Umpire stance

[Tango]

Not a rule but thought this would be the correct place to ask. I have noticed that when a LH batter comes to bat the umpire switches to the other side of the catcher in our area. They may have always done this but I'm a LH hitter and do not remember them switching sides when I batted. It seems to change the strike zone to me and just wondering if this is something new or always been done.

 

[Agcy]

Best technique, from what I have been taught, is to position yourself in one of two locations:
1 - Directly over the center of the plate (over the catchers head) to see both side equally
2 - On the inside corner of the plate with your eyes at the top of the zone.

I subscribe to #2 (unless the hitters hands are in my line of sight). With that in mind, I change positions from LH side of the plate for RH batters to RH side of the plat for LH batters. I think that most umpires follow that thinking. I don't think it changes the zone. You are locked in for inside pitches, to see the river, or to see HBP. You are giving the same perspective for both RH and LH batters.

 

[marriard]

Not a rule but thought this would be the correct place to ask. I have noticed that when a LH batter comes to bat the umpire switches to the other side of the catcher in our area. They may have always done this but I'm a LH hitter and do not remember them switching sides when I batted. It seems to change the strike zone to me and just wondering if this is something new or always been done.

Yes, if you umpire from the slot (which is required in most softball codes), that is the correct positioning.

There are some other umpire stances out there that have been used over the years; but this is the one that is almost exclusively taught and accepted these days. There are some older umpires (especially from baseball) that may prefer their older taught stance, but it is getting rarer. We are required to umpire in the slot locally.

 

[Tango]

Yes, if you umpire from the slot (which is required in most softball codes), that is the correct positioning.

There are some other umpire stances out there that have been used over the years; but this is the one that is almost exclusively taught and accepted these days. There are some older umpires (especially from baseball) that may prefer their older taught stance, but it is getting rarer. We are required to umpire in the slot locally.

Best technique, from what I have been taught, is to position yourself in one of two locations:
1 - Directly over the center of the plate (over the catchers head) to see both side equally
2 - On the inside corner of the plate with your eyes at the top of the zone.

I subscribe to #2 (unless the hitters hands are in my line of sight). With that in mind, I change positions from LH side of the plate for RH batters to RH side of the plat for LH batters. I think that most umpires follow that thinking. I don't think it changes the zone. You are locked in for inside pitches, to see the river, or to see HBP. You are giving the same perspective for both RH and LH batters.

Maybe just the games I've been at but it seems less likely to get a strike called on an low outside pitch. What got me watching it- kid pitching and getting a low inside strike called on RH all day. Then in the championship game the umpire switched sides for some reason. It was 100 degrees this summer and he had called probably as least 10 games. He didn't call a single inside pitch to a RH a strike the last game (same pitcher), Then I started looking at positioning more and I don't think LH hitters get the low outside pitch called for a strike as much as a RH hitter. I was a leadoff hitter and LH that hardly ever got a low outside pitch called a strike and I loved the ball outside. Just thinking more than anything and could be way off.

 

[The Man In Blue]

Good observation @Tango !

If you work (or ever have worked) in any industrial field, you are familiar with "line of fire" safety principals. Umpires today are taught to "work the slot" for their personal safety. "Working the slot" means you are positioning yourself as much "behind" the batter as you can while using the space between the batter and the catcher to see. This is the least likely area for a pitch or a foul ball to get you.

I don't know where this graphic originated, but it is the one I always go to:

This is the only reason an umpire should "switch sides" with a left-handed hitter. The slot (or safety zone) moves, so you move with it.

I won't say it never happens, but I have yet to see an umpire get concussed working the slot. Every time I have seen an umpire go down (MLB to Sunday wooden bat league to 10u softball) it is because he was set up straight over the catcher.

Yes, we see the ball differently when we switch to a left-handed batter and since the LHB is not as common, we don't get as much practice from this view. The reality is we see the pitch different for every batter. That batter that squeezes the inside takes away some of our view. That batter that sets up in the front of the box or slides all the way back changes our view.

