Tricks for Timing
 

Are there any tricks some of you wiley old vets of this forum use to improve and help keep consistant your timing while calling balls and strikes?

I don't mean the old "read the mitt logo" either. I'm looking for something you use that may be unique.

Thanks,

Tim.

Basically I use what I like to call the "two second" rule. Ball crosses plate, ball goes into mitt, wait two seconds, make the call. What also helps me tremendously is that I use the GD stance.

I literally make the call in my head...

Thats a ball... BALL

Thats a strike... STRIKE

Timing is the...

Oh, never mind. It wouldn't do any good.

......proper use of the eyes.......:rolleyes:

This is age dependent. I have a notebook full for under 12s.

Two real seconds or two short pauses?

that isnt timing

...but anyways, 2 seconds seems too long to wait anyways.

Two short pauses.

Timing tricks are bogus, and newer umps should learn the proper use of the eyes instead.

Timing is not about time
 

There are no tricks for timing. Timing is not about time...period. Timing is, as has been written above, about proper use of eyes. If you use your eyes properly you can not have bad timing, it's not possible. The point of timing is to make sure you are making proper calls, counting to two, chewing your gum twice, reading the label on the mitt, holding your pants, pinching your arm, or sticking a stick in your eye will not help you get calls right.

Bottom line -- there are no tricks!

I simply think either strike or ball then make the call. In the process, I visualize the pitch again. It's pretty much like seeing a play on the bases: See it, see it again in your head, call it!

For the most part if you have 2 good F1's around the plate = a good plate performance. It's difficult to have any kind of good timing etc. when F1 is 'all over the place" then all of a sudden "paints the corner"

Jon Bible gave excellent advice about the strike zone.

1. Every Pitch is a strike until proven otherwise

2. Treat the strike zone like a "window" If the ball is in the window = strike


Pete Booth

Were you at my game on Friday night?

The starting pitcher for the visitors was all over the place and when he wasn't walking batters he was serving up belt high fastballs that were either bobbled, booted, thrown away or not fielded due to lack of any sort of effort by his teammates.

10-1 after 2
17-4 final after 4 1/2

I've always said it's games like this where you earn your money.

this is exactly what a current major league umpire told us at one of our local meetings when he came to talk to us about mechanics. he said use "thats a" and then make the call.

How does this help? Timing (proper use of eyes) is important to help us get calls right not make calls more slowly. Suppose you don't track the ball, ie have tunnel vision, but you are religious in using the "thats a" method of timing instead of tracking pitches all the way to the mitt, how many more pitches are you going to get right?

I don't use any mechanisms like the ones that have been mentionned. Although I will periodically remind myself to be patient and not make up my mind before the ball crosses the plate and into the glove.

For me, there are two common situations that could be problematic. They are basically the same pitches that fool the hitters.

One is the high fastball that looks good coming in. Batters often swing at that pitch because it looks like a strike. if the batters are sometimes fooled, we can be as well. If you're patient, you will not miss it.

Secondly is the sinker that again that looks good all the way until it dips below the strike zone at the last instant. It often fools the batter and we need to let it be caught before we decide.

I think it was Peter Osbourne who wrote about gross misses (calls that everyone in the ballpark knows you missed). Good timing help avoid gross misses.

One is the high fastball that looks good coming in. Batters often swing at that pitch because it looks like a strike..... then it rises out of the zone and unless we watch it all the way to the mitt we may be fooled as well.

Well,
 

" . . . then it rises out of the zone and unless we watch it all the way to the mitt we may be fooled as well."

Well at a bare minimum someone has a sense of humor this morning.

Regards,

It's not so much that the ball rises as much as it is that the F2, batter and umpire actually drop as the pitch is arriving at the plate. It is a well known fact as many fields dip for drainage.

If that advice is excellent, here's some that's awesome:

No pitch is either a ball or a strike until after it reaches the catcher's mitt.

A bias or predisposition toward a certain outcome might lead to quicker games. It certainly leads to an improper zone if you want to advance in adult baseball (college-aged and older).

Bible's advice might be OK for established umpires, although I find that partners who follow it tend to have strike zones that are unfairly large. Beginners who follow that advice are practically guaranteed that result, and they make enough mistakes in that direction as it is.

I don't know who said it, but I think it's sometimes attributed to Doug Harvey:

"The batter's got a right to make a living, too."

What would those be?

Mound 18"+ over plate elevation.
F1 releases ball @ 1' minimum over his head.
F1 is 5' tall (OK he's a mijit) :D

Ball arrives @ the plate at 6' elevation (OK it's Wilt The Stilt) :eek:

1.5' + 1+ +5' = 7.5'
7.5'-6' = no rise.

