Verbalize a fair ball?

[BretMan]

Well...nobody's perfect...

I've got some pretty strange bits of advice in clinics from people who were further up the food chain than me! Just a reminder that while we may all know a lot, we probably don't know it all...and most people aren't 100% right 100% of the time.

I had one a few weeks ago at our local clinic. We were doing plate drills with a live pitcher, but no batter.

After I did my reps one of the instructors said, "You need to get down lower in your stance". Okay...so I asked him if my eyes should be at the top of the strike zone

He says yes...then I think it started to sink in. But just to drive my point home, I asked him how do I establish the top of the strike zone when there isn't a batter?

[SNIPERBBB]

I've had some weird things comes down the pike for softball and basketball mechanics here locally. Especially when guys come in to teach non-NFHS mechanics for OHSAA.

One guy in basketball a few years ago I am pretty sure just rewrote the 3-man mechanic book for NFHS and everyone I talked to about it was wondering if the guy partook of the Meigs County Gold.

[Mountaincoach]

The phrases "FOUL BALL" and "FAIR BALL" may sound different when coming from the mouths of umpires in New England, but they sound very much the same coming from the mouths of umpires down here in the South. Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail, and you will get a clarification email.

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by Tru_in_Blu

We had a district UIC giving us mechanics protocols. He said that if a batted fly ball was close to the line and was touched fair, but not caught, that we were to give a point and then to verbalize "FAIR BALL!" ... . Many of us were wondering if some new mechanic (that hadn't made it into the book) was being introduced.

Ummm, no.