Summer Ball

[GoodwillRef]

[QUOTE=Back In The Saddle;686229]Summer is a great time to try out stuff you wouldn't normally do. Try a different approach to handling an irritating coach. Talk to players more. Try working wider or closer in at L. Try moving more or less at T. Try being bigger or smaller. Try to appear more deliberate or relaxed. Try out that super cool quadruple tweet thing you heard somebody use. Let 'em play more or tighten up more, and see what happens. Find a kid who lacks confidence and try using your demeanor and a little humor to give him/her a boost. Work on your partnering skills and focus on making a weaker partner better. Talk to a parent or two between games and ask them about their kid. Try working without a lanyard.

The idea is to stretch yourself in new ways and directions. If you make mistakes while doing it, it's only summer ball and nobody is going to care that much. If you don't make mistakes, you're not trying hard enough.

All this assumes, of course, that you are already capable of calling a decent game and don't really have to focus all your energy on reporting mechanics or calling travels.

Just my $0.02[/QUOTE

I would rather work on items that you are going to use doing the season and get really good at those. I don't know if I would work on everything and try a ton of new things...sometimes we tend to pick up bad habits during the summer and they carryover into the season.

[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by GoodwillRef

I would rather work on items that you are going to use doing the season and get really good at those. I don't know if I would work on everything and try a ton of new things...sometimes we tend to pick up bad habits during the summer and they carryover into the season.

I agree I am not experimenting with much of anything unless it is something that I have been told I should add and I see the value in it. But I want the summer to be as normal as possible considering that there are almost never going to be all the same mechanics when it comes to switching or foul reporting.

Peace

[Back In The Saddle]

Originally Posted by GoodwillRef

I would rather work on items that you are going to use doing the season and get really good at those. I don't know if I would work on everything and try a ton of new things...sometimes we tend to pick up bad habits during the summer and they carryover into the season.

Two thoughts:

1. If an official still needs work on the basic skills, then my suggestion isn't for him. My suggestion is aimed at the "I've got the basics, now what?" crowd. Also I try not to set aside my core skills when I work summer ball. What I'm doing is in addition to my normal game, and summer is rife with opportunities because honestly most summer games don't challenge us the way regular season games do.

2. I threw out several examples, mostly to illustrate the idea. I wouldn't try all of those at the same time. Much of my experimenting has been more opportunistic. Have an early Saturday morning game and everybody's half asleep, that's a perfect time to work on projecting a little energy and talking to players. You've got an irritating coach and your usual tools aren't helping much, maybe you hold off with the warning and/or T and try something different. There have been an absolute ton of thoughts on how to handle coaches presented here over the years, and I'll bet there are some you've filed away under "I should try that some day". Summer ball is "some day".

As for sticking to things you'll actually use during the regular season, I have incorporated several of my successful "experiments" into my regular season game. They're not core skill stuff, but some are useful tools to have in my box for specific situations. But I am not suggesting that anybody experiment with weirdo stuff that he would never use in a "real" game. Unless you're really bored and just having a little fun