need to make it LOOK better").

Any catcher that sets up directly behind the catcher in fast pitch is calling balls and strikes based on where the ball was last visible BEFORE it reaches the plate (guesstimating where it passed the plate instead of seeing it); and the best pitchers' job is to make the batter chase that pitch she thinks a strike when it is not, and a ball which will break back into the zone taken for a called strike. I'm not seeing any plus to fooling the umpire the same way, having him judge balls and strikes before they are either.

The three most common reasons an umpire cannot consistently see an accurate zone (aside from mistakes or simply poor judgment) are 1) NOT in the slot, 2) set too deep (the deeper you are, the more the catcher's presence blocks the plate), or set too high (forcing judgment on the top of the zone, and making the bottom even farther away. I'm not selling you the "ASA" mechanics because I am a lifer; I'm telling you how I help umpires that I evaluate to improve their game.