Depending upon the LH and his set-up, will determine what part or parts of the body, you focus on. If he's upright and no bend, in his right knee you can watch his lean, to see which direction his body is moving.

 

If he has a slight knee bend, than most likely his body will move back toward 2nd base slightly, if he's actually going home and if he's going to 1st, the less rocking backwards.

 

My advice, watch his warm-ups, time him with a stopwatch and go on first movement.

Depending upon the LH and his set-up, will determine what part or parts of the body, you focus on. If he's upright and no bend, in his right knee you can watch his lean, to see which direction his body is moving.

 

If he has a slight knee bend, than most likely his body will move back toward 2nd base slightly, if he's actually going home and if he's going to 1st, the less rocking backwards.

 

My advice, watch his warm-ups, time him with a stopwatch and go on first movement.

 

All that work to guess what pitch to go on? :lol::lol:

Just wondering if you are an umpire. Maybe they aren`t having trouble but coaches and fans are yelling "BALK" trying to eventually get a call. In most high school games the two man umpire system is used. If this is the case it is very hard to pick up a balk without guessing. If a player is very close to balking he should be okay. Ina three umpire system the balk will almost always get detected.

 

What region are you from and maybe I can put you in touch with someone that can help.

 

Not being critical of the umpiring. The two man system is no doubt the reason the call can not be made. It is tough on base runners as you teach them that a pitcher can not come to first after breaking the plane but an umpire is not able to see it from their position.

Its very hard to determine this. So I always usually went on the first move whether or not they were going to the plate or not.

The real problem shouldn't be with a left handed pitcher "breaking the plane" of the rubber, then throwing over to 1st base. Although illegal, that isn't the best move. Most left handed pitchers are taught to raise their leg straight up anyway. Or at least that's what they should be doing.

GRC's two lefty's last year were darn good at it... It's real tough.. Just guess and go on first movement like people have already said.:lol:

45° degrees and run.

45 degrees and run like he**

You can't steal on a good experienced lefty till his right leg drops. My son picked off 12 runners last year, and none of his body movements(shoulders) change untill his right leg begins to fall. The pause of the right leg at the top is the key. If the runner breaks to quick, before the leg begins to fall the pitcher can get him. A real smart pitcher who has already comitted to home on a pitch but sees the runner breaking can sometimes throw a pitchout if the count is in his favor. Just about every balk a lefty does is to commit to home, then drop the leg towards home while seeing the runner break and try to turn and throw to first.

I have noticed that many umpires have trouble seeing when a left hander is balking on his move to 1st base. Can any of you guys give me some tips on the base runner reading that move.

The best way is to watch his moves to first and try to figure out where he's going. Whats he doing different? If your the first baserunner then it's a little tougher. This sounds goofy but it worked for me sometimes, not all the time.

If I was on base and haven't seen a move yet, I would take a lead so big he would have to throw over there, just to see what he did different. I did look stupid once going back to first when he threw home. Without seeing any move it's hard unless you guess or wait till the leg drops. A pitcher with who comes set with a wide stance is the easiest to steal on. He'll have to shift his weight back to raise his leg then step towards you. A pitcher who comes set with a narrow stance and has his weight already on his left leg before raising his right leg just has to raise it with no weight shift is harder to predict. Pay no attention to the way he's looking, unless he's given that away already.

IMO

My advice, watch his warm-ups, time him with a stopwatch and go on first movement.

 

Going on first movement is a very effective way to steal on a lefty - once or (if you're lucky) twice - before he'll adjust his move. A lefty's move is built entirely on deception rather than speed and is a slow process to unfold. We have been very successful in having our kids take a large "steal" lead (not so large as to look suspicious, only large enough to make it look like they obviously intend to steal) and hope the pitcher throws over. The runner takes off on first movement - no "reading" the pitcher at all. As a former lefty pitcher, believe me, you get all excited thinking you have picked off yet another guy when you see that break and will continue with the regular slow movement to first - not realizing the runner doesn't intend to come back. By the time the pitcher completes his move, makes his throw to first, the 1Bman receives the ball and shoots to 2B (often times throwing over the runner's head), the SS catches the ball and tries to put down the tag - the runner is safe 9 times out of 10. It's very effective. If the pitcher would happen to not throw over to first, the runner can usually walk to second. Like I said, it may only be effective once before the pitcher realizes what's going on, but we often do this twice before they adjust.

Going on first movement is a very effective way to steal on a lefty - once or (if you're lucky) twice - before he'll adjust his move. A lefty's move is built entirely on deception rather than speed and is a slow process to unfold. We have been very successful in having our kids take a large "steal" lead (not so large as to look suspicious, only large enough to make it look like they obviously intend to steal) and hope the pitcher throws over. The runner takes off on first movement - no "reading" the pitcher at all. As a former lefty pitcher, believe me, you get all excited thinking you have picked off yet another guy when you see that break and will continue with the regular slow movement to first - not realizing the runner doesn't intend to come back. By the time the pitcher completes his move, makes his throw to first, the 1Bman receives the ball and shoots to 2B (often times throwing over the runner's head), the SS catches the ball and tries to put down the tag - the runner is safe 9 times out of 10. It's very effective. If the pitcher would happen to not throw over to first, the runner can usually walk to second. Like I said, it may only be effective once before the pitcher realizes what's going on, but we often do this twice before they adjust.

Agreed and most Coaches will suggest a time adjustment or look adjustment, combined with a courtesy toss, to keep the runner honest.

 

Time his release, combined with the catcher pop time and look for consistent patterns, in his delivery and then for consistency, if he throws to 1st. Most have some subtle giveaway, on each....finding that, is not always easy.