I must have read Jon Bible's column in Referee Magazine too when I first started out, because that has always been my philosophy. It isn't a bias or a predisposition to calling it one way or the other. I would still always track the pitch into the glove, and then make my determination based on the final outcome. I endeavored never to ever judge a pitch early. But I learned that the baseball comes in on a railroad track, and that track is a "strike." If anything derails the ball off the track, it then is considered a "ball." But it is definitely a strike leaving the pitcher's hand. But as we all know, that can change rather quickly. . .;)

With all respect to Jon, I prefer the old adage: the pitch is nothing until I call it. I have no bias towards ball or strike until it hits the golve.

i work with a umpire whose creedo is, get em to 2 strikes as soon as you can (assuming the batter doesnt hit it first!). he calls a b i g zone to get the batter to 2strikes as fast as he can then he calls a REAL strikezone if you get what im sayin. he says this sppeeds the game and gets batterss swinging.

is this a good idea? im not realy comfertable with it.


(Whew see no big caps this time!) :)

So he purposefully changes the strike zone not only during the game, but during the same at bat. And you're asking if this is a good idea?

Wow.

well i dont do that but its not MY place to tel him hes wrong

.....yes it is!

hes a bigdog as you guys say often so nope i let him defend it with the rats. he knows what hes doing and why (even tho its a bad idea imo), so he can face the music

First of all getting set in a good stationary, yet comfortable position, that enables you to see the zone completely is very important. With some catchers, this may take a while to adjust if they have'nt been taught to let you see the zone.

I personnaly watch the ball into the glove, decide where it is and how it was caught by the catcher, announce the pitch and then stand and signal if a strike or stay set if a ball.

Sometimes a lot of new officials feel as though they need to announce and signal at the same time. This tends to hurry you by wanting to get that signal out. I think it is the old itailian technique of wanting to talk with your hands.

Whenever I found myself calling a pitch to fast, it is because I stand up too soon. Stay set and announce and then signal appropriately.

Also, how the ball is caught is very influential. 90% of the time it will guide you to the proper call.

See the zone.
Watch the pitch.
Watch the catch.
Make the announcement.
Signal as required.

This has worked for me.

Your method of calling the pitch first, and then signaling the strike works for some people I suppose, as I saw it quite often in my association.

I have always stood up and called the pitch at the same time I signaled. That is the way it is taught in pro school, so that's the way I was taught. You rarely see pro umpires (with the exception of kneelers) call it first and then stand up and signal.

It did not affect my timing by calling the strike and signaling.

Steve, when I get to the Pros, I will worry about how they do it.

The gentleman asked "Are there any tricks some of you wiley old vets of this forum use to improve and help keep consistant your timing while calling balls and strikes?

Tim asked for your advise, Not me.

A related question on mechanics
 

I never noticed Pro timing but now that I think of it, most call strike while standing (if not all).

After seeing the pitch in its' entirety, I usually call and visualize 'Strike' while down, then stand.

Is this not done normally by HS/Collegiate/MiLB Umpires?

Crap.... I think there's something ELSE I gotta fix!!!
:confused:

And I think that staying down to call strikes, and then standing to signal, is not a trick that would help someone keep their timing consistent, but rather a mechanism you use to help you with your timing. I most certainly wasn't giving you advice. I was giving the people who read your post advice, which is not to take your advice.

I was just stating my opinion, and the way the mechanic is taught in clinics, camps, and yes, pro school. Going pro or not is not a good excuse not to do it the way they teach.

You do it your way. That's great. More power to you. I just don't think you should encourage others to do it that way. Perhaps Garth will chime in again about artificial timing.

[QUOTE]IMO, FWIW this is good advice because it forces an umpire not to come up too quickly. When new umpires ask how do I improve on the low pitch or the "bread / butter" pitch for F1's the most notable answer is stay down. Do not "pop-up" too quickly.

Also, by staying down etc. you will not call the pitch "too quickly"

With all the advice given so far as I mentioned earlier it is easier to stay focused, have good timing etc. when you have 2 F1's that are around the plate the majority of times.

Pete Booth

[QUOTE]Mechanics, plate stances and calling balls / strikes methods seem to be changing as quickly as software products these days.

When I first started out I was taught to keep my head at the "highest point" of the zone meaning if my eyes had to look up it was a ball. Also, I was taught to only call strikes meaning do not say anything if it was a ball.

The BU was responsible for bases 1 through 3. The PU had home plate.

Those methods are out dated but it shows one that mechanics, plate stances and calling balls / strikes continue to change year after year.

Therefore posters are giving their advice on what works best for them. This is one area in which there are really no wrong or right answers. The OP can either take that advice (or at least try it) or not.

IMO, some of the "old methods" had value to them even though they are not taught anymore. If you have kids try helping them with their homework. It's like "night and day" compared to the way I was taught. Umpire mechanics are similiar.

Pete Booth

[quote=PeteBooth]Pete, here's a kiss from me to you, fantastic post. ;)

They are going to stand up anyway so might as well make the call where it is best seen.