Preseason prep/Seeing pitches

[humanbackstop19]

As the spring season approaches and games close in on a lot of us (some may already be working), I'm curious to opinions on how many live/cage pitches or live sessions are an adequate number to see as preparation before feeling dialed in and comfortable working a live game.  Personally, I try to see 300-400 pitches over the course of 3 to 5 sessions before I'm comfortable going out and calling a college level game, which is exclusively my spring schedule.  

[SH0102]

1 hour ago, humanbackstop19 said:

As the spring season approaches and games close in on a lot of us (some may already be working), I'm curious to opinions on how many live/cage pitches or live sessions are an adequate number to see as preparation before feeling dialed in and comfortable working a live game.  Personally, I try to see 300-400 pitches over the course of 3 to 5 sessions before I'm comfortable going out and calling a college level game, which is exclusively my spring schedule.  

I do not believe there is one answer; each person is going to be different.  Yesterday I was at D2 college indoor and about 30 mins in I felt it switch, all of a sudden I went from unsure on some close pitches to really seeing it .

I believe it’s a product of timing, so however many reps it takes to get your yips out and have good timing and tracking

[pl8ump1012]

It's too late for me for this year, but for future reference, where/how do I get to do this? I'm primarily a HS and travel umpire. Do I call local HS head coaches and ask to come to some practices? Something else? How common is that? I thought about doing that this year (my first year after many years away from the game), but figured it wasn't something that other blues really did.

[noumpere]

1 hour ago, pl8ump1012 said:

It's too late for me for this year, but for future reference, where/how do I get to do this? I'm primarily a HS and travel umpire. Do I call local HS head coaches and ask to come to some practices? Something else? How common is that? I thought about doing that this year (my first year after many years away from the game), but figured it wasn't something that other blues really did.

Ask your local association

[LRZ]

HS scrimmages?

[SH0102]

There is generally a different between scrimmages and cage work.

For cage work, you can just contact a local HS or even college and ask to just come in during live pitching practice.

As soon as you get into scrimmages and intersquads, those are generally assigned and you would be stepping on toes to snag those on your own.  Definitely check with association, or if there is a specific school you want to work , ask them who they get umpires from and contact that person/group