The rule of thumb is when you bend forward and look down, the chin pad should be off your chin by 3-4 inches. You don't want it cinched up tight. It's tangling from your hat, if worn properly.

With all due respect I am curious:

1. Where do you get this information from?
2. Where do you get off passing off this bogus information?

Hmmm... this is not bogus information I am passing along. It is directly from a MLB umpire. when I told him about your "hat holding the mask up" and 3-4 inches from the chin when you lean over... he just laughed. That is not proper for your mask.
So everyone can take whatever advise you would like... for me I'll go with the guy doing MLB.

Really? I just talked to Bill Klem and Jocko Conlan, and they both told me you were full of sh......aving cream!

did you tell him your bogus theory because if ou did i think you would get the same reaction?

to reiterate what others have repeatedly said, your mask should fit very loosely so that if you get hit the mask will spin off and keep the force of the impact away from your face

"Hmmm... this is not bogus information I am passing along. It is directly from a MLB umpire. when I told him about your "hat holding the mask up" and 3-4 inches from the chin when you lean over... he just laughed. That is not proper for your mask.
So everyone can take whatever advise you would like... for me I'll go with the guy doing MLB."

Sniff, sniff . . . if it smells like a lie,

Lap, lap . . . if it tastes like a lie,

Read, read . . . if it reads like a lie,

Most likely it is.

One Rule ~ One Interpretation ~ One Mechanic

Okay, my information has been repeated by Jim Evans and the instructors his proschool, Hunter Wendlestedt and the instructors at his pro school, Doug Harvey, Mike Winters, Joe West and many other MLB umpires I have met or have heard personally.

Name your source.

Garth named his sources, all of whom are "experts". Why don't you let us know who your source is ?

or...
 

Just get an HSM, and you wont have to worry about a harness and how tight against your face it is. :D

Dollars to donuts it's Angel Hernandez, who has carried more baseball rule myths into the majors than all the other MLB umpires combined.

The last time I took a direct shot to the mask was last spring in a varsity HS game. I was in the GD and tracked that pitch direct to my mask. Catcher obviously expecting something else because he never got a glove on it. The mask bounced off my face and landed at my feet in front of me, after which I asked the catcher if that was the best he could do.

I was expecting Davidson, the newest member of the MLB staff. Its really a toss up between Bob and Angel though.

I will contact any umpire he names and ask a straight forward question: Do you recommend that an umpire's face mask fit snugly or loosely?

Although your post has given him an "out", I will follow up on it never-the-less.

I do not frequently refer to individual as liars. In my world, that is an extreme condemnation not to be used lightly. I believe I have referred to three people as liars in the last ten years. Coincidentally, two of the three were posters on umpire boards, one of whom has, fittingly, disappeared.

I believe umpbrian to be a liar.

I'm not sure I agree with the 3-4 inches separation between your chin and the chin pad while you are in your stance. That seems a bit too loose for me. I do not wear my mask tight but I want it tight enough not to move around while I am going in and out of my stance. And yes, I've had a few good shots that have spun the mask over the years.

Lawrence

Read the post again. The 3 -4 inches was not while in a stance. It was when bending over, head down. I would agree that it is an estimation. Yours might hang less. :D