I have read the rules over and over on the strike zone in slow pitch and it says nothing about where the ball lands, yet as a player I saw so many umpires call the balls and strikes by where the ball landed behind the plate. In fact I even heard one say that the ball did not land in the 'strike box'. I could never understand how a ball coming in at a 6 foot arc and landing just behind the plate was a strike every time. I was told by some one who had been an umpire for many years that it just was. Now I'm not a math wizard, so maybe it is possible the even with the low arc pitch the ball is 20 inches high at the front of the plate. (I measured to the bottom of my knee to be 18 inches, so I figured maybe 2 more inches for someone 6' 4", I'm about 5'11") The 12 foot arcing pitch coming into the back of the 'box' is easier to say it was too high and call a ball, but noone ever calls that low arcing short ball a Ball. Maybe those of you who have done slowpitch for a long time can explain this. Thanks.

I've only done two years of slow pitch but I use the front-shoulder to rear-knee rule. It seems to work 99% of the time with few exceptions.

Speaking ASA

Hopefully, your just typed the wrong body parts or you need to catch a few clinics or reread the rule book, because you are cheating yourself and the pitcher.

The SP strike zone is 27" wide between the BACK shoulder and the FRONT knee. The strike zone you described is extremely small.

Umpires who call balls and strikes based on where it hits the ground are not doing their job. The only reason an umpire follows the ball to the ground is to insure it doesn't hit the plate.

The strike zone is at the batter's natural stance while adjacent to the plate.

A legal pitch from 50' is going to be at or over the front knee of the batter.

Or you could work a league that uses a friggen mat. I hate that thing. These to many pitchers that can throw a strike and miss the mat. Sorry pitcher but in this league, that's a ball.

So Mike even with a very tall batter, the front knee will be low enough that the pitch with a 6 ft. arc and hits just behind the plate will always be a strike?

Mike, yes I explained it backwards. I meant the span between the front knee and the back shoulder.
Thanks!

So they call a strike based on it hitting a mat? That is stupid. Why would they do that, unless they don't want an umpire at all?

On a legal pitch, I'm going to say yes. Remember, natural stance. It's the batter at the plate, not the front leg alined with the front edge of the plate. Most likely, that front knee is going to be in front of the plate.

However, if you want to call it a ball, feel free. I've only got one suggestion. Make sure your car is idling in the parking lot and you have a clear path to it. :o

I know that you could probably never get by not calling it a strike. Batters rarely stand even with the plate, in fact most of the ones I see in slow pitch stand in near the back of the batters box. The rule is a natural stance even with the plate, if my front knee is about 18" off the ground, back shoulder about 60". I don't have a wide stance and I don't crouch, therefore going by rule the ball would have to pass over some part of the plate at 18" high up to the height of my back shoulder at 60" - It doesn't matter where I actually stand in the batters box. Am I interpretting the rule correctly?

I felt like an alien actually judging balls/strikes by where it passed the plate rather than where it landed on the ground. Hopefully they are just using the spot where it hits the ground to verify what they saw over the plate (or not over the plate as the case may be!).

I'm brand new to Umping Softball, and this was the 1st thing that stood out to me.


While we are on this subject, can you recommend any tuts on an ASA strike zone? CDRom, DVD, Books, etc?

Thanks.

I would hope so. I've seen the umps that only used the 'strike box' call many balls that didn't go over the plate Strikes and vice versa. When I pitched and I realized this on a day with a good cross wind, I worked that to my advantage. Pitched the ball a foot outside the plate and let the ball fall deep into the 'strike box'. Not a Strike, but being called one. The batter would get used to that then I would throw the pitch so it would cross the plate right over the corner and blow outside the 'strike box'. The batter standing deep in the batters box would see it as a strike and have it either jam him or have to reach way out for it, if they didn't realize the ump would call it a Ball.

I worked local rec leagues that not only
used the dreaded mat-- but allowed a
pitch that hit the plate to also be a strike !!
I had some women pitchers that could not
hit the mat or plate, and batters would
stand there--take 4 balls and trot on down
to first to the cheers of their team-mates
"a walk is as good as a hit" !!!
GROAN !!!
I felt like asking them why they bothered
to bring a bat with them !!!

The "fun" part comes when you get some batters who set up in the very front of the batters box, and then question why you're calling a strike on a pitch that is above their shoulder when it passes their body, but drops into the strike zone when it passes the plate. And conversely, the same goes for batters who set up deep in the back of the box, and can't understand why pitches that pass through the stirke zone, then drop below their front knee, are also called strikes.

I've had some batters who will draw a line in the dirt behind home plate and state that any ball that hits in front or behind the line can't possibly be a strike. These are players who have no idea what the stirke zone is. Most players don't. I wipe away the line and tell them that if they draw the line again, it will be interpreted as questioning the umpire's judgement of balls and strikes.

Instead of the matt, why not just have the umpire lay down on his back behind the plate. If he squeels with pain, it's a strike.


lol Sorry couldn't resist, GAWD I hope we don't start using those mats!!!!