Lokator Pitching Academy

Umpire

There is never an umpire calling balls and strikes in the bullpen.  What you or your coach may see as a strike in practice, an umpire could call a ball in the game.  Depending on how you deal with calls you don't agree with, this variable could be a game-changer.  

It is important to get to know what kind of strike-zone the umpire has and use it to your advantage.  If they are giving you strike calls in the Chase Zones then live in them if you can command it.  If the Blues are not giving the you strike calls in Chase Zones then you need to adjust to their Zone and command sections of the Go Zones.

If you show negative body language towards a home plate umpire or argue with a call there is a good chance your strike-zone will shrink for remainder of the game.  Most umpires know when they miss a call although you will rarely hear one admit a mistake after the fact.  Umpires never reverse a strike or ball and rarely reverse any call so it most often hurts you to show everybody how bad you think the umpire is. 

Before the Lokator Bullpen statistics there was no competition invoved or documentation of how well you threw on the side.  Now with someone else keeping stats during your bullpen sessions that you may not agree with all the time, you can work on controlling body language and overcoming bad calls. Umpires are needed when competition is involved.  So by having someone record Lokator Bullpen stats, you can also mature towards umpires in practice.   

Umpires are also blamed for bad outings more often than they should be.  Very rarely does a pitcher come out of a bullpen session blaming someone else for what happened. You should learn to focus on your performance in the game and not the umpire, just like in bullpen sessions.  Document what you could have done better and pick bullpens out of the Lokator Bullpen App that apply.  Then practice it, check your scores, and make adjustments accordingly.

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