We see the ball differently when your catcher starts jumping around or sets up poorly. This is where my personal crusade of correcting the use of "framing" in softball terminology comes in. Proper framing is how your catcher sets up and gives the umpire a good view of the ball. It is NOT moving the glove around. In fact, moving the glove around is possibly the worst framing you can use. I will always compliment a catcher who has great framing and allows me to do my job. (The last catcher I complimented for this will be going on to Auburn next year.)

The low outside pitch should always be the hardest call to make because it is the furthest from our eyes. A properly set umpire has their eyes at the top of the strike zone and inside of the plate.

Edit to add: Note I said that is where we have our eyes set (no different than having our feet set with one foot behind the catcher and one foot behind the batter) -- not that is where we are looking or fixed on. Just in case anybody misinterprets what I was trying to explain.

 

[Tango]

Good observation @Tango !

If you work (or ever have worked) in any industrial field, you are familiar with "line of fire" safety principals. Umpires today are taught to "work the slot" for their personal safety. "Working the slot" means you are positioning yourself as much "behind" the batter as you can while using the space between the batter and the catcher to see. This is the least likely area for a pitch or a foul ball to get you.

I don't know where this graphic originated, but it is the one I always go to:

This is the only reason an umpire should "switch sides" with a left-handed hitter. The slot (or safety zone) moves, so you move with it.

I won't say it never happens, but I have yet to see an umpire get concussed working the slot. Every time I have seen an umpire go down (MLB to Sunday wooden bat league to 10u softball) it is because he was set up straight over the catcher.

Yes, we see the ball differently when we switch to a left-handed batter and since the LHB is not as common, we don't get as much practice from this view. The reality is we see the pitch different for every batter. That batter that squeezes the inside takes away some of our view. That batter that sets up in the front of the box or slides all the way back changes our view.

We see the ball differently when your catcher starts jumping around or sets up poorly. This is where my personal crusade of correcting the use of "framing" in softball terminology comes in. Proper framing is how your catcher sets up and gives the umpire a good view of the ball. It is NOT moving the glove around. In fact, moving the glove around is possibly the worst framing you can use. I will always compliment a catcher who has great framing and allows me to do my job. (The last catcher I complimented for this will be going on to Auburn next year.)

The low outside pitch should always be the hardest call to make because it is the furthest from our eyes. A properly set umpire has their eyes at the top of the strike zone and inside of the plate.

Edit to add: Note I said that is where we have our eyes set (no different than having our feet set with one foot behind the catcher and one foot behind the batter) -- not that is where we are looking or fixed on. Just in case anybody misinterprets what I was trying to explain.

Great information and thank you. My power eye is my right eye which is the front eye for a LH hitter. Most RH hitters power eye is their right eye (back eye) and that's where the open stance came into play years ago. Are umpires instructed to use their power eye to see better? If it's your right eye and you move into the LH slot it is very hard to see the low and away pitch. Interesting to me.

 

[CoachJD]

I don't think it changes the zone.

It does, though I'm not sure why. Studies going back at least 15 years have shown that lefties and righties have two different zones.

Left-handed hitters really get screwed on low and away pitches.

I haven't done enough recent reading to see why that might be, but my guess is there's something about the way a ball from a RHP moves to hit that spot off the plate that is harder to pick up, and since RHP vs. LHB is much more common than LHP vs RHB, you'd see the effect work against lefties far more often than against righties. I don't know.

I also don't know if this is as much of an issue in softball, what with the ball being bigger and pitches coming from different angles.

Also, low and away is just hard as heck to hit for pretty much everybody, so that plays a part in it, too.

 

[marriard]

It does, though I'm not sure why. Studies going back at least 15 years have shown that lefties and righties have two different zones.

Left-handed hitters really get screwed on low and away pitches.

I haven't done enough recent reading to see why that might be, but my guess is there's something about the way a ball from a RHP moves to hit that spot off the plate that is harder to pick up, and since RHP vs. LHB is much more common than LHP vs RHB, you'd see the effect work against lefties far more often than against righties. I don't know.

