Teaching the strike zone

[EAGLE EYE]

Hey guys. I am here in Williamsport. I was taken out of the LLWS rotation due to illness which landed me in the Hospital up here from Friday - Monday. I received a visit from Mr. Keener who personally invited me back to umpire next year.

I have been reading all the comments and I think for the most part they are fair. While most everyone is doing their best, some simply were more ready then others.

As for the strike zone, I know my zone improved tremendously after having an experienced umpire critique my game. His #1 comment was my timing. He told me I needed to do a better job of tracking the pitch to the mitt with my eyes (not my head). Sounds simple, but to a lessor experienced umpire, it made my game better and more enjoyable. After doing a dozen or so games I realized I was missing the most important part of the pitch. The finish!!!

[dontcallmeblue]

"a) Call the zone of least resistance, use the catcher to help you decide the pitch. A pitch that bouces is virtually (99% of the time) a ball - exception is the big 12/6 curve that mirrors a slowpitch softball pitch."

Sorry, if it bounces, I don't care if is Barry Zito. Ball. 100%.

As for teaching the zone...I would say the resistence is from stubborness. Umpires as a group are perhaps the most resistent to criticism as any group. People need to be more open minded to get past the, "strikes are good" and "my zone is my zone" mentality.

The only way you can learn is from experience. Call some strikes, gauge the response. Nobody chirps? Try going further. Too far? Too much yelling? Reign it in a bit. Challenge yourself. Even the best miss pitches. The best advice I can give is twofold:

1) Lock your head position, track the ball all the way to the mitt.

2) Good timing means DECIDING late(r), not just pausing more.

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by dontcallmeblue

2) Good timing means DECIDING late(r), not just pausing more.

"Good timing is proper use of the eyes."

(Beat you to it, Tee )

[dontcallmeblue]

I agree, I was just trying to simplify it.

[mcrowder]

Originally Posted by dontcallmeblue

Sorry, if it bounces, I don't care if is Barry Zito. Ball. 100%.

Good luck with your 10U games then... Call me when your game ends... better call me at home - I will have eaten and showered by then.

[dontcallmeblue]

My 10U games? I don't do 10U games, sorry bucko.

[ctblu40]

Originally Posted by mcrowder

Good luck with your 10U games then... Call me when your game ends... better call me at home - I will have eaten and showered by then.

If you routinely call pitches that bounce into the catchers glove strikes around here, the highest you'd advance is Middle School (maybe JV on a busy day) games.

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by ctblu40

If you routinely call pitches that bounce into the catchers glove strikes around here, the highest you'd advance is Middle School (maybe JV on a busy day) games.

Unless the catcher is ten feet behind the plate, you wouldn't even be calling 10U games around here, unless, of course, you were a volunteer umpire working Little League.

[shickenbottom]

Originally Posted by ctblu40

If you routinely call pitches that bounce into the catchers glove strikes around here, the highest you'd advance is Middle School (maybe JV on a busy day) games.

Some people are missing the point. 99% of the time a pitched ball that bounces is a ball, but on those "rare," and I mean "rare," occasions where a pitcher floats a 12/6 curve (you could call it a gravity pitch), that goes 10 to 12 feet above the ground, then drops, hits the ground 12 to 18 inches behind the plate and immediately short hops into the catchers glove because he didn't reach out to glove it, is a strike IMO. It's thrown overhand, but looks identical to an underhanded softball pitch. The ball is belt high over the middle of the plate and if they don't swing, call it for what it is a strike.

Granted, there are very few who can actually throw this "junk" with any consistency, however, I have come accross a couple of gentlemen in the mens senior league that I do, that can. Everyone knows it passed right infront of the batter, all they have to do is stick the bat out and hit it.

[Tim C]

"Some people are missing the point."

I would contend that NONE of us are missing anything schik:

I would never intentionally call a pitch a strike that bounced before it was caught by F2.

If you did around here (pdxblue may want to chime in here) you'd be working non-varsity games the rest of your career.

A pitch that bounces before being caught is not a strike -- ever, at any level of shaving aged players.

Sorry, that's the facts .

Regards,

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by Tim C

I would never intentionally call a pitch a strike that bounced before it was caught by F2.

If you did around here (pdxblue may want to chime in here) you'd be working non-varsity games the rest of your career.

A pitch that bounces before being caught is not a strike -- ever, at any level of shaving aged players.

Sorry, that's the facts .

Regards,

I called a curve (that went throught the strike zone) that hit just behind the plate in a Varsity game once. While I wasn't relegated to sub-varsity for it, had I continued the practice, I would have no doubt been demoted soon. The coach was all over my butt for calling it, and I never forgot the lesson.