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Originally Posted by tarheelcoach
I am a school coach who has started doing some rec umpiring as a prelude to moving up to the HS ranks when I stop coaching.
Tonight the coach was giving me a hard time about my strike zone. This is the same community in which I coach, and he kept saying "These aren't HS kids, they are 9 years old." He thought my zone was tight.
I give them the benefit of the doubt vertically, but nothing horizontally. My feeling is that 9 year olds can still hit a pitch a little low or a little high, but there's no way they can cover a pitch off the plate, especially the smaller kids.
What do you think? How do you adjust your zone for the lower levels?
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The strike zone as defined in the rule-book was not meant for "rug-rats"
IMO, at that age baseball should be strictly instructional. Teach the fundamentals etc.
At the age of 9 kids should simply have fun and learn about the game. There should be a separate and distinct set of rules for "pee-wee" baseball if you will.
The other sports (Football/basketball/hockey) have separate and distinct rules for the pee-wee divisions and so should baseball.
You cannot expect the OBR rule-book (which most youth leagues use) to be a guide for 9 yr. olds.
Ok I know you didn't ask for my opinion on that. You asked about the zone. At that age, have a very BIG zone. No-one likes a walk-a-thon. Get the kids to start swinging otherwise they will not take the bat off their shoulders.
Pete Booth