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4th of July Clinic


Kevin_K
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@Richvee and I just attended the 4th of July clinic hosted by the COG/MAC.

The attention on better mechanics and individual evaluations are two of the major reasons I think this group's approach to instruction are top notch. All of the instructors have experience at the Division I level or higher, yet they have the patience and interest to work with umpires of all levels of experience. Without exception, each of the dozen instructors/evaluators took the time to answer any questions and provide suggestions for improvement.

Unlike many clinics, the design of this one allows for multiple evaluations of live game work as the clinic is held in coordination with a local tournament with games from 9u through 18u. Each attendee is guaranteed 2 full game evaluations for both their plate and base work. I received a lot of great feedback that will make me better and I know that @Richvee did as well. 

Of all the things covered in the clinic, the most valuable for me was a new approach to tracking pitches that makes so much sense and makes calling pitches much easier. Since becoming an umpire, I had been taught to track the ball from the pitchers hand to the catcher's glove, but I had never been taught how to use the natural positioning of my eyes to better track the ball.  

Most umpires face the pitcher and have their face and eyes looking directly at the pitcher as he is on the mound. Umpires set their face angle so that their eyes sit at their natural position while looking at the pitcher and then move their eyes as they track the ball into the strike zone. As the ball approaches the strike zone and we move our eyes down to track it into the glove, we take our eyes out of their natural position as they sit in their sockets. This downward action makes it more difficult to see the entire zone as the ball passes through it.

Rather than use this approach, we were introduced to the idea of finding a focal point about 10-15 feet in front of HP. Using this focal point, instructors suggested that umpires move the angle of our head so that our eyes were sitting naturally while looking at that particular point.  Their suggestion was a point at the edge of the dirt circle as shown below.Focal point.jpg

As the pitcher goes through his pre-delivery motions, we were instructed to lift our eyes rather than our head. Once the pitch is delivered, track the ball and as the ball approaches the zone, your eyes will be at their natural position allowing for a more relaxed view of the pitch. I could not believe how much of a difference this made. I used it this weekend and I will continue to use this method of tracking pitches.

It was a little uncomfortable at the start, but as I continued to use it I became more accustomed to it. I think of it as the Wolverine method as it reminds me of Hugh Jackman's stare in the X-Men movies

movie_claws__hugh_jackman_wolverine_tf_m

I would highly recommend this clinic for anyone. The group wants their umpires to get better and they make it a priority.

Have a happy and safe 4th!

 

 

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I have heard of that technique, I was taught to look slightly towards the B-slot (RH batter) and C slot (LH batter). Look at the pitcher with just eyes, and as the ball comes in your eyes go from uncomfortable to comfortable. Really helps tracking pitches for me, especially when they are throwing in the 80's to 90's range.

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5 hours ago, maineump said:

I have heard of that technique, I was taught to look slightly towards the B-slot (RH batter) and C slot (LH batter). Look at the pitcher with just eyes, and as the ball comes in your eyes go from uncomfortable to comfortable. Really helps tracking pitches for me, especially when they are throwing in the 80's to 90's range.

This technique takes that same 15 degree "off center" philosophy, then adds the  slightly different head/eyes placement, focused on that spot about 10-15 feet in front of the plate,then raise just the eyes to see F1, and track from there. The view is amazing. I have work to do on tracking, but the view this technique gives is second to none.

I'll echo Kevin on how great the instructors are, and how much they care and want to help each and every one of us get better. The 4 individual evaluations were great. One evaluation in particular yielded information on my tracking I never realized. I've always though I could be more consistent on the outside corner, even though I thought I was tracking well. It was brought to my attention, that I was actually deciding pitches before  they were caught. The evaluator said he could tell by the slight movement in my shoulders on the outside pitches when I would call a strike. My shoulders were actually starting up to make the strike call just a hair before, or at the same time as F2 would glove the ball, indicating I'm not watching that outside corner to the glove. With the new head/eye placement,and this information, I'm sure my outside corner calls will improve.

To have an instructor watching that intently and with that much expertise to realize what I was actually doing is priceless. It will fix a flaw in my plate work that I would have never realized otherwise.

I also picked up valuable insight to my base work. Like how I was coming set too late trying to get an extra step to 1B for calls there from "C". 

Here's a base tip I'll share that had never crossed my mind before. R2 only,  ball to the  right center gap, step and turn to watch the ball, but...take a glance at R2 passing F6 and F5 to catch any kind of obstruction, along with this, you may be able to get a read on R2 if he's going full speed and going home, in that case, you can drift to the right side because BR will be your only responsibility. Conversely, you may be able to  read that R2 is holding up and you can be ready to get into a better position for a possible play back into 3rd on him.

Great stuff all weekend.

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On 7/4/2016 at 7:33 AM, Kevin_K said:

Rather than use this approach, we were introduced to the idea of finding a focal point about 10-15 feet in front of HP. ...

Tried this last night in my 14U USSSA game. It really does make a difference. Good stuff! I was even tracking where foul balls were hit better because I was seeing the ball better.

Now to make this a habit...

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I also tried this last night in a 12U game.  Unfortunately it was really bad "wreck" ball but I did notice that when the ball was near the zone, I was able to track better.  Problem is, pitching wasn't near the zone all that much.

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