need some help

[MT_Blue]

Hey all,

Feels like a long time no see....stupid school.....but just thought I would throw this out there so here we go.

I was approached recently about giving a 'clinic' to new officials this upcoming may before baseball season stars (which sadly enough is 4 days after I get home from school) but in my attempts at putting together an outline I come up short....so the question is, has anyone ever put on a clinic or for that matter a study club-ish meeting for new officials? Regardless of yes or no does anyone have advice on what specifically to hit in terms of mechanics, rules, pre/post game?

Any advice would be great,

Hopefully ill be able to check this more often now,

You stay classy umpire-empire

Ken

[jjb]

How much time do you have for this clinic? Is it classroom, field training, or a combination?

[1dumbquestion]

what level of ball? big difference between teaching dads how to call 10U LL and having news guys stepping on a big diamond for the first time. 1

[MT_Blue]

The age range is 10u to babe ruth (sorry can't think of the age range off the top of my head), I have until the first weekend in may to put it together,I'm thinking of three sessions first being introduction to mechanics, second being more mechanics and rules, and the third kind of a situations test of sorts. Each session I'm hoping will last an hour and a half or so and I'm hoping to run one if not two a week (with two 'classes' pertaining to one 'session' listed above).

Sorry this wasn't in the original post

Ken

[jjb]

OK, it’s Babe Ruth, so you’ll be dealing mostly with OBR. Couple observations:

1. Don’t assume. By that, I mean, don’t assume your rookies understand things like Fair/Foul and IFF. I’d give your rules classes the most time you have. Grab the book, A Power Point program, and put it together. You won’t need stuff like equipment, and uniform rules, but I’d definitely teach fair/foul/strike/ball definitions. Make sure you spend time on obstruction and interference: these players are always banging into each other, and coaches haven’t a clue as to the rules.

2. You can teach Game Management in the classroom, and I’d suggest you do it there: the Field is no place for lectures: there are too many distractions. It’s here that you’ll touch on Admin issues: scheduling, payment, uniforms, etc.

3. The field is where you’ll teach mechanics. I’ve found that Stations work best, to keep the rookies moving and working: standing around is a waste of time for everyone. If you can find a scrimmage, it's a great time to get real-time instruction. Get the rookies on the sideline involved in the teaching: let them tell you how they would have handled a certain play.

4. I’d test only to give me an idea of placement of umpires at a certain level. If you already know who will work U10, and who will work U14, the time will probably be better used elsewhere. JMHO.

[grayhawk]

Ken, I put on a mechanics clinic for our Little League a few weeks ago and can share what I learned and how we did things. Sounds like you have a wider range on levels than we did, but much of it is the same. Following is a basic outline of our agenda:

1. Sign in

2. Introduction - why we are here, what do we plan to accomplish

3. The slot position and the "basic 6" calls. Ball, Strike, Safe, Out, Time, Foul.

4. Angle/Distance in postion A. Ball hit to F4, F6, F5. Pressure.

5. Plate mechanics. The slot, head height, tracking. LH and RH batters. Making calls. (4-5 students & 1 instructor per station)

6. The pivot. Read step, see the touch, pick up the ball, take BR to 2nd or back to first.

7. Positions B & C. The working area. Double plays, pick-offs, steals.

8. Plate mechanics. Passed balls, pop ups to the catcher. Clearning the catcher. Tag ups. 1st and 3rd base lines extended.

We didn't have time, but other drills could be:

- 1st to 3rd mechanic. Ball hit to outfield, ball hit down RH line, ball hit down LF line.

- Timing plays. Point of plate. "Run scores!" or "No run!"

- Overthrows at first.

- Go, stop, call it. This is a focus drill.

- Rundowns

We also went over some other stuff - Pre-game with partner, plate meeting, dealing wtih coaches, getting help. Our clinic was 6 hours and we had 27 people there with 6 instructors. Let me know if you have any questions.

[mstaylor]

When I run clinics you need to do rules inside so you can have visual aids.

When you go outside for mechanics, divide into groups. As a whole do warmups, stretching and call it drills. Use it to teach timing and gear down skills. When you go to stations have a cage group, a plate mechanics group and a field mechanics group.

Cage

Instructors watch for tracking with eyes, working the slot, proper head height and timing.

Plate

A. Pregame

B. Taking mask off and putting it back on

C. How to use indicator without looking

D. Clearing the catcher

E. Moving up the line with no runners

F. Moving to the working area and outfield coverages

Bases

A. A proper pivot and it's purpose

B. When to go out on a trouble ball

C. B and C positions

D. Outfield coverages

Hopefully you will have time to go through all the groups again.

Cage

Fine tune mechanics

Plate and Bases

Combine two groups to work together but staying at their stations. Work on practicing what was taught in the morning so they see what it looks like together. If there is time add rundowns and other unusual situations. When you rotate send the base group to the cage, cage to the plate and plate to bases.