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I guess I should not be surprised that the video is from Indiana. There are a lot of good umpires here, but there are many more that are lacking in their knowledge of mechanics. I was at our northern Indiana ASA umpire clinic yesterday, and I have an ASA school this weekend, but when it comes to NFHS...well, they really don't offer any training, though you are supposed to go to a half day clinic if you are working the playoffs.
I read posts where people talk about taking the NFHS tests several times, perhaps even every year, but here in Indiana, you take the test one time, and if you pass then you're qualified to work games for as long as you keep sending in your registration each year. They suggest getting training from your local association, but I've been a member of three different ones, and their meetings almost always digress into war story sessions for the old-timers. Most of the umpires work different sports since the season is so short up here, and they really don't spend ten or eleven months out of the year studying softball. Heck, even I don't. I officiate volleyball also and spend three months each year studying that sport.
The video is painful to watch, but for me it's not any more painful than watching my daughter's high school games. It's hard for me to bite my tongue. I'll see Julie on Thursday so I'll let her know that her video was a nice discussion point. I remember her showing us another video at both an ASA clinic and an ASA school two years ago. It was from a TV comedy show where the main character was trying out umpiring for the first time. Now THAT was funny. Just thinking about that guy pointing to the base umpire on a play at the plate makes me laugh every time.
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