Balk Instructional Video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qqyJorai0qvNqnk.html

“It’s only a balk if the ump says it is.” No truer words gave ever been spoken.

I’ve Umpired now for years and so I’m always looking for good material. You’ve earned my subscription with this video alone.

As an umpire I have to thank you for how you approached the umps well done sir

This video is the best teaching aid I have found for not just showing, but also explaining why the pitcher balked. I made it mandatory that all the pitchers on my team watch this video. Thank you again for posting this.

I’ve called for years, and this as by far one of the best explanation videos I’ve watched.

the balk at 1:50 - the key to understand is that a jump-turn is NOT considered stepping off, because the pitcher was engaged to the rubber _when_ _the_ _motion_ _started_ and therefore he is still a pitcher and is governed by what pitchers may do (step and throw directly to a base for the purpose of making a play, or legally feint to 2B or 3B (feint to 3B only in some rulesets)). If a pitcher wants to become a fielder, he must clearly step off *first* to become a fielder, and then he can do (mostly) whatever he pleases.

Yes, please make a part 2.

MJH, great video, well done and you _know_ we always love your witty commentary

A quality instructional video for really any youth umpire and even lesser experienced high school level umpires. The biggest two items I like to focus on when I do training in our association are obstruction and the more common versions of interference, but balks are right after that. Well done and hope you continue to put together these videos.

`I think this is the best way to teach all these subtilities for people new with balk. Thanks and great work!

Telling young pitchers they have to finish the movement they've started sounds like a great way of introducing them to the rules of balk in baseball. Thanks for the video.

That was an absolutely great video, thank you for this! As an umpire I did miss some of them and its great to have clarification on each one

I like posts like this. It's all review, but it is very helpful, especially in the off season when we can lose our edge by not calling games.

I wish a lot more coaches were as understanding as the one with the pitcher who’s foot crossed the back of the rubber and then threw to first. When it’s only one umpire from behind the plate you are never gonna see that. I had to eject a coach for going nuts after I said I can’t see that from back there (behind the plate), and he just would not drop it. Also, youth teams like 11u and younger we will discuss at the plate meeting if they want a warning first and I will always tell both coaches, “at this age it has to be very obvious and basically trick the runner for me to call even a warning.” and 99% of the time they are just fine with it. As long as you have a great plate meeting, you can avoid pretty much everything that youth coaches get upset about.

All coaches should take the time to watch these videos, great explanations of rules.

It is always good to look at balks, or any other baseball situation for that matter. It helps to keep one's edge in the off season.

Good real world examples with good commentary, especially for younger leagues where you see a lot more stuff than with older ages. Younger leagues is when they (and we) are learning the most!

Getting ready for the 2021 season and this was a great reminder, especially since we didn't have a HS season here in Ohio last year!

Excellent video. In my umping days I found myself educating a lot for the younger kids. By time they are in high school though they should know what they are doing.

This was a great video with great breakdowns and explanations. Good job sir. Subscribed

Keep these coming. Thank you.

I really enjoyed your video. Great explanation and instruction. Just subscribed!

Excellent explanation MJH. Loved watching these, and "any other witty commentary" you applied. LOL

This was a good video. Talk about a million things to be watching for.

I am rather new to baseball. The sport isn't big in my country. But this rule is so hard for early adapters to see. It is really interesting. Thank you for making this video and learning me what balk means. Because I did not have a clue such thing even existed.

Great footage put together and great info.

great video and a great format.

Great Video! Excellent explainations! I've umpired over 20 years and noticed/seen every one of these moves! Called most of them as well! So correct, at the lower levels I'm not calling half of these, you'll be in a LONG GAME if you do.

I have to say that this was an extremely well made video on balks in all aspects, Thanks!!! There might've been an earlier balk then the one @ 1:52 but, you'd need to know a few factors from this specific game before determining whether or not he should or shouldn't have ever even made it to the jump step no throw balk!! Because @ 1:49 his glove arm clearly twitched or if you're speaking technically then just call it a start & stop, but either way it's still equal to balk!!! Watching it on the replay might make it much easier to see.

