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JSam21 last won the day on March 8
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About JSam21
- Birthday 04/27/1981
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Location
St. Louis, MO
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Your Association Name
CBUA GPBA
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Occupation
Warehouse Admin
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Types/Levels of Baseball called
High School, Club, College
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Community Answers
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I would start with the IHSA site... https://www.ihsa.org/Sports-Activities/Baseball
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So "spot umpiring" is a term that is used to describe a method of taking plays were you go to one spot and stay there, regardless of what goes on in the play. We've all heard for plays at the plate we go 3rd base line extended. So people would go to 3rd base line extended and plant their feet and officiate the entire play from that spot, no matter how the play developed. If the key points of the action didn't occur where we were, we were just SOL. For play A you go to B. For play C you go to D. Etc... Does that make sense? What is being taught now is a more dynamic style of officiating, where we will take read steps and move with the play to get our eyes to the key points of the play. This is a direct result of replay coming into the game and various rule changes about collisions changing how the players take plays.
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And like I've said previously, this isn't a one sized fits all endeavor. Somethings work for some people, somethings don't. We have to be willing to try new things. The biggest thing that I've heard at camps/clinics is an instructor say, "My biggest fear is that someone knows something that I don't." The umpiring world at the college level has never been more competitive than it is right now. You have to do everything that you can in order to advance and then work harder to keep your spot. If you aren't willing to try new things, change things, and evolve with the game, you will be left behind. The other thing that more people need to realize is the days of "spot umpiring" are long gone. As with any mechanics, understand your physical limitations. This may not work for you because of that.
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The philosophy is to get the best look at the play you have, not sacrificing that look for a play that may or may not happen. 90* makes it so much more likely that F3 steps right at you. Going two steps fair allows you to officiate the space you need (the foot and base connection) so much more efficiently while allowing you the ability to adjust to bad throws to get your own pulled foot and swipe tags. Umpiring isn’t a one sized fits all endeavor. Some people like to take plays at 90*, some like to take them two steps off the line. The end goal is to get the calls right. As long as we are doing that, what’s the big deal?
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We NEVER want to be in front of the defender in A regardless of the technique we use. We should always be starting behind the defender in A. In fact, I've never heard of anyone teaching to be in front of a defender when we are starting in A.
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I mean it depends on the depth of F3. I added more detail to the previous post. If I need to get more depth to get to the distance that I want from my starting position, then yes. It is something that I've added to my internal pre-pitch talk track, especially working U1 in the 3 umpire system with R1 only. "Get depth" is the last thing I say to myself. When I am working U1 in the 3 umpire system, I am 6-8' from the base for the pick-off play... So I really need to get depth on ground balls in the infield. So anytime that I break that 15-18' "halo" around the base as my starting position, I always say "get depth".
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With no one on, I never want to get closer than 8-10' to the base for my starting position. We need to remember that there are two points that we are gauging our starting position off of, the base and F3. I don't want to be closer than 8-10' to either one of those points, especially the base as I don't want to lose perspective for fair/foul decisions on bounding balls. When we are taking a play at first base, for your everyday, run of the mill play, I'm going to be 15-18' from the base when taking that play. If it develops into a foot race or a tag play, then I will crash on the base.
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I appreciate the kind words. Remember, you are still wanting to keep your depth for the plays at first (15'-18'). What going just off the line really prevents is F3 stepping directly at you.
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It is what I have been taught at camps and it is what I teach to the local group here. Far too often, we have people to start WAY too deep in A. Seeing the tops of F3's shoes will allow us to get a good look at those low line drives that may or may not skip into the glove. I prefer to work tight to F3/F5 for that reason. I give them that 8'-10' halo around them to work, if they are that far off the line, I will be essentially even with them. It gives me a great look at the line drives and I don't have to avoid them when they go to field a fly ball towards the line.
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So we are starting 2-3 steps off the line, then we add read steps. We are reading F3's feet to tell us how to adjust. Shuffle to their left, move more into fair territory and possibly crash the bag a little in case a tag play develops. Shuffle to the right, swing more into fair territory, but keep depth, to get a look at the foot coming off towards you. Frankly, the most important thing here is to get your eyes to F3's feet as soon as you know the throw is coming your way. This is what gives us our reads and allows the plays to slow down for us. We really need to stop "tracking the ball" across the diamond. If the throw gets away, you are already moving toward the inside to cover 2nd. Don't get caught ball watching here and you will be fine getting inside on over throws.
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Not for me. My read steps take me that direction anyway when I read a bad throw.
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With inflation I am 100% a Quarter Store floozy. As for what I did, being consistent. Log what I eat. Get to the gym. Don't intake so many empty calories (i.e. booze). The biggest thing is, when it is time to enjoy yourself, do so without worrying about it. When it is time to work, work. No matter how much you work out, you will never outwork a fork.
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