Training junior umpires

[Tksjewelry]

What advice would you give junior umpires (13-15) before their first games?

Since I broke my foot, I've been taking some of the junior umpires out for their first games. I stand on the sideline and watch. I'm there for rules questions and to advise in between innings. I try to convey as much as I can but what advice would y'all give? I know I'm leaving important things out.

(reading this site is always on my "you should definitely do" list to them)

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[udbrky]

Hammer home position 

[ricka56]

I'd stress timing. Don't start to make a call until you know what (think) you saw. 

[stevis]

Timing's good. 

But I'd say make sure they're confident, and if they're not, have them fake it till they make it.   Kids that age, it's weird to be in charge of adults.  I always make sure mine know we have their backs,  so they should go out there and be large and in charge.

[Stk004]

Not to beat the dead horse but I'd say sell your calls, being a young umpire myself. I always make sure to be loud and big with my calls to sell them, and I rarely get a coach out to argue. Sure they might whine in their dugout but they know I'm confident and I'm not changing my call. 

[BCBrad]

Plate: track the ball into the glove, mechanics for fair/foul, foul tips and check swings

Bases: positioning, constructive hustling, keep your eye on the ball

Both: timing, make your call with certainty 

Personally, don't like the term "sell the call." I tell junior umpires to "make your call with certainty." The closer the play, the more certain you are going to convey it in your call. 

[scrounge]

I train about the same age for our local rec league as well, and I'd recommend simply sticking with a few important basics. Can't overwhelm them with too many points and, frankly, they don't need much of it.

Base:  not getting too close, timing, taking your time, waiting till the play is over, thinking about the play before making the call, basic mechanics (as in, being still at the time of call, how to call safe vs. out, timing). Finally, timing (there's a reason it's on this list 5 times!).

Plate:  basic slot position - see that outside corner and stay out of the danger zone, slow timing, track with eyes vs head movement, timing, watch that ball all the way to the catcher's glove (doing some soft toss from 10 ft away does wonders to watch their eyes and head movement and teach them), basic game management - being respectful but not intimidated by adults, taking care of their younger base umpires (a MASSIVE pet peeve of mine), limiting warmup time and time between innings, etc. Basic plays at the plate - essentially, watch third base for all runners and 3BLX or at least point of plate. Keep your eye on the ball in case base guy/gal spaces out.

And wrap it up by telling both that if they learned nothing else, go slow. Nothing's happening till they say something, so no hurry. I wouldn't worry about getting too in depth on the 80% of the rules that come into play 20% of the time. If they just show slow timing, eye on the ball, basically in the right place at the right time, and have confidence, they'll be in the top 20% of youth umpires on that alone.

[stevis]

Yeah, let me also double down on what scrounge says about the slot.   I see kids wanting to drift into the kill zone all the time.  I think intuition is that it's safer behind the catcher, but of course we all know better.

[noumpere]

9 hours ago, Tksjewelry said:

What advice would you give junior umpires (13-15) before their first games?

Since I broke my foot, I've been taking some of the junior umpires out for their first games. I stand on the sideline and watch. I'm there for rules questions and to advise in between innings. I try to convey as much as I can but what advice would y'all give? I know I'm leaving important things out.

(reading this site is always on my "you should definitely do" list to them)

Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

Lots of advice here on what to tell the kids when they mess up.  I'd be more positive.

[urout17]

13-15 is an excitable age.  I would stress timing, positioning and slowing down their calls.  Never give kids too much to remember, they have enough on their mind already.  I'm not sure if you're a parent but remember, no kid likes to be lectured.  My two cents.

[maven]

2 hours ago, noumpere said:

Lots of advice here on what to tell the kids when they mess up.  I'd be more positive.

This.

Stress their interactions with the younger players, that umpiring is part of the instructional experience for the kids, and that they're collaborating with the coaches and parents for the sake of transmitting the game.

That focus can help keep the inevitable confrontations and mistakes in perspective.

Also: make sure the board adequately supports your umpires. Bad coaches stick around till their kid grows up, but a good umpire can be squashed in a single game.

[Tksjewelry]

Thanks guys, it's appreciated. I'm going to attempt to organize a training booklet, especially for those juniors that missed the training meetings. I think that might be better than overwhelming them with information.

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[HuskerUmp22]

I started when I was 16. I remember being very intimidated by most coaches haha. But I think I would tell them that you shouldn't try to make up for a call if you make a mistake. These kids are learning and will make mistakes but if they can learn to be confident and stick with their calls that would be huge. I struggled with that when I was around that age. 

I agree with what was said above about good timing and seeing the play happen before you make the call. Huge. 

Also I will say be careful with giving them too many games to work. (may be unpopular) but it's easy to get burned out and the biggest thing is we want these kids to continue umpiring and like it. If we give them too many games to work, they may get burned out. I did way too many games when I was younger, and yes I am still umpiring and still love it, but I could have easily gave it up. 

[Tksjewelry]

@HuskerUmp22 most of the juniors also play so they can't take too many. Practice, games, and just being a kid come before umpiring.

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[Kevin_K]

One of the things I noticed most with new umpires is their poor mechanics on making out and safe calls. Too many are timid in their approach as though they are almost embarrassed to be making a call.

[midtnump]

@Tksjewelry   We have brought on several new young umps this year, but 17-18 is the minimum age requirement. Myself and one other was in charge of some training for them. I googled 2 man umpire mechanics and found some great free info that I copied and gave to the newbs. We also had a saturday training before the season started and went over all the mechanics, positioning, timing, correct angles, and pretty much everything else mentioned here. 

I was able to talk the league into paying for three on the field for some of the first games of the season. We put two new ones on the bases with a vet ump on the plate. At this point in the season we are back to two men crews but we never send two new ones on the field, always have a vet with them. Your point about being on the side is good too. We float a few extra umps between fields to do exactly what you are doing. 

If you have haven't done any mini umpire training, if you have a break anywhere in your schedule, I would highly recommend doing that. Our new ones seemed to really bennefit from that. Keep up the good work! 

[Tksjewelry]

@Tksjewelry   We have brought on several new young umps this year, but 17-18 is the minimum age requirement. Myself and one other was in charge of some training for them. I googled 2 man umpire mechanics and found some great free info that I copied and gave to the newbs. We also had a saturday training before the season started and went over all the mechanics, positioning, timing, correct angles, and pretty much everything else mentioned here. 

I was able to talk the league into paying for three on the field for some of the first games of the season. We put two new ones on the bases with a vet ump on the plate. At this point in the season we are back to two men crews but we never send two new ones on the field, always have a vet with them. Your point about being on the side is good too. We float a few extra umps between fields to do exactly what you are doing. 

If you have haven't done any mini umpire training, if you have a break anywhere in your schedule, I would highly recommend doing that. Our new ones seemed to really bennefit from that. Keep up the good work! 

We have classes most of the late winter but some missed the classes. Those are the ones I'm out with.

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