ASA National Umpire School- Columbus, Ohio

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by BretMan

One thing that was new to me- at least from the aspect of having it taught in a clinic- was the "one fist" distance we were directed to set-up behind the catcher. But I had read a discussion about that being taught on this forum sometime in the past year.

I saw that mechanic about 3-4 years ago at a NCAA tournament with umpire evaluation. IMO, that is too close. If someone can handle that, fine, but I don't believe it should be a point of focus.

A little variation on how the "safe" signal was taught. Raise hands to chest, extend arms palm down- just like always- then relax them at sides. I recall the "old" method of first returning the hands at the chest, instead of dropping them. The instructor's comments led me to believe that was a fairly recent change.

I went back as far as the 2000 ASA umpire manual and there is no mention of returning the hands to the chest. To be honest, I don't ever remember returning the hands to my chest, but I have seen others use it.

But the thrust of the clinic does seem to be aimed at newer officials.

That is the biggest complaint I get from umpires when they return from a national school. It is a shame, but many areas no longer conduct a regular, full-scale mechanic school and push them toward national schools.

[BretMan]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

I went back as far as the 2000 ASA umpire manual and there is no mention of returning the hands to the chest. To be honest, I don't ever remember returning the hands to my chest, but I have seen others use it.

I don't recall ever seeing anything about that one way or the other in the umpire manual. What made me think there was some change was the instructor's comment that "we used to teach it that way, but we don't anymore".

It's entirely possible that I'm remembering this from a different sanctioning body's training from several years ago.

Thanks for the input, Mike!