JSam21

They have it outlined as R3 only less than 2 outs. PU has "all fly ball tag up responsibilities on R3". That is a quote from the 2024 CCA Manual. Here is another quote from the next paragraph. "The rationale behind this is simply that third base umpires are too concerned with lining up the tag of R3 and not taking the adequate amount of time to pause, read, and react and often rushing through or ignoring their initial responsibility which is catch no catch in their coverage area." With this mechanics change, we are either going out or staying put on the line through the completion of the catch. U1 would immediately come inside and take the BR to 2nd.

I think that is a really good look at it.

I'm talking about U3 being on the wing.

I think Michael Jordan said it best...

The most important thing is fair/foul, the next most important thing is catch/no catch. Being in a position of credibility for those is more important than getting the optimal look at the re-touch. This is also why they have given this to the PU in the 3-umpire system with a ball into U3's coverage area.

The NCAA isn't making any money off of a regular season game...

Just don't go out from inside, especially in the two umpire system. You most likely aren't going to get any better look at the play and you've taken yourself out of anything else that could happen, leaving one person to cover 4 bases and multiple runners. I am a much bigger proponent of working to create an angle and keep yourself in the play. Every time I've seen someone go out from the inside in the 3 umpire system, it has been on a no doubt moonshot that didn't need someone out on it and they have all been in a camp setting. I would ask "Why did you go out on that ball from the inside?" The answer was always, "Well we need to go out on balls challenging the wall, right?" My response, "Brother, that was challenging the county line, never mind the wall."

There is absolutely nothing wrong with having verbal communication with your partners, especially those that you haven't worked a lot with. I know it puts my mind at ease when I hear my partner behind me telling me what they are doing. It allows me to be proactive to check something off of my mental list and move to my next area of responsibility.

Isn't that what he is trying to do?

The reason is, the pitcher doesn't have to do a rocker step to deliver from the wind up. They can just step straight to the plate. So if a pitcher steps forward for their rocker step... then steps forward in their delivery and only one step is allowed by rule... there is your problem. So by only allowing one forward step it allows us, and the batter, to determine when the pitch should be delivered.

Correct. Think of it as splitting the difference between the pitcher and the plate.

This is how I work first base, so take it for what it is worth. 6'-8' feet back from the base, right foot on the line squared up to the base (not the pitcher and not the plate). Being squared to the base limits our available surface area to the pitcher should we get that wild throw. When a throw comes over, don't move for the play. The only time we should be moving is for the back pick from the catcher. We aren't going to have enough time to get into the spot that you are trying to get to by moving, and you end up having a bouncy bad look at the play. 9/10 times the tag is going to be at the edge of the base on the hand coming back in, you will have a plenty good look at that from your starting position. Excessive moving is a product of working the two umpire system and moving into the three umpire system. Working two umpires, you always have to be moving and doing it in a hurry. In the three umpire system, there are a lot of times where you don't have to do anything or you have a lot more time to make the decision on what movements to make. How to break it? Say to yourself, "Pick off throw, don't move", before every, single, pitch. Make it part of your pre-pitch talk track that you have with yourself. It will take you a couple of hundred games to get to where you can feel like you are on auto-pilot working the three umpire system.

I would start with the IHSA site... https://www.ihsa.org/Sports-Activities/Baseball

Would that runner who passed another runner, be advancing or retreating in a legal manner?

A runner continuing to advance or retreat after being retired, in and of itself, is not considered an attempt to confuse the defense.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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".

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.

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.

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.

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.

Not for me. My read steps take me that direction anyway when I read a bad throw.