|
Mon Apr 25, 2005, 12:24pm
|
|||
|
|||
|
Like most hitters go through, I have been in a slump that I cannot seem to get out of. I worked a game yesterday that jut may have been my worst game ever. I couldn't dial in the strike zone, I missed a fair\foul call, I swore at a couple of players who argued. I ejected a bench warmer in the bottom of the 7th inning after taking heat from everyone pretty much all day. It was a mess. I felt absolutley awful. Any advice for getting out of this slump? I need help. Conference tournament is next week and if I repeat the performance from yesterday, I may as well hang up the mask.
__________________
"You are only one call away from controversy" 
|
|
Mon Apr 25, 2005, 01:40pm
|
|||
|
|||
|
Been there
Focus on some details - pitcher's release, catchers frame, something... Focus. Focus. Hustle on the field - anticipate and be positioned to make the call. Hustle. Hustle. Slow down to make decisions - be stopped. Slow. Slow. TIMING is crucial to focus, field hustle, and the contemplation of correct decisions.
Do the job THAT YOU KNOW HOW TO DO and don't be overly critical of yourself. You will do well. 
__________________
"There are no superstar calls. We don't root for certain teams. We don't cheat. But sometimes we just miss calls." - Joe Crawford
|
|
Mon Apr 25, 2005, 01:45pm
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
The more I worked at it though, the better I became. So if thats it, DON'T Quit. Now, mabey your doing too many game and need to relax a little. Are you getting to the game at the last minute? Are you overstressed before you get to the game? All these things can affect your game. Now , if your a veteran, well my best advice is to go back to the basic mechanics that got you where you are. Stay down and make sure your locked into your zone. I generally find that to be my biggest problem, and actually have to remind myself to stay down, see the pitch into the glove, make the call, announce it and then signal. Then again, there are those days where I have actually told a complaing coach that I agree, I just suck today but Im the best umpire he has for this game and were both going to have to deal with it. Fortunately that has not been that often. But there are those days. Good Luck
|
|
Mon Apr 25, 2005, 02:11pm
|
|||
|
|||
|
slump
If I go back into my game diary, over the years I have had games just like the one you posted.
I struggled with the zone or blew a call or just was ill prepared to be there. What I did find out was that it was not usually my baseball knowledge or mechanics that was causing the problems, but outside influences that thankfully, I could overcome or out last. Most of the bad games Ive had have been because I was preoccupied with a work problem or some stresses that come with having other demands on your life besides umpiring. Since few of us can umpire for a living the vast majority of us have to juggle work/home life with baseball. The best piece of advice I can give you is to get through the game the best you can, self assess your performance, look for the outside influences that could cause your performance decrease and maybe take a few days off. But by no means quit. You have to get back out there. Im sure you will find it was an isolated incident and you will be fine....and in time you will realize that these days happen, its how you handle them that makes it better... best of luck
|
|
Mon Apr 25, 2005, 02:16pm
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Your game is suffering from the effects of loss of control. It is your personal loss of control over your work environment that is creating this doubt. You must positively focus on finding misbehaving cretins and tossing them out of the game. You are an umpire. As such you are the Joseph Stalin of your game. You said that you took "heat from everyone pretty much all day." What is that all about???? Would Jospeh Stalin take heat for anything? Would Joseph Stalin ever admit that he was wrong. No, if idiots had the audacity to complain in Stalin's Russia, it was off to the Gulag or worse for them. Satlin was never wrong, at least in his own mind. On a baseball field, if anyone complains about anything, it is because they are low life cretins and dog manure. It is simply not possible that you suck. Your analysis of your problem is simply that of wimp who blames himself rather than others for his problems. For Stalin, others had the problems. He was perfect. Like Joseph Stalin, you need to execute (eject) people on a regular basis in order to keep the rest of the citizenry in line. I imagine that Joseph Stalin woke up every day and plotted who he could torture and kill just for the pleasure of it all. This warped personality is what made him so effective and fearsome a leader. (It is also what lead to 25 million Soviet casualaties against Hitler but at the end of the day, Stalin was alive and Hitler was dead. That's all he cared about. 25 million people are expendible.) You need to walk on a baseball field with the same personality. It will make you a fearsome umpire. Everyone will leave you alone and you can concentrate on becoming a better umpire. You will be surprised at how good you can become when you do not have to tolerate a side show of misbehaving cretins. Who says umpires are not warped? I wrote a long series of artilces on this very subject for the paid part of the site. Peter
|
|
Mon Apr 25, 2005, 02:17pm
|
|||
|
|||
|
I know when I'm struggling in a game, I try to FOCUS (not labor over missed calls or pitches) and keep things simple.
