Timing Issues

[GarthB]

Originally Posted by jkumpire

The Evans way is one way of doing it, not the baseline by which everything else is measured.

You an I both know that the problem with timing is that people are too quick to make the call. Usually the problem is not physical, it is mental timing. It is human nature that we all have to deal with. The suggestions given to this person other than what Evans says are also valid ways to help him deal with the problem.

Evans' cues are just another way to get to the same place.

Sorry, Rev, I don't agree.

The problem with "timing", in my opinon, is that people make their decisions too quickly, not their calls. This is often seen when some umpires are making their calls immediately after, just as, or even before the ball hits the mitt. The have already decided on the pitch, before the pitch is complete. Thus it is both a physical and mental issue.

Adding a phony count of 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi does nothing to correct that problem. It just allows for a delayed crappy call instead of an immediate crappy call.

Understanding that timing is the proper use of the eyes, does. While Jim has taught this technique and repeated his mantra since 1989, it goes back, without the mantra, much further than that. At a Doug Harvey week end in the 70's I was taught the foolishness of phony add-ons for timing and how much better it was to watch the ball hit the glove and keep an eye on it as I made my decision and prepared my call.

I didn't fully comprehend the totality of this proper mechanic, however, until discussing it with Jim twenty years later.