Excellent material for learning!!!

Once I graduated from coach pitch little league, I was in the middle of a pitch when the home plate umpire threw hos hands in the air and screamed a word I had never heard before. I thought I knew a lot about baseball, but clearly didn't. If we don't have rules, and umpires to enforce them, then we don't have baseball. So, thank you umpires for making baseball possible.

At 7:09 it looks like R1 is going to 3rd. He was clearly at 1st at what would be considered "time of the pitch" so he should only be awarded 2nd base as R3 is awarded home. PU correctly sends him back to 2nd base.

Thank you. I learned new stuff about bawks

I think this was a great video and extremely helpful all around, as I played from a youth high level to a high level before tearing my shoulder twice...needless to say as a closing pitcher I could not ever take a chance of a balk, but the higher I got the more random or umpired favoured calls became balks. For example the licking of fingers or actually touching your face whatsoever while on the mound is a balk, not just on the rubber. I find it extremely hard to watch some Major League players pitch as they will balk over and over, it’s frustrating and they’re never called which is not teaching the youth coming up. The biggest one I see is the pitcher in stretch, runner on first and the pitcher lifts their front foot but then sets it down again although they’ve committed to throwing to the plate already!

EXCELLENT video.... thanks.

This was an excellent instructional video.

Yes absolutely make a part 2

Great reference video as an ump, great explainations

Good training and refresher video!

The balk is one of my favorite little aspects of the game. I've only seen it in youth ball once and it was as a player. 3-0 count and I showed bunt. Pitcher made a complete motion and just decided to not throw the ball to me. At the time I had no idea what that meant. Could they fake a pitch like that? That's when I learned a balk with the bases empty was ruled a ball so I got a free trip to 1st base!

One of the last balks the umpire screwed up. He awarded the runner third base when he was steeling second during the balk. Thanks for referencing the balk video that had part in the making of it.

Very good examples of balls. I had the hardest time as an umpire calling balls on the jr high and high school level because the coaches were not educated on balks themselves. Of course, I was less strict in the lower levels, but at the high school level, the coaches should be well educated on the ball rules.

Fantastic video, thank you.

Big Help, Thanks so much.

If you ain’t never seen a lefty pic successfully with that move, you just ain’t been around enough baseball. I’ve seen it numerous time…..nice videos as always.

This is a great video. Some of these balk are quite subtle. If you can get more balk calls throwing to second would be much appreciate it since balks to 2nd normally don’t happen. Thanks again for the video

Very good video (as usual). When I umpired, I was known as "The Balk Umpire". When I played ball, I was pretty fast and stole a lot of bases. So, I was coached on how to read a pitcher and his move, especially toward first, and ran pretty freely. It used to make me so mad that umpires would miss a balk or let a pitcher get away with a "balk move". The one where the pitcher (usually a left hander) would swing his plant foot past the imaginary 45 degree line that ran from the pitcher's rubber to the halfway point of the first base line and then throw to first!! That would drive me crazy because, if he swings that foot out on the home plate side of that 45 degree "line", he is supposed to go home. But, that one is not called a LOT!!

Awesome explanations

Great video. Keep making these

Yes, it was nice and instructive watching this. Thanks (There's nice 3rd base pick-off move my dad had - not something here at all ) But balks are explained/shown nicely here. Thanks

Love this test video. Missed more than I should, but I'll use the defense of camera clarity...lol. With young pitchers, the discernible stop is the main thing to work out with them. Eager to throw vs throw only after stop.

Very good video. Detect balks is really a not so easy task.

As a runner I love watching the pitcher hesitate a little because I’m off and I have a good coach and he will go until he makes sure the umps make the right call

great content. thank you.

I am an umpire and like this video a lot!! After a part 2 to this video. Make one explaining a catchers balk I have had multiple catcher balks.