As PU, take it one pitch at a time. Think about just calling that pitch, keeping your head still and tracking the ball with your eyes, seeing it, replaying it in your head, then making the call. Build off of that with the next pitch and so on. After you start feeling like you're back on your game, you can rely on your instincts to take over.
|
|
Mon Apr 25, 2005, 03:26pm
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
Then there are those guys that go so far off the deep end there is nothing we can do to help them. This is when you stick a fork in them, turn them over, turn out the light and say, "good nite." Sorry to here about your condition Peter.
|
|
Mon Apr 25, 2005, 06:06pm
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
Turn back three or four assignments. Get sick, family business, work related absence: Think of some good excuse. Don't think about baseball, or see any games, or talk about a pennant race. Watch reruns of Sex and the City or Desperate Housewives. When an umpire loses it to the depths you describe, it is always because of fatigue, generally mental fatigue. It's not a lapse in mechanics or botched game control or failing eyesight or anything other than: I'm tired! I have another piece of advice, which is: Have a close encounter with your signicant other. Then, do it all over again. When you get back to the field, you will be a different man. When you get back to the field, don't change anything. You see, it's not baseball that's messing up your life; it's vice versa.
|
|
Mon Apr 25, 2005, 06:59pm
|
|||
|
|||
|
Well.
We've seen 2 opposing posts from 2 officials I genuinely love to read & follow on this forum. One says your life is f*cking up baseball, take some time off & regroup. One says baseball is f*cking up your life, seek out your inner Stalin and you'll be fine. As in most things the answer is somewhere in the middle, but as someone who choses his battles carefully (maybe not always well) and prefers to take a good kick in the teeth before walking (or running) away from something important I couldn't help but identifying strongly with the School of Stalinistic Thought. So my advice is to work hard on figuring out exactly how much crap you'll tolerate in your game. Take exactly no more than that. Become feared and you will become respected, not because people will leave you alone but because you won't be bothered by the jerks & can concentrate on improving your game. And then you'll be able to keep it simple. Good luck.
__________________
9-11-01 http://www.fallenheroesfund.org/fallenheroes/index.php http://www.carydufour.com/marinemoms...llowribbon.jpg
|
|
Mon Apr 25, 2005, 10:55pm
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
|
|
Tue Apr 26, 2005, 02:46am
|
|||
|
|||
|
I'll second and supplement a suggestion of Carl's. When I lose focus on the field, it is often fatigue made worse by dehydration.
It seems a little thing, but staying hydrated actually makes a significant difference to your vision, your attention, and your mood. It doesn't solve bad habits, but if you're fundamentally sound it can help you get back on track, especially in late innings. It's also easier to manage than releasing your inner Stalin...
__________________
Cheers, mb
|
|
Tue Apr 26, 2005, 05:54am
|
|||
|
|||
|
The Past is Prologue
Take a break, Carl made some good suggestions. Regroup and focus on basic mechanics. If you have a regular partner, get some feedback. It may not be as bad as you perceive. The best thing you can do is visualize a good game, imagine success. Don't harp on the past, learn from it. Visualize calling a good game, being in the proper positions, the strike zone, etc. Carry that with you onto the field. Be positive, have fun. You'll find your focus again.
Good Luck IG3
|
|
Tue Apr 26, 2005, 07:41am
|
|||
|
|||
Carl has a good point. It is worth contemplating his idea when you are NOT on the field.
Over the years, I have seen many umpires hurt their promotion chances by working too much. In my area we have about an 8 month playing season. Some umpires here work 250 games a year. Invariably, tiring leads to problems and their careers suffer. Decide before the season starts, how much you will umpire. Take aggressive steps with your assignor to avoid going over your maximum. For example, I know that at my age, I have only three good plate games in me a week. Adding in three base games, my maximum number of games per week is 6. (That is a maximum for 1 week. I cannot do that week in and week out!) I do most of my umpiring over a five month span. Last year I only worked 80 games and 70 of them were from March - July time frame. That works out to fourteen games per month or an average 3-4 per week. If you lose a week of games due to weather, do not let your assignor talk you into to extra games the following week. I probably would have worked over 100 games if weather had not intervened last year. For me, that is about the maximum that I can work and give a good accounting of myself. Obviously, most younger umpires could work more. However, young people are not a tough as they think, I have seen the effects of fatigue degrade minor league umpire's games. They are all in their 20's, early 30's, yet it is clearly obvious that their calls are not as good in the 7th - 9th innings of a three day weekend as they are in innings 1-6. (These young people are delusional. Almost all of these umpires would insist that I am wrong. Yet the videotape and independent observers say I am right.) Bottom line, if these professional umpires, who go through a rigid selection process based in large part on their physical condition, suffer from fatigue and degraded performance, what are the odds that an overweight man in his 40s or 50s is not suffering form the same problem in spades? Of course, on the field, you are perfect. When Joseph Stalin was in his last days and suffering from liver disease (probably due to too much drinking), his doctors informed him of his prognosis which was not good. Stalin sent the doctors to the Gulag. Stalin died shortly thereafter but the doctors predeceased him in the Gulag. Peter
|
 |
| Bookmarks |
|
|
Linear Mode
