ofhs93

Mask type could also be a contributor...not sure what you are sporting in that pic....I'm typically wearing a +Pos ZRO-G....maybe my mounting location is a bit lower or closer to the CP than it would be on your mask.

Stk004 has a point as well...I tend to try to really get up in the slot with my feet but do my best not to be leaning at all...I keep all of the workload on my legs and try to isolate my back from as much load bearing as possible....I need my back to hold out for 100 plates a year....leaning forward would likely not allow that to happen.

Not sure how you are wearing the CP or how you have the TG mounted....but mine bottoms out as long as my mechanics are correct....and I'm not a small guy....6'1" 240...maybe body type is at play?

I can easily see a situation where a pulled in, charging F6 could have issues with me if I'm in C. Bounding ball hit right at you....you could open the gate and he could be barreling down right on you. Moving closer to the cutout should avoid that potential issue...and still has you close enough so that you can get to a good position to make confident calls from the working area.

I have to disagree....If you are wearing your CP as high as you *should* be and you have the TG mounted in the proper place, then a 4" should not hit your throat....and if you aren't wearing that CP hi and tight then not only are you creating more of an opening for your throat to get smashed but you are also likely exposing your clavicles. My 4" has saved my bacon more than once....it bottoms out near the top of my CP when a ball bounces up and trys to get under the mask. The key is that we need to be disciplined and do what we are supposed to do...keep our eyes down and on the ball...even if it's in the dirt. If we try to look up or away from the ball in the dirt that's when we get hit under the chin/in the throat. I agree that the 6" could feel cumbersome and has a tendency to catch on your CP or shirt from time to time...which is why I prefer the 4".

NI!

No money to be made from requiring protective equipment....apparel however......LOTS of money to be made from requiring those things $$$$$.....

I'll be honest with you...from my personal perspective and from a "work" standpoint, I fully believe that 7th/8th grade games should pay the same rate as varsity games. We are often times working a lot harder on those games with the varying level of skill and abilities than we have to on a varsity game. It goes back to pay....$40 isn't *remotely* close to enough to have a guy behind the plate working a 60/90 game solo....I'm not at ALL surprised there is a massive shortage with those rates. I just feel that we are compromising the integrity of the game by trying to hide the real problem here. The only way it will be resolved is if these school districts come to the reality that they are going to have to increase their rates if they care about the integrity of their games. If our pay locally was $40 for a Jr High game I wouldn't be doing them either. With the initial outlay of money required to get into this gig, those setting the pay rates need to realize that the real world dictates you will NOT have a labor pool for the compensation that they are currently offering. I would also add in though that we should not be selling this avocation to college kids as 6 weeks of work....there is no reason they should not be taking this up as the ultimate summer job for a college student. If you can work 1 game a night and 3-4 on weekends you could take home more than the average summer student job could ever provide....at least in my area.

Interesting....is it me or do the pictures on the website seem to show that fabric appears to have a heathering of some kind to it that makes them look more like poly wool than the solid charcoal coloring of the Smitty Poly?

The free market dictates that supply and demand would fix this issue if the market is allowed to work. It sounds like part of the problem may be that the pay rate is not high enough. Offer more money and you will find more labor supply...this is what a free market/capitalist society is based on. I honestly think that trying to recruit people to work behind the mound is setting them ultimately up for failure....plate work is the basis for all umpiring. If they don't get plate work repetitions right out of the gate to determine if this is something that they want to pursue, then isn't everyone's time being wasted in the big picture?? I'm not trying to be overly critical I just think that the idea here is trying to apply a band-aid to a gaping wound....that wound will only ultimately be solved by letting the free market work. Just my 2 cents....which doesn't buy anything anymore lol.

From what I have been able to gather, I believe that is the proper fitting for this bump cap insert.

VERY intrigued! I see that they can be purchased from Home Depot...there are 2 different models....I'm going to get 1 of each and report back.

It's surprising with ALL of the mechanics manuals and directions and various mechanics versions out in the ether that none of them seem to address this very common situation...As stated...I *do* get a little deeper...I would say 2-3 steps behind my normal start position....and pinch to the center a cpl steps....that keeps me out of the immediate way of F6 if the ball were to be hit directly at me and I open the gate...I would say it puts me maybe 6-8 feet forward of F6 and to his left, assuming he has his feet right at the front of the dirt. The partner last night was suggesting me to go WAY deep though....as in behind the baseline....THAT absolutely didn't make sense to me and I instantly knew it was putting me out of position for any number of situations that could have occurred. On the 3-4 times I felt like I had to setup there, after he spoke to me halfway through the game, my skin was crawling lol.

Ok...I'm glad to see all of this....the partner in question has more experience than I do and I thought maybe I had missed something along the line that I wasn't aware of....It didn't make sense at the time, but I wasn't going to question the more experienced guy. I'll go back to exactly how I have always done it as that appears to be the correct approach. Lesson learned....just because someone has been doing it longer doesn't mean they have been doing it right.

Ok...Infield in to cut a run down at the plate....we are starting in C. I have always in the past pinched in closer to the center of the mound and moved a cpl steps deeper than normal so that I can be sure to not impede F6 or F5 cutting across on a ground ball. I had a partner last night saying that I need to get deeper and behind the middle infielders in the dirt area so that if a ball hits me we can keep it live. Now I'm not an Olympic athlete but I can also move fairly well I think. I tried getting as deep as he suggested and found myself feeling very much out of position to make any quick call and and also felt like I was fighting with R2 to not be impeding his lead or movements....and I would certainly be in NO position to confidently call a pickoff at 3B if that were to happen. Can people chime in on this?

TRUTH!!! Lol

At least your GETTING your game in...we had 5" of snow here in NEPAm today! GRUMBLE!!!! Supposed to be 55 and sunny on Sunday for the next game...we'll see. As for the Poly Spandex....they're the only thing I wear now Cold or warm.

+1!

Would *love* to see data comparisons of the option that Wolf just put up compared to the Concushion wrap around device.

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THIS! This is the exact reason I keep my CP in my gear bag....F3 shins on the bottom and the Schutt sort of wrapped around the the shins...top of the CP at the knee cap end of the shins. That leaves a perfect amount of space at the other end of the bag for me to put my bagged plate shoes. This setup keeps the CP curved in the same exact manner as it is when being worn....perhaps slightly *more* curved....which is just fine as it helps keep things properly snug once put on.

THIS!!!!! Lol....and for the record...it's the same setup I will be using this year The +pos ZRO-G Mask will make an appearance from time to time as well. I *did* replace the stock Schutt harness with an F3 one on Tuesday though and it made a tremendous difference...much like it did for the backup Champion P200.

When the season really gets going I don't think there will be a lack of guys doing 5-6 games a week.....or even in a weekend when things warm up sufficiently locally.

Ok...so here's the real question...how much lighter does it honestly feel from your STOCK FM4000 setup (BEFORE you put TWs in the 4k) I have been tempted to pick up a set of the Mag pads for a stock 4k setup....the thought being that perhaps the Mag lower pad provides more safety than the stock 4k LUC or perhaps even the TWs (I could see that built in ABS plate making a tremendous difference by spreading out the impact force a lot.)

For $25 more per pair they better have *some* kind of advantage over the Smitty's