REMEMBER THIS IS YOUTH BASEBALL AND BOTH PLAYERS AND COACHES AND EVEN UMPIRES ARE LEARNING ABOUT BALKS. SO IF YOUR AN EXPERIENCE UMPIRE YOU MAY SEE BALKS THAT NOBODY ELSE MAY SEE BUT I WOULD ONLY CALL THE OBVIOUS ONES OR YOU'LL HAVE A LONG LONG GAME.

It's cool to see ball fields I have worked. (West Michigan)

I guess the balk rule is to make it more likely for the runner to have a fair chance at the stolen base. If not for the balk PITCHERS would have a big advantage at keeping the runner on base. Also it keeps the batter from getting erratic pitches.

great video and commentary

Exceptional video !

I'm not a pitcher but was pretty good at stealing bases. it's nice to hear commentary about why a particular move is a balk.

At 3:14 it could lead one to believe that it is illegal to attempt to throw out an advancing runner directly from the wind-up position without first disengaging the rubber. That would be true under National Federal of High School rules but *not* under OBR (Official Baseball Rules). This pitcher buckles his knee and, technically, that would be a balk - as mentioned in the video. It would be a somewhat picky balk considering the age level of the pitcher and the slightness of the "buckle." What makes it a *definite* balk is that the pitcher actually begins his delivery (by moving his left foot towards the plate) and *then* aborts that delivery in order to make a play on the runner. Under OBR, it would be perfectly legal for a pitcher, in the wind-up position, to directly throw to 2nd when the runner on 1st breaks for 2nd without first disengaging the rubber. This is not considered throwing to an unoccupied base because the runner on 1st is advancing to 2nd. The pitcher is allowed to make a play on an advancing runner. In the wind-up position, like the set position, the pitcher has only three choices: 1) pitch, 2) step off or 3) make a play on a runner. Under high school rules, in the wind-up position, the pitcher only has two choices: 1) pitch or 2) step off.

1:45 According to the National Federal High School rulebook of 2020 , "Any FEINTING toward the batter or first base, or any dropping of the ball (even though accidental) and the ball does not cross a foul line" is considered a balk. There is no definition of a feint in the rulebook but anyone with access to a dictionary knows that the defintion given to a feint is "A pretended blow, thrust or other movement" this word being prodominantly found in boxing and fencing. So, with this in mind the pitcher must fake a THROW in order to balk because it is a deceptive movement. The speed at which a pitcher disengages the rubber has no bearing on the ruling of a balk.

Amazing! thank you

great video!!

As an umpire, I enjoy watching your videos. You are a rarity (a coach that knows the rule). For the first time, I have to disagree with something you said. A move is either legal or illegal. Just because he does it every time does not make it legal. In your example, I could argue that it was one continuous motion and not illegal. At that instance, as long as he continually moves toward home plate, it is legal. That being said, I would call a balk "judging" that he stopped and started. Most all balks are either "Start/Stop", "No Step", or "No Stop" (or pause). Keep posting videos!

Why do I feel like a bunch of umpires are watching these videos but not coaches? I’ve been down the rabbit hole watching close call videos all weekend, would be great if the coaches were too. Excepted are all of you coaches who are watching...from the bottom of my heart, thank you for watching.

Nice job, thanks

Last I checked jumping off and stepping off are the same as long as the back foot leads. It’s only if they step forward to the base in front of them that they can’t fake a throw.

A move that I did in high school was extremely borderline but worked insanely well because of the illusion I gave off. -1st and 3rd worked best, but could be used if a runner could advance to any base. -Set up in the windup, but stepped off with my right foot but would be as close to the rubber as possible -However, I go through the motion as a left hander in a fluid motion from stepping off.

Great job! Thanks for posting. Can’t wait for part 2.

I got a question if if pitching and runner on first takes off can I do the inside move a nog him

Yes, thank you.

Great video

Very good job explaining and teaching the most misunderstood part of baseball. Where do you get all these clips from?

