Any Umpire positioning

[NCASAUmp]

you should only be listening to the ball hitting the glove, Look at the feet touching the bag and the sound of the ball hitting the glove.

Why would you rely on a sound that may or may not be there? On a soft catch of the ball, there won't be much of a sound. Your position substitutes sound for sight on one of the four major elements of the play: ball, base, fielder, runner.

A 45 degree angle to the base still lets you hear the sound of the ball hitting the glove, but also gives you the added benefit of SEEING the catch.

 

[mazzamouth]

Why would you rely on a sound that may or may not be there? On a soft catch of the ball, there won't be much of a sound. Your position substitutes sound for sight on one of the four major elements of the play: ball, base, fielder, runner.

A 45 degree angle to the base still lets you hear the sound of the ball hitting the glove, but also gives you the added benefit of SEEING the catch.

any clinic or camp you go to will teach you to listen and look, look at the feet, and listen for the ball hitting the glove, this is text book. In baseball we teach ( lets say with no runners on) to get a 90* angle from where the throw in originating from, this will still give you a great look at the ball hitting the glove, but we don't teach that ( look at the catch of the ball)