Quote:
Originally posted by mrm21711
I remember Gerry Davis, MLB umpire, saying that people say head height should be at the catchers mask, he said thats the lowest it should be...the focus should be consistency.
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That's good advice. At my tall height I used to try to get down to the chin/head "approved height" but it was always a struggle, especially with smaller catchers. Then I changed to a consistent lock-in height regardless on the size of the strike zone.
A couple of adjustments that I made after attending an umpire school were:
1. Maintain the height that was comfortable for my knees.
2. Concentrate on keeping the butt down instead of leaning too much into the slot. This saves the back.
3. Body and equipment is toward the pitcher but my head is rotated just slightly "in" towards the plate. The initial pitcher's motion and release of the ball is picked up out of the corner of my eyes and then my eyes are free to float through the zone with the flight of the ball all the way into the catcher's mitt. This keeps my head from moving.
4. For very small batters I was taught to then tip my head very slightly "down" to better see the lower pitches on these players.
These tips improved my zone consistency dramatically.
The other resourse of a good strike zone is a catcher that is doing his job. At the very beginning of each game I have a quick friendly chat with the catcher(s) reminding them to reach out on the lower strikes. This keeps the pitch at the knees and doesn't give the impression that it was too low as in when a catcher allows the pitch to come all the way to him. I do the same thing with pitches on the corners. I ask the catcher(s) to hold that pitch just a split second longer so it looks good.
Strike zones are all perception. In higher levels of play rarely will a coach squawk about the low pitches as long as you are consistent for both teams. They are constantly reminding their pitchers to "keep the ball down" since they know if the pitcher is up a lot there will be a lot of hard hits, even over the fence.
U007