The video you reference in your intro is great. Am I correct in thinking that an ump should yell ‘balk’ as it happens, but not stop play until the play ends, at which time he’ll really point out the balk? This is because if the pitcher delivers and the hitter crushes one or if he throws it away on a pickoff attempt or something it’s almost like a football team declining the penalty - they’ll take the play.

great video

love this

Nice job!

Now that was a good one !

Regarding the case starting at 7:55, maybe youth ball is different, but in MLB (and college i think), this is not a balk, though it is still illegal. MLB Rule 6.02(a) Balks does not make mention to going to the mouth at all. But Rule 6.02(c) says it results in a warning, then a ball. It reads: The pitcher shall not: (1) While in the 18-foot circle surrounding the pitcher’s plate, touch the ball after touching his mouth or lips, or touch his mouth or lips while he is in contact with the pitcher’s plate. The pitcher must clearly wipe the fingers of his pitching hand dry before touching the ball or the pitcher’s plate PENALTY: For violation of this part of this rule the umpires shall immediately remove the ball from play and issue a warning to the pitcher. Any subsequent violation shall be called a ball.

I have a question if a pitcher has his hands together as bends forward to get the song and comes up to set position with hands together is that a balk.

Great video, I have mixed answers about the following and am wonder what others think -inside move to 2nd, and then the runners takes off, if the pitcher doesn't throw to 2nd but is able to control his body and hold the ball and then run towards the runner and then throws to 3rd for the tag or run down. Would that situation be a balk.

well done !

This may have been mentioned but I am not going to sift through 400 comments. You mentioned the mythical 45° rule. In NFHS it is not spelled out in the rule book as you mentioned but it is in the case book. Great video though. If you have more like this I’d love to see them.

So this year, MLB is experimenting with some rule changes in the minors, and one of them is to require the pitcher to disengage the rubber with is pivot foot before throwing to any base. This would eliminate most of these lefthander's moves to 1B (and the 45-degree judgement in the process), as well as the inside move to 2B. Don't know if it'll go anywhere beyond this season, but it requires pitchers to unlearn some thing they've been doing for a long time.

I’ve umpired for a few years in little league where balks are about 1-2 years in. Still known to the kids but happens quite a bit. Parents always yell it’s great

Like it....good video blue!!! Hey games over here! Heheheh!!!

This is great! When is the penalty base awarded? Does the batter go to first automatic?

Off topic (sorry) but what kind of stance is that at 6:22? Angle make it tough to say for sure, but looks to at least 4' behind the catcher, who appears to be deep in the box. On top of that, how's he supposed to get a good look at the strike zone if his eyes are on the same plane as the batter's eyes.

As a lefty, when picking someone off at first, especially in high school that 45° he talked about is actually closer to like 10° so you gotta be really careful.

At 5:20 is that a balk because you are considering the toe touch to be a step?

at 4:01 is that pitcher considered set? In the video that you recommended that we watch first, the umpire says that a Balk happens after the pitcher is set, with his 2 hands together. Or am I misunderstanding. Is it because he has a foot on the rubber?

at 5:30 its a balk even if its the normal delivery. You cant step towards home twice when throwing. If you look closely the pitcher stepped twice, and that is an illegal pitching motion also.

I was an Umpire for years in NC high school and USSSA baseball and thanks for the video. Most coaches at the younger levels do not understand the balk. I found coaches who teach the pitchers how to fake the runners with subtle foot moves that when caught would say “I didn’t think that you would catch that.” Not my first rodeo my sons were catchers in college and were drafted in the MLB

@ 2:00 is it a deliberate step behind the rubber, or does that pivot foot landing behind the rubber determine the state of the pitcher? Because major leaguers have done that pop to the toe on back of the rubber to fake and throw.

More coaches really need to LEARN the balk rule...do more vids.

Is that a balk at the 1:51 mark ? His back foot did come off and behind the rubber. He doesn’t throw over but I believe doesn’t have to if his foot is behind the rubber. If he makes the spin pickoff attempt, the foot is off but in front of the rubber and then fakes the throw, that is then a balk. But he can fake the throw if the foot is behind the rubber, right ?

Nice video