Timing is everything -- to a great extent. Good timing leads to good calls, is best done without a timer on the fence
, yada yada. You all know that, right? Right.
Of course one easy way to figure you are calling balls and strikes too early is when you hear the thump of the ball into the catcher's mitt about halfway through your hawaa strike call. Slow down, wait for the thwack into the mitt, then hawaa. In a worst case scenario, you call it a ball.
Then there is junior high/middle school ball. Two seconds or so after the ball eludes the "catcher" (using the word to describe the position, not the player), the batter swings -- long after you have called the pitch a ball. It's NOT a practice swing, these girls would topple if they took a practice swing.
I'm tempted to start not making a verbal call on a ball. I'd like your thoughts.