I also don't know if this is as much of an issue in softball, what with the ball being bigger and pitches coming from different angles.

Also, low and away is just hard as heck to hit for pretty much everybody, so that plays a part in it, too.

Less (if not nothing) to do with the way the ball moves, it is just a very different angle of view and because lefties are rarer than righties, one that is not as familiar as the zone with a right hand batter. So many struggle. It is very difficult to have the same invisible zone from two very different angles.

There are a couple of things that also effect the zone:

For me- and this is important - most catchers are right handed. which means for left handed batters that the catchers glove is NOT in the way of me seeing the zone EVER. I know I call more low and away pitches as strikes against lefties because of this - I just generally have a better view of the low corner and the strike zone in general.

In contrast - many lefties are also slappers which means that I don't have a steady visual reference of knee height compared to strike zone. With a normal batter I am seeing their stance and part of the info I use is 'where is the batter standing compared to the plate, and where is their knee (help setting low strike). Part of my pre-pitch prep- where is the batter setup, where is the knee, etc.

For example, if a normal batter's front leg is way forward of the plate, I have a reference that a low pitch passing at their front knee is going to be a ball as it crosses the plate because physics. Opposite if they are back in the box - front knee height means the ball was in the strike zone. Note: This is not primary - obviously my visuals/eyes are the primary, but it all part of the puzzle of making a call.

So slappers take that info away. It is not primary strike/ball info, but it helps. It absolutely makes calling strikes and balls with slappers more difficult (especially if they are also stepping out of the box which I also need to see).

In the end - my training and evals says I am about the same for lefties and righties; but they do pose different issues.

 

[Agcy]

Good observation @Tango !

If you work (or ever have worked) in any industrial field, you are familiar with "line of fire" safety principals. Umpires today are taught to "work the slot" for their personal safety. "Working the slot" means you are positioning yourself as much "behind" the batter as you can while using the space between the batter and the catcher to see. This is the least likely area for a pitch or a foul ball to get you.

I don't know where this graphic originated, but it is the one I always go to:

This is the only reason an umpire should "switch sides" with a left-handed hitter. The slot (or safety zone) moves, so you move with it.

I won't say it never happens, but I have yet to see an umpire get concussed working the slot. Every time I have seen an umpire go down (MLB to Sunday wooden bat league to 10u softball) it is because he was set up straight over the catcher.

Yes, we see the ball differently when we switch to a left-handed batter and since the LHB is not as common, we don't get as much practice from this view. The reality is we see the pitch different for every batter. That batter that squeezes the inside takes away some of our view. That batter that sets up in the front of the box or slides all the way back changes our view.

We see the ball differently when your catcher starts jumping around or sets up poorly. This is where my personal crusade of correcting the use of "framing" in softball terminology comes in. Proper framing is how your catcher sets up and gives the umpire a good view of the ball. It is NOT moving the glove around. In fact, moving the glove around is possibly the worst framing you can use. I will always compliment a catcher who has great framing and allows me to do my job. (The last catcher I complimented for this will be going on to Auburn next year.)

The low outside pitch should always be the hardest call to make because it is the furthest from our eyes. A properly set umpire has their eyes at the top of the strike zone and inside of the plate.

Edit to add: Note I said that is where we have our eyes set (no different than having our feet set with one foot behind the catcher and one foot behind the batter) -- not that is where we are looking or fixed on. Just in case anybody misinterprets what I was trying to explain.

What do you do if the batter puts there hand in the slot (IE the blue circle)? I had one team that seemed ever batter would start with the hands there and it was impossible to pick up the ball at the pitchers release from that position.

 

[Greatdaytobeawildcat]

What do you do if the batter puts there hand in the slot (IE the blue circle)? I had one team that seemed ever batter would start with the hands there and it was impossible to pick up the ball at the pitchers release from that position.
View attachment 27474

The only good option here is to go up. Not ideal, but you have to see.