Teaching the Rim

[BlueDevilRef]

Originally Posted by EsqUmp

How do you not see the ball rimming? Clearly they aren't doing it right.

Explain it to me. I had not heard of it before this thread and thought I had figured it out, bc it sounds, to me, like just staying outside the diamond I.e. Around the "rim" of the dirt. That was my thought but I really don't know what it is.

[teebob21]

Working from the outside is an approved mechanic in Arizona HS play. I may be wrong, but I think this was written by Emily Alexander. It is a good basic summary of the concepts of staying out on a ball hit to the outfield.

http://www.ahssug.org/documents/rule...he-diamond.pdf

[Andy]

Originally Posted by teebob21

Working from the outside is an approved mechanic in Arizona HS play. I may be wrong, but I think this was written by Emily Alexander. It is a good basic summary of the concepts of staying out on a ball hit to the outfield.

http://www.ahssug.org/documents/rule...he-diamond.pdf

Yes...this document was written by Emily when our HS association decided to allow working outside the diamond as a base umpire about 5 years ago.

We don't teach this to new umpires, we continue to teach ASA mechanics of button hooking to start. We do cover working outside the diamond with our more experienced umpires. I will say that I was at the ASA UIC Clinic a few years ago and there was a presentation on why ASA mechanics are what they are. There was a comparison of button hooking to working outside. The only disadvantage to working outside that I agreed with was that it can lead to lazy umpiring.

[EsqUmp]

Originally Posted by BlueDevilRef

Explain it to me. I had not heard of it before this thread and thought I had figured it out, bc it sounds, to me, like just staying outside the diamond I.e. Around the "rim" of the dirt. That was my thought but I really don't know what it is.

Take a look at the article below. It's quite helpful. I would say that rimming had been around a long time, though just more widely accepted in the last ten years or so. The whole idea is to keep all the elements in your view, never turning your back to the ball and never being in line with a throw.

Think of it along the same lines as you would handle a pick-off or steal with R1 on 1st base only. Initially move out about twenty feet from 1st (same as general starting position with R1 at time of pitch) and let her push you toward 2nd or back to 1st. Don't be stagnant.

[CecilOne]

I get that you can see the ball better in LF by moving parallel to 1st-2nd line instead of an immediate button-hook, but you must be inside for the play coming in. There is no need to turn in away from the ball toward 1st, then continue to a 360 for the play. However, evaluations.