Professional Schools

[cookie]

I went to the PBUC school last January and found it terrific -its first class and only 35 of us (you won't find that small a class ever again at a pro school!). At my age, I did not go there to find a job in MiLB, just to improve... (And a bucket list kind of thing, too.)

It's only four weeks compared to Wendelstedt's five week program, but it's a full four weeks Monday thru Saturday. Generally, rules and mechanics classroom instruction in the AM and field/cage mechanics in the PM with two or more occasional evening meetings every week (to review videos, for example). You're trained by the top MiLB umpire/evaluators (many who have had MLB experience). You're housed, fed, and taught right there in "Dodgertown" - now the Vero Beach Sports Complex. It's a great all-in-one campus and the closeness of everyone there makes for great comradery. (I remember the times when several of us would get together and go out onto the fields in the evening to practice our mechanics under the lights, sometimes just a light.)

One thing for sure at these pro schools, you will be stripped of much of what you have learned before and begin with instruction in the basics (fundamentals) to get you on a solid professional footing...

[Fed2You]

Originally Posted by cookie

One thing for sure at these pro schools, you will be stripped of much of what you have learned before and begin with instruction in the basics (fundamentals) to get you on a solid professional footing...

So how early in a career should one go to this type of school?

I'm just starting out in high school ball, but i have aspirations(?) of making it much further. If they're going to "strip me of the fundamentals" i'm learning now, why delay it? How many years do i wait, learning the supposed "wrong fundamentals" ????

[maven]

Originally Posted by Fed2You

So how early in a career should one go to this type of school?

I'm just starting out in high school ball, but i have aspirations(?) of making it much further. If they're going to "strip me of the fundamentals" i'm learning now, why delay it? How many years do i wait, learning the supposed "wrong fundamentals" ????

Incorrect fundamentals seem to be much less common now than 20 years ago (at least around here), partly due to more amateur umpires getting professional training and sharing it with their associations.

At least one of the pro schools will accept students right out of high school but encourages them to attend college first. The reality is that nearly all pro school graduates will need to find non-baseball employment, and they'll be disadvantaged by lack of a degree.