[ctblu40]

Originally Posted by mcrowder

I was confronted with a room full of "My zone is my zone" guys one year as well, and I'd seen these guys do exactly as you say. We discussed at a preseason clinic once, and I decided to film each umpire once during a scrimmage. Then we ALL watched all the films before the season started. You'd be surprised at the eyes that were opened.

It was a nice training tool, as guys could see themselves moving their bodies to track a pitch, call a pitch too early, and yes ... call that ankle strike (and sometimes oversell that ankle strike three).

I think ALL of our zones (self included) improved that year, and we now do it every year. We watched the first year one (5 years ago) recently and all got a good laugh from it. It's amazing to see the difference now.

This is a great idea and I am going to suggest it to my fellow Umpire Development Committee members at our next meeting.