CH3 LEARNING TO DEAL WITH FLINCHING

LEARNING TO DEAL WITH FLINCHING

Flinching is usually an erratic problem. It can irritate the umpire far more than it affect his umpiring. It's doubtful that flinching will make you miss pitches, but the umpire also is concerned and rightly so with his image, if noticed by the fans or players.

Remedies include forcing yourself to wait as long as you can before getting into the just before the pitch stance. This shortens the time of stressful concentration. Also rest your eyes for a fraction of a second shortly before the pitch. Be sure to give yourself time to adjust for the upcoming pitch. It's a matter of timing, flinching usually does not stay with you for long.

Perhaps one reason for flinching is subconscious or even a conscious lack of confidence in the catcher.