Flinching
 

What advice do you have for umpires who need to overcome flinching problems?
Thanks for your help guys



Rhino

Re: Flinching
 

Put on your gear and have someone throw tennis balls at you. Keep your concentration on the ball and only the ball. Hold your head still and follow with your eyes only. Trust your equipment. Remember, your equipment will protect you as long as you face forward! If you turn, you WILL get hurt!

When you can stand there without flinching, give yourself a treat - have the thrower use real baseballs! I'm not kidding --- better find out now and not during a game!

He is correct. You need to take some shots before you truly believe that your gear is going to protect you. Then you will be able to relax and focus on the game.

Relax and trust your catcher!
 

Tell your catcher that his job is to protect you! And if he doesn't, his pitcher will see more balls than ever before! Also when he comes to bat, he better be swingin'!lol

When I help coach at lower levels, I tell the catcher that his equipment is there for a reason. When you turn, your ear and head is exposed and the equipment doesn't help protect him.

If turning the head is still a problem, I will then tell him to put his hands behind his back and throw pitches from ten feet away right at his head and ask him if it hurt. You will always get a resounding NO with a smile!

Also works with blocking the ball with the body!

Re: Relax and trust your catcher!
 

I sometimes use this! Gets a good laugh out of the catcher. One time, I took one and the next inning I said, "Come on catch, where were you last inning, I took one." He goes "I'm sorry sir." I made sure he knew I was just giving him a hard time. Got a good laugh out of it! :)


Very true! Don't bail out, cause that's when you get hurt! Trust your equipment, you paid good money for it, so be sure to use it if you